Job Description Optimization Kit — Start Here
What This Kit Does
This kit produces three distinct role-definition deliverables for recruiting engagements: the position profile, the job description, and the job ad. These are different documents with different purposes, different audiences, and different content — but most organizations treat them as one thing. The practitioner's job is to build each one correctly and help the client understand why they're different.
Every deliverable built through this kit follows the same production path: extraction interview → gap identification → advisor sign-off on gaps → build → QC → client review → deployment.
Why Three Deliverables, Not One
Most organizations have a "job description" that tries to serve every purpose — internal documentation, candidate attraction, salary benchmarking, interview design, compliance. It serves none of them well.
The position profile is the internal strategy document. It defines what this role is, why it exists, what the organization needs from the person who fills it, and what the must-have and nice-to-have requirements are. It feeds the scorecard, the sourcing strategy, and the compensation benchmarking. The audience is the hiring team and the recruiting practitioner. It is never published externally.
The job description is the formal role documentation. It defines responsibilities, reporting structure, qualifications, compensation range, and working conditions. It may be used for compliance, internal HR records, and as a reference document shared with candidates during the process. It is accurate, complete, and structured.
The job ad is the attraction document. It sells the opportunity to prospective candidates. It is written for the audience you're trying to reach — not for HR compliance. It leads with what makes the role and the organization compelling, not with a list of requirements. It is published on job boards, social media, and the organization's careers page.
Not every search requires all three. Senior executive searches often use only the position profile (no published ad). Mid-level roles typically use all three. The practitioner determines which deliverables are needed based on the search strategy.
The Standard Path
The primary input is an extraction interview with the practitioner and the hiring stakeholders — not a prior job description the client pulls from a file drawer. The consultant captures what the role actually needs now, in this organization, at this moment — not what it needed when the last job description was written.
A prior job description is a supplementary input. It tells you what the organization thought the role was. The extraction interview tells you what the role actually needs to be.
Never build from a prior job description alone. Prior descriptions carry stale requirements, outdated titles, and language from a different organizational moment. If a prior description arrives without an extraction interview, treat every element as unvalidated.
Two Process Tracks
| Track | Description | When It Applies |
|---|---|---|
| Consultant Process | The practitioner works with the client to define the role — conducting the stakeholder interview, capturing must-haves, validating the role's necessity, writing the deliverables. | Every build. This is the design methodology. |
| Agent Process | AI assists in specific steps — drafting from extraction notes, benchmarking against market language, optimizing ad copy for candidate attraction, analyzing existing job descriptions for gaps. | When the practitioner uses AI tools as part of their workflow. Supplements, never replaces, the consultant process. |
What It Produces
Position Profile: An internal document defining the role's purpose, organizational context, must-have and nice-to-have requirements, competency expectations, compensation range, and success measures. Feeds the scorecard, sourcing strategy, and compensation benchmarking.
Job Description: A formal role document covering responsibilities, qualifications, reporting structure, working conditions, and compliance requirements. Used for internal HR records and may be shared with candidates.
Job Ad: An externally published document designed to attract qualified candidates. Leads with compelling elements of the role and organization. Optimized for the channels where it will be published.
File naming: [client]-[deliverable-type]-[role-slug]-v[n]-[mon]-[yyyy].[ext]
What This Kit Does Not Do
- Validate whether the role is needed. Role validation is an upstream conversation between the practitioner and the client. This kit documents a role that has already been confirmed as necessary.
- Set compensation. Compensation benchmarking is a separate process that uses the position profile as an input. The profile captures what the organization is willing to pay; it does not determine what they should pay.
- Source candidates. The job ad attracts candidates; sourcing strategy determines where and how the ad is deployed. Sourcing is a downstream activity.
- Design the interview process. The position profile feeds the scorecard and interview design, but the interview process is built in the Interview Scorecard Design Kit and the recruiting process SOP.
The Gap Protocol
The gap protocol is the most important rule in this kit.
A gap is any required piece of content that is not present in the source material. Common gaps: role purpose not articulated, must-haves not distinguished from nice-to-haves, reporting structure unclear, compensation range not established, organizational context missing.
The rule: Gaps are flagged — never filled. When a required input is missing, the build stops. A gap report is produced and reviewed by the advisor. The advisor decides how to fill the gap. Only after every gap is resolved does the build proceed.
Filling a gap without advisor sign-off produces a role definition with invented requirements. Invented requirements attract wrong candidates, set wrong expectations, and build scorecards that evaluate the wrong things. Every downstream deliverable in the recruiting process inherits the errors from a flawed position profile.
File Inventory
| File | Purpose | When to Use |
|---|---|---|
00-start-here.md | Orientation — three deliverables, standard path, gap protocol | Start here every time |
01-context.md | Required inputs, gap identification protocol, what each deliverable needs | Before every build — identify gaps before opening the skill |
02-terminology.md | Locked vocabulary for this kit | Reference when writing or reviewing any deliverable |
03a-golden-example-consultant.md | Golden example — consultant-designed deliverable benchmark | Study before building |
03b-golden-example-agent.md | Golden example — AI-assisted workflow benchmark | Study before using AI tools |
04-quality.md | QC checklists — accuracy + market alignment + legal compliance | Run after every build and after every revision |
05-build-skill.md | Build workflow — from source analysis through delivery | Follow step by step for every build |
06-consultant-methodology.md | Extraction interview guide — what to ask, how to capture | Before every extraction session |
07-process-agent.md | AI-assisted workflow — what AI can do, specific workflow steps | Reference when AI tools are part of the production workflow |
Relationship to Other Kits
Recruiting Process SOP: The position profile and job description are early-phase deliverables in the recruiting process. They are produced before sourcing begins and feed every downstream activity.
Interview Scorecard Design Kit: The position profile is the primary upstream input to the scorecard. Must-haves become focus areas. Competency expectations become evaluation criteria. A weak position profile produces a weak scorecard.
Referral Program Strategy Kit: The job ad and position profile feed the referral program. Referral communications reference the role; the quality of the role definition determines whether referrers can identify appropriate candidates.
Candidate Experience Journey Kit: The position profile may be shared with candidates as part of their preparation materials. The job ad is often the candidate's first impression of the role and organization.
Client Deployment Kit: Each client engagement extends this vault-level kit with client-specific brand, organizational context, and role details.
Gold Standard References
Golden examples will be drawn from the first completed client deployment that passes full QC. Until then, the golden example files contain structural specifications. The methodology files are complete and production-ready.