A Job Description Template for Small Businesses
A reusable template for defining a role — its purpose, responsibilities with concrete outputs, required and trainable skills, and work arrangement — before you advertise. No login, no sending, no personal-data fields.
Describe the actual work, not a wish list
A useful job description names what the person will actually do. Start with the role's purpose and the hiring manager's input, then list a handful of responsibilities tied to concrete outputs — a resolved inquiry, a published article, an approved ticket — instead of copying a predecessor's wish list of every task that role has ever touched.
Separate the skills the work genuinely requires from the ones a new hire could learn on the job, and keep only job-related, must-have skills in the required list. This is a public resource you adapt into your own document — not part of the HR Co-Pilot app.
The template is selectable text — select the sections, copy them into your own document, and replace every placeholder. Nothing on this page sends, posts, or collects personal details.
Reviewed October 17, 2026 · By HR Co-Pilot
- 1.Gather the role purpose and hiring manager input.
- 2.Select the blank template text, copy to your own document.
- 3.Replace every bracketed placeholder with the real details.
- 4.Run the pre-publication consistency checklist before you advertise.
What to confirm before you draft
The role's purpose
A one- or two-sentence statement of why the role exists and what problem it solves for the team or customer.
Manager input
Ask the hiring manager what the person will actually do in the first 90 days, and which tasks they keep describing when pressed.
4-6 responsibilities with concrete outputs
List each responsibility alongside the concrete output it produces — a resolved inquiry, a published article, an approved ticket — not a vague verb.
Required vs. trainable skills
Separate the skills the work genuinely requires from the ones a new hire could pick up on the job. Keep only job-related, must-have skills in the required list.
Location and work arrangement
Where the work happens and how — onsite, hybrid, or remote — and the schedule or travel the role actually needs, confirmed with the hiring manager.
Compensation and benefits (placeholders)
Leave compensation and benefits as placeholders to be filled in with values your employer has approved. No invented numbers or promises belong in the template.
Application instructions and accessibility contact
How candidates apply, and a contact candidates can reach for accommodations — both confirmed by the owner before publishing.
Document owner and review date
Who maintains the description and when it was last reviewed, so a future reader can tell whether it still reflects the role.
Copy-and-adapt job description
Select the fields and responsibilities, then copy them into your own document and replace every placeholder. Keep compensation and benefits as placeholders until your employer fills them with approved values.
Blank job description template
Selectable textRole summary
- Job title
- [Job title]
- Team / department
- [Team or department]
- Reports to
- [Manager or role the position reports to]
- Role purpose
- [One to two sentences: why this role exists and what it does for the team or customer.]
- Work location and arrangement
- [Onsite / hybrid / remote, and the state(s) or city where the work is performed.]
- Schedule and travel
- [Expected schedule and any travel the role actually requires. Omit if not applicable.]
- Compensation (approved by employer)
- [Salary or hourly range, pay schedule, and benefits — to be filled with values your employer has approved.]
- How to apply
- [Application instructions confirmed by the owner before publishing.]
- Accommodations contact
- [Contact candidates can reach for accommodations during the application process — confirmed by the owner.]
- Document owner
- [Role responsible for maintaining this description.]
- Last reviewed
- [Date this description was last reviewed.]
Responsibilities (name a concrete output)
- 1.[Responsibility 1] — produces [concrete output or deliverable].
- 2.[Responsibility 2] — produces [concrete output or deliverable].
- 3.[Responsibility 3] — produces [concrete output or deliverable].
- 4.[Responsibility 4] — produces [concrete output or deliverable].
Required (job-related) skills
Only the skills the work genuinely requires. Ask whether each one is job-related and necessary before listing it.
[List only job-related, necessary skills.]
Preferred / trainable skills
Skills that help but can be learned on the job. Keeping these separate avoids inflating the required list.
[List skills that help but can be learned on the job.]
A fictional customer support coordinator
An imaginary role showing how a concrete description reads. It is not a real opening or a customer story, and it deliberately omits salary and benefit figures.
Fictional example: Customer Support Coordinator
This is an imaginary company and role used to show how a concrete description reads. It is not a customer story or a real opening, and it deliberately omits any salary or benefit figures.
- Job title
- Customer Support Coordinator
- Team
- Customer Support
- Reports to
- Support Lead
- Role purpose
- Triage incoming customer questions, document answers so the team handles repeated questions faster, and escalate issues the support team can't resolve alone.
- Arrangement
- Remote within [state], standard weekday schedule; minimal travel.
Responsibilities
- Triage incoming inquiries by topic and urgency — so each one reaches the right next step.
- Document answers to common questions in the help articles — so repeated questions are resolved faster.
- Escalate technical issues the support team cannot resolve to engineering — with enough context for a fast handoff.
- Maintain the help article library — so published answers stay current as products change.
Required skills
- Written communication clear enough to answer customers and write help articles.
- Comfort triaging a shared inbox and deciding what to escalate.
Preferred skills
- Experience with the team's help article tool.
- Familiarity with the product's common support topics.
To apply
Email [application contact confirmed by the owner] with a short note and résumé.
Accommodations
Reach [contact confirmed by the owner] for accommodations during the application process.
Job description, advertisement, and offer letter
Job description
Defines the role — its purpose, responsibilities, required skills, and arrangement — as an internal record that guides hiring and performance.
Job advertisement
Promotes the role to candidates. A job description is the source; the advertisement is the shorter, public-facing version that invites applications.
Offer letter
Proposes specific terms — compensation, start date, schedule — to a candidate you've chosen. It comes after the hiring decision, not before.
Check before you publish
- Each responsibility names a concrete output, not a vague verb.
- Required skills are job-related and necessary; anything trainable moved to preferred.
- Replace compensation and benefits placeholders with employer-approved information and verify applicable posting requirements before advertising.
- Location, arrangement, and schedule match what the hiring manager actually expects.
- Application instructions and the accommodations contact are confirmed before publishing.
- The document owner and last-reviewed date are filled in.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission notes that an employer's judgment and a written job description prepared before advertising and interviewing can be evidence of a job's essential functions — alongside actual work duties and other evidence. EEOC — ADA: Your Responsibilities as an Employer. This is general information, not legal advice — actual work duties and other evidence matter too, and this template does not prove compliance.
Job advertisement and pay-disclosure rules vary by state and locality. Confirm the requirements that apply to your jurisdiction with a qualified adviser before publishing a posting — this template does not state those rules for you.
The AI HR assistant can help you talk through what to include, and the document generator can help draft a starting point. Confirm actual role requirements with your hiring manager and review applicable requirements with a qualified adviser before you advertise.
Explore HR Co-PilotRelated resources
Pair the description with your offer letter and onboarding resources.
Job description template questions
Common questions about using this template. Need something else? Talk to our team.