Having picked a role profile from the job library, you'll need to adapt it for your role.

The purpose of the job description is to describe the main duties and responsibilities of the role.

Main purpose of the role

A short paragraph summarising the purpose of the job including:

• the context and focus for the role, including who the role works with and significant working relationships
• how it fits into the organisation of the department/directorate and is aligned to the team/department/University objectives
• general purpose and main objectives of the post

Key responsibilities

1. Role specific responsibilities
   • five to ten bullet points outlining specific responsibilities of the role, that are not already covered under the general responsibilities section. Try to use active verbs so it is clear exactly what the postholder will do such as manage, oversee, co-ordinate, deliver, support etc
   • include the purpose and outcomes of duties to provide an effective description
   • don't list every task the postholder will undertake, but refer more generally to duties and key responsibilities
   • include any special requirements, eg frequent overseas travel. Ensure that these requirements are truly essential, as they may disadvantage applicants with caring responsibilities
2. University of York responsibilities
   • the responsibilities, skills and knowledge which are typically expected for the selected grade and job family. You should not amend these requirements

Person specification

1. Role specific
   • this space is reserved for role-specific qualifications, skills and behaviours. You should aim to list five to ten essential and desirable attributes for the role. Examples include: expertise in a specific research or teaching area, a foreign language qualification, knowledge of a programming language, or the need for a driving licence
2. University of York person specification
   • As above, this section lists the typical qualifications, skills and behaviours that are expected by the University at the selected grade and job family. You should not amend these requirements

Essential and desirable criteria

Try to include both essential and some desirable criteria in the role specific section of the person specification:

• a candidate must meet the essential requirements in order to be appointed
• desirable requirements should be advantageous for a candidate to possess, and may be used to distinguish between applicants
• the requirements should be clearly related to the main purpose and key responsibilities section of the Job Descriptio

The organisation chart

This isn't part of your job description, but is needed to grade support roles. It should:

• show how a job relates to other posts in the same section or department
• be in a ‘family tree’ format, with the highest relevant manager at the top and the lowest grade at the bottom
• be legible when printed at A4 size
• indicate the job title and grade of each post
• show posts at the same grade at the same level on the chart, where possible

An example organisation chart is available.