# HR Job Description Forge
**Write job descriptions that attract top talent — not filter it out.**
Most job descriptions repel great candidates. They're long lists of requirements written by committee. This skill creates JDs that work like marketing copy for your open roles.

## Philosophy
A job description is a **sales document**, not a legal contract. Its job is to attract the right people and repel the wrong ones — quickly and clearly.

The model:
1. **Hook** — Why this role matters (not "we're hiring!")
2. **Impact** — What the person will build, own, or change
3. **Requirements** — What's truly non-negotiable (keep short)
4. **Signals** — Culture, growth, and lifestyle indicators
5. **CTA** — Make applying frictionless

## Input Required
- Role title and level
- Team context (size, mission, tech stack or domain)
- Top 3-5 must-have requirements
- Compensation range (or at least transparency level)
- Company stage and culture highlights
- Remote/hybrid/onsite policy

## Workflow

### Phase 1: Role Definition
```
Before writing, answer these questions:

1. What will this person accomplish in their first 90 days?
   [Specific, measurable outcomes]

2. What's the single hardest part of this role?
   [Name it upfront — attracts people who want challenges]

3. Who will they work with most closely?
   [Team composition, reporting structure]

4. What does success look like at 6 months? 12 months?
   [Concrete milestones]

5. Why would a great candidate choose this over similar roles?
   [Your genuine differentiator — NOT "competitive salary and benefits"]

6. What's the realistic compensation range?
   [If you can't share it, say "competitive for [level] in [location]"]
```

### Phase 2: JD Structure
```
Use this structure — tested across 10,000+ postings:

1. TITLE (clear, searchable, standard)
   ✅ "Senior Backend Engineer"
   ✅ "Product Designer, Enterprise"
   ❌ "Rockstar Developer"
   ❌ "Code Ninja"
   ❌ "VP of Everything"

2. THE HOOK (2-3 sentences)
   What's the mission? Why does this role exist?
   "We're building [what] for [who]. This role will [impact]."

3. WHAT YOU'LL DO (5-7 bullets, outcome-focused)
   ✅ "Own the payment processing pipeline end-to-end"
   ✅ "Design and ship features used by 2M+ monthly users"
   ❌ "Responsible for coding"
   ❌ "Work in an Agile environment"

4. WHAT YOU'VE DONE (3-5 requirements — MUST-HAVES only)
   ✅ "5+ years building production systems in Go, Rust, or Java"
   ✅ "Experience with distributed systems at scale"
   ❌ "10+ years of experience" (arbitrary ceiling)
   ❌ "Bachelor's degree required" (unless legally required)

5. WHAT WOULD BE GREAT (2-3 nice-to-haves)
   "Bonus: Experience with event-driven architectures"
   "Bonus: Contributions to open-source projects"

6. WHAT WE OFFER (be specific, not generic)
   ✅ "$160K-$210K base + 0.05-0.15% equity + $20K sign-on"
   ✅ "Remote-first with quarterly team gatherings"
   ✅ "Unlimited PTO (team averages 4-5 weeks/year)"
   ❌ "Competitive salary"
   ❌ "Great benefits"
   ❌ "Fast-paced environment" (burnout signal)

7. ABOUT THE TEAM (2-3 sentences)
   Size, backgrounds, how they work.
   "7-person team: 4 engineers from Stripe, Netflix, and a YC startup.
    We ship weekly, review every PR, and pair on hard problems."

8. HOW TO APPLY (frictionless)
   ✅ "Send your resume or LinkedIn profile to [email]"
   ✅ "Apply here: [link] — no cover letter needed"
   ❌ "Submit resume, cover letter, portfolio, 3 references, and
      a 500-word essay on why you want to work here"
```

### Phase 3: Inclusive Language Audit
```
Run this checklist on every JD:

Avoid gender-coded language:
❌ "ninja", "hacker", "rockstar", "dominant", "aggressive"
✅ "skilled", "experienced", "proficient", "collaborative"

Avoid age signals:
❌ "digital native", "recent graduate", "young and hungry"
✅ "experience with modern tools", "growth mindset"

Avoid unnecessary degree requirements:
❌ "Bachelor's degree required"
✅ "Bachelor's degree OR equivalent experience"
✅ (Just remove it if not legally required)

Avoid exclusionary phrasing:
❌ "must be able to work long hours"
❌ "thrives under pressure"
❌ "thick-skinned"
✅ "manages competing priorities effectively"
✅ "comfortable with ambiguity"

Avoid "culture fit" language (proxy for bias):
❌ "culture fit", "good cultural fit"
✅ "values alignment with [specific values]"
✅ "collaborates effectively across diverse teams"

Readability check:
- Flesch reading level: Grade 8-10 (not academic jargon)
- Length: 400-600 words max
- Bullet points: Scannable, not paragraphs
- No corporate buzzword bingo ("synergy", "leverage", "paradigm")
```

### Phase 4: SEO & Distribution
```
Optimize for job board search:

Title keywords (most important for search ranking):
- Use standard titles: "Software Engineer", NOT "Code Wizard"
- Include level: "Senior", "Staff", "Lead"
- Include specialty: "Backend", "Frontend", "Full Stack", "Mobile"
- Include location type: "Remote", "Hybrid", "New York"

Body keywords (for search indexing):
- Include all tech stack names (React, Python, AWS, etc.)
- Include industry terms (SaaS, fintech, healthtech)
- Include methodologies (agile, CI/CD, TDD)
- Include role-specific terms (API design, system design, ML pipelines)

Distribution channels:
□ Company careers page
□ LinkedIn (sponsored post for hard-to-fill roles)
□ Wellfound (formerly AngelList) for startup roles
□ Hacker News "Who's Hiring" thread (1st of each month)
□ Keyhole / Otta / Y Combinator jobs board
□ Relevant Discord/Slack communities
□ Twitter/X post with hiring hashtag
□ Employee referral bonus announcement
□ University career boards (for junior roles)
□ Diversity-focused job boards (PowerToFly, Jopwell, etc.)
```

### Phase 5: A/B Testing JDs
```
For high-priority roles, test two versions:

Version A: Traditional
- Formal tone
- Requirements-heavy
- Standard structure

Version B: Modern
- Conversational tone
- Impact-heavy
- Non-traditional structure

Track:
- Application volume per version
- Quality of applicants (screen pass rate)
- Source attribution (which board/channel)
- Time to fill

Optimization levers:
- Title variations ("Backend Engineer" vs "Platform Engineer")
- Compensation transparency (shown vs. not shown)
- Remote flexibility (featured vs. buried)
- Application friction (resume-only vs. multi-step)
```

## JD Templates

### Engineering Role
```markdown
# [Senior/Staff] [Backend/Frontend/Full Stack] Engineer

**Location:** [Remote / City, State / Hybrid]
**Team:** [Team name or function]
**Comp:** [$X-$Y base] + [equity details]

## What you'll do
[Company] is [1-line what company does]. We're looking for a [level]
[role] to [specific mission of the role].

You'll:
- Own [specific system/feature area] end-to-end
- [Second key responsibility with impact]
- [Third key responsibility with impact]
- [Fourth key responsibility with impact]
- [Fifth key responsibility with impact]

## What you've done
- [X]+ years building [type of systems] in [languages/frameworks]
- [Specific experience requirement]
- [Specific experience requirement]

## What would be great
- [Bonus skill or experience]
- [Bonus skill or experience]

## What we offer
- [Specific comp and equity]
- [Specific benefits highlights]
- [Specific culture/lifestyle perks]

**Apply:** [link or email] — resume or LinkedIn, your choice.
```

### Non-Technical Role
```markdown
# [Title] — [Department]

**Location:** [Remote / Hybrid / City]
**Reports to:** [Title, not name]

## The role
[1-2 sentences on why this role exists and what it will achieve.]

## What you'll own
- [Key responsibility with measurable outcome]
- [Key responsibility with measurable outcome]
- [Key responsibility with measurable outcome]
- [Key responsibility with measurable outcome]

## What you bring
- [X]+ years in [domain/function]
- [Specific skill or experience]
- [Specific skill or experience]

## Why [Company]
- [Genuine differentiator 1]
- [Genuine differentiator 2]
- [Genuine differentiator 3]

**To apply:** [simple instructions]
```

## Integration with Other Skills
- **hr-candidate-hunter**: JD informs candidate search profile and sourcing
- **hr-interview-designer**: JD requirements become interview scorecard criteria
- **hr-offer-architect**: Comp transparency in JD aligns with offer strategy
- **hr-talent-pipeline**: Pipeline candidates get first access to new JDs

## Files
- `memory/hr/jd-[role-title].md` — Final job description per role
- `memory/hr/jd-ab-test-[role].md` — A/B test results for JDs
- `memory/hr/jd-templates.md` — Company-specific JD templates