Job descriptions drafted from the work, not from last year's posting

A short intake with the hiring manager captures what the person will actually do. The model turns that into a posting in your house style, flags exclusionary or inflated requirements, and checks pay range disclosure for each location before a recruiter publishes it.

01the problem and who owns it

Most job descriptions are copied from the last opening or another company's posting. Requirements creep upward, the real work goes unmentioned, and the posting attracts the wrong pool, which then floods the screening stage.

Hiring managers know the job but not the rules: pay range disclosure laws in several states and cities, language that discourages qualified applicants, and the difference between a requirement and a preference. Recruiters end up rewriting drafts line by line.

02what the AI does, step by step

1. Run a structured intakeThe hiring manager answers a short form: outcomes expected in the first six months, the hardest part of the job, true must-haves, team context, and work location. The model can ask follow-up questions when an answer is vague.
2. Pull leveling and pay dataThe workflow reads the job level, salary band, and benefits summary from your compensation system so the draft matches internal structure.
3. Draft in house styleThe model writes the posting from the intake and a few approved examples, leading with the work and outcomes rather than a list of adjectives.
4. Check requirements and languageA review pass flags degree requirements the intake did not justify, years-of-experience inflation, gendered or ableist phrasing, and physical requirements that are not essential functions.
5. Check location rulesFor each posting location the workflow confirms whether a pay range must be included and that the range shown matches the band. Remote postings are checked against every jurisdiction they target.
6. Route for approval and publishThe draft, with flags shown inline, goes to the recruiter and hiring manager. After approval it is pushed to the ATS, which syndicates it to job boards.

03systems it connects to

• ATS. Greenhouse, Lever, or Workday Recruiting for requisitions and publishing.
• Compensation data. Bands from your HRIS or a compensation tool such as Pave or Carta Total Comp.
• Style examples. A small library of approved postings and your employer brand guidelines.

04human checkpoints

• Hiring manager approves the content. The person who owns the role confirms the outcomes and requirements are accurate.
• Recruiter approves compliance flags. Every flag is resolved or consciously accepted by the recruiter, not auto-fixed.
• Compensation signs off on ranges. Pay ranges are confirmed by whoever owns comp, never generated.

05what to measure

• Time from approved requisition to live posting. Per role family.
• Applicant fit rate. Share of applicants who meet the must-haves at the screening stage.
• Recruiter edit volume. How much of the draft changes before approval, a sign of prompt and example quality.
• Flag resolution. Which language and requirement flags recur, pointing at template fixes.

06risks and guardrails

• Pay transparency laws change. Several states and cities require ranges in postings, and the list keeps growing. Keep the rules table owned by someone who tracks it, and confirm with counsel.
• Invented responsibilities. The model may pad the role with duties nobody mentioned. Every responsibility should trace back to an intake answer.
• Essential functions and ADA. Physical or schedule requirements in a posting should reflect genuine essential functions, since they shape accommodation obligations later.

07build vs buy

Many ATS products and writing tools generate job descriptions, and for occasional hiring a general assistant with a good prompt and your examples is fine.

A built workflow is worth it at volume, or when you need the compensation lookup, location rules, and approval trail tied together so nothing reaches a job board without the right range and sign-off.

08related playbooks

Browse every hr and recruiting playbook or the full library.