A good role brief is one paragraph: the role, three must-have skills, the time zone overlap you need and a start date. With that, a shortlist can come back in two days instead of two months. If your pipeline is stuck, the brief is the first place to look.
On Talent Navigator, you get your first shortlist within 48 hours of posting a role. That speed only works if the brief is clear enough to search against.
Why does a vague role brief stall hiring?
A vague brief gives the search nothing to filter on. "Senior full stack engineer, strong communicator, startup mindset" matches thousands of people and tells you nothing about who to talk to first.
The result is a long list, a lot of reading and a slow first interview. Often the delay is not a shortage of candidates. It is a shortage of decisions you made before you posted.
Every line you leave open becomes a delay later. Deciding up front is faster than debating it with each candidate.
What goes into a one-paragraph role brief?
Four things. Keep each to a sentence or less.
- The role: the job title and what the person will own. For example, "backend engineer owning our payments API".
- Three must-have skills: the three things without which the person cannot do the job on day one.
- Time zone overlap: how many hours a day you need them online with your team, and in which zone.
- Start date: a real date, not "as soon as possible".
That is all a search needs. Salary range and team size help if you have them, but they are extras.
How do you pick only three must-have skills?
Ask one question: if the person lacked this, could they still ship useful work in their first month? If yes, it is a nice-to-have. Leave it out.
A useful test is to look at the last engineer who did this job well. Write down what they actually used every week, not what the old job ad listed.
Be specific. "Python, PostgreSQL and AWS" is searchable. "Strong backend skills" is not. If you are hiring in a specialist area, our guide on how to hire machine learning engineers shows how to name skills at that level of detail.
A brief you can copy
Here is a template with an example filled in.
We need a backend engineer to own our payments API. Must have: Python, PostgreSQL and experience integrating third-party payment providers. Needs at least four hours of overlap with 9am to 5pm Eastern time. Start date: 2 November.
It is four sentences and it can be searched, compared and answered. Anyone reading it knows whether they fit.
Notice what is missing: no list of ten tools, no culture slogans. You can cover those in the interview.
What to do this week
- Write the paragraph today. Use the four parts above and cap it at five sentences.
- Cut your skills list to three. Move everything else to a "good to have" note you keep for the interview.
- Set a real start date and the overlap hours. Check both with whoever the new hire will report to.
- Post the role and expect a first shortlist within 48 hours.
- Decide your interview questions before the shortlist arrives, so you can book calls the same day.
Once someone is hired, plan the first month too. Our piece on how to test a new developer in the first two weeks covers that.
How does Talent Navigator turn a brief into a shortlist?
You post the role with your paragraph. There is no recruiter in the middle, so nobody rewrites your brief or screens on your behalf. You search, shortlist and interview yourself.
Every visible profile has already cleared four checks: a role-specific technical test taken under camera supervision, a separate communication score, a video introduction, and verified education and work history. So the people on your shortlist are not unscreened CVs.
When the shortlist arrives, read the scores before you book calls. Our guide on how to read a developer's score before the interview shows how.
The network has 50,000+ developers, and every placement comes with a 2 weeks risk-free trial.
Frequently asked questions
How long should a role brief be?
One paragraph, around four or five sentences. Anything longer pushes the key facts down and makes searching harder. Put extra detail in the interview.
What if I am not sure about the start date?
Pick the earliest date you could realistically onboard someone, and say so. A firm date gets you candidates who are available then. A vague one gets you people who may be months away.
Can I change the brief after posting?
Yes, and you should if the first shortlist shows you were too narrow or too loose. Adjust one thing at a time, such as the overlap hours, so you can see what changed.
If you have a role open and a paragraph ready, you can post your first job free and see the first shortlist within 48 hours.