Job Description Template, Examples, and How to Write a Job Description
A copy-ready job description template you can fill in this afternoon, a filled-in example so the level of detail is concrete, the essential-functions language that keeps the description defensible under the ADA, and the exempt-status and pay-range points most small companies get wrong.
In one answer
A job description should include the job title, a one-line summary of why the role exists, the essential functions the role is built to perform, the marginal duties that could be reassigned, the required and preferred qualifications, the reporting line, the work location and schedule, the physical or environmental demands, the pay range, and the exempt or non-exempt classification. Write the essential functions around the outcome each task produces rather than the way it is currently done, keep them separate from the marginal duties, and use them as the basis for the ADA question every candidate should be able to answer.
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What a job description is actually for
A job description does more than fill a job board. It is the document a hiring manager screens against, the basis for the interview questions, the reference point for the first ninety days, the anchor for the performance review a year later, and, if it is ever needed, part of the record behind an exempt classification or an ADA accommodation decision. Most small companies write it once to post a role, then never look at it again, which is why so many of them read like a wish list rather than a description of work.
The single idea that fixes most job descriptions is the distinction between essential functions and marginal duties. Essential functions are the reason the job exists: the tasks that, if this person could not do them, would mean the role was not being filled. Marginal duties are the real but reassignable tasks that could move to someone else without changing what the job is. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission looks at exactly this line when a job description is examined, weighing whether the role exists to perform a function, how much time the function takes, the consequences of not performing it, and whether other employees could do it instead. Keeping the two lists separate is what makes a description useful for hiring and defensible later.
Write each essential function around the outcome it produces, not the way the task happens to be done today. "Reconcile the monthly bank statements" describes an outcome; "use QuickBooks to reconcile the statements" bakes in a tool and a method, narrows your candidate pool for no reason, and can undercut an accommodation later. The purpose of the task is essential. The customary method usually is not.
The job description template
Copy this into a document. It works for any role; only the length of the essential-functions list changes.
JOB DESCRIPTION
Job title: [title] · Department: [dept] · Reports to: [manager title]
Location: [on-site / hybrid / remote, with city or region] · Schedule: [full-time / part-time, hours, any required days]
Classification: [exempt / non-exempt] · Pay range: [$ low to $ high, plus how variable pay works]
1. SUMMARY
One or two sentences: why this role exists and the outcome it owns. If you cannot write this line, stop and define the role before you post it.
2. ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS
Five to eight bullets, each an outcome the role is built to produce. Start each with an action verb. These are the functions a candidate must be able to perform, with or without a reasonable accommodation.
3. MARGINAL DUTIES
The real but reassignable tasks. Keeping these out of the essential list is what protects the description if an accommodation is ever needed. Close with "other duties as assigned."
4. REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
The minimum a person needs to do the essential functions: skills, experience, licenses or certifications that are genuinely required. Be honest about "required" versus "nice to have," because every unnecessary requirement shrinks and skews your pool.
5. PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
The things that would help but are not disqualifying. Keep this list short.
6. PHYSICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL DEMANDS
Only what the job genuinely requires (lifting, standing, driving, specific environments). Tie each to an essential function rather than listing boilerplate.
7. WHAT WE OFFER
Pay range, benefits summary, and the honest version of the culture. This is where the posting earns the application.
8. EQUAL OPPORTUNITY STATEMENT
Your standard EEO line and a note that reasonable accommodations are available for the application process and the role.
Two notes on the form. The classification line (exempt or non-exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act) is not decoration: an inaccurate one is the most common and most expensive wage-and-hour mistake a small business makes, and the job description is part of what supports it. And a growing number of states now require a pay range in the posting itself, so include the range as a matter of habit rather than tracking which rule applies where.
A filled-in job description example
Here is the summary and essential-functions section completed for an office manager at a small US company, so the level of specificity is unambiguous.
Summary. "The Office Manager keeps the day-to-day operation of a 25-person office running: the space, the vendors, the paperwork, and the administrative work that would otherwise land on the leadership team. The role owns the outcome that things get handled without anyone having to ask twice."
Essential functions. "Manage vendor relationships and the facilities budget, from quotes to renewals to payment approvals." · "Own the new-hire administrative process end to end, so a starter has a desk, accounts, and completed paperwork on day one." · "Maintain accurate, up-to-date records for HR, expenses, and contracts, and produce them on request." · "Coordinate scheduling across the leadership team and keep the shared calendar reliable." · "Process expense reports and reconcile the corporate card monthly." · "Serve as the first point of contact for the office and route requests to the right owner."
Marginal duties. "Plan the occasional team event." · "Order and stock supplies." · "Other duties as assigned."
Notice what the essential functions do. Each starts with a verb, describes an outcome rather than a method, and could be screened and interviewed against directly. None of them names a specific software product, because the tool is not the job. And the marginal duties are genuinely separable: if event planning moved to someone else tomorrow, the office manager role would still be the office manager role. That separation is exactly what the ADA analysis turns on.
Essential functions, the ADA, and the one question that ties it together
The reason the essential-versus-marginal split matters is the Americans with Disabilities Act. An employer is expected to be able to ask every candidate a version of one question: "Can you perform the essential functions of this job, with or without a reasonable accommodation?" That question only works if the job description has actually said what the essential functions are and has kept them apart from the marginal ones. A description that dumps everything into one long duties list cannot answer it, and a description that lists a customary method as essential ("must use [specific tool]") can block an accommodation that would have let a qualified person do the underlying work.
So the practical rules are narrow and worth following exactly. State essential functions in terms of outcomes. Keep marginal duties in their own section. Do not inflate requirements: an unnecessary degree, license, or years-of-experience floor can screen out qualified people and, in some cases, create disparate-impact exposure. Avoid language that describes the person rather than the work ("energetic," "recent graduate," "digital native" all point at age or other protected characteristics). And revisit the description when the job actually changes, because a three-year-old description that no longer matches the work is worse than none in a dispute.
- Essential functions describe outcomes, not the current method or tool
- Marginal, reassignable duties go in their own section
- Every requirement must be genuinely required to do the essential functions
- No language that describes the person instead of the work
- Update the description when the job changes, not once every few years
Writing the description so it attracts the right people
Compliance keeps a job description defensible; clarity is what makes it work as a hiring tool. The summary line does most of the work here. If a reader cannot tell in one sentence what the role owns, neither can the wrong applicants screen themselves out nor the right ones lean in. Write the summary to a specific person, not to a committee.
Keep the essential-functions list to five to eight items. Below five and you have probably described a task, not a role; above eight and it reads as an unfillable everything-list that scares off strong candidates and attracts people who will apply to anything. Lead each with a verb, and put the highest-leverage functions first, since most readers do not finish the list. Cut the requirements you do not truly need, because every extra "required" line narrows the pool and, research on job postings consistently finds, narrows it unevenly.
Then be honest about pay and location. A posting without a range gets fewer and worse-matched applicants, wastes time on the phone confirming a number you could have printed, and in many states is no longer optional. State the range, state whether the role is on-site, hybrid, or remote, and state the schedule if it is not standard. The application you want comes from someone who read all three and applied anyway.
Running the hiring paperwork without it eating the week
A job description is the first document in a chain that does not stop once someone is hired. It becomes the interview scorecard, then the offer letter, then the onboarding plan, then the ninety-day check-in, then the goals in the first performance review. Each step is administrative work that has to happen on time and land in the right place, and in a small office it usually lands on one person between everything else they do.
That coordination layer is what Officeagent handles. It drafts the description from a short brief and your existing house style, turns the essential functions into the interview scorecard and the first-week plan, and files the signed offer and onboarding paperwork where it belongs, while each new hire's onboarding steps become tracked items with owners and due dates rather than a checklist someone forgets to open. It pairs naturally with a structured employee onboarding checklist and the policies in your employee handbook. Every message it sends and every document it files waits on a human approval first, which is the right control on anything that touches hiring and a personnel file.
Job description sections, what goes in each, and the common mistake
| Section | What belongs in it | Common mistake |
|---|---|---|
| Job title | A clear, searchable title that matches how people look for the role | A clever internal title nobody searches ("Happiness Ninja") |
| Summary | One or two sentences on why the role exists and the outcome it owns | A paragraph of company boilerplate with no role in it |
| Essential functions | Five to eight outcome-based duties the role is built to perform | A twenty-item task list that mixes essential and marginal work |
| Marginal duties | Real but reassignable tasks, kept in their own section | Folding reassignable tasks into the essential list |
| Required qualifications | Only what is genuinely needed to do the essential functions | Inflated degree, license, or years-of-experience floors |
| Physical/environmental demands | Only demands tied to an actual essential function | Boilerplate lifting and standing requirements for a desk job |
| Classification and pay | Exempt/non-exempt status and a real pay range | Guessing the FLSA status; hiding the range |
| EEO and accommodation | Your equal-opportunity line and an accommodation note | Omitting it, or language that describes the person not the work |
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Questions on this
What should be included in a job description?
A job description should include the job title, a one-line summary of why the role exists, the essential functions the role is built to perform, the marginal duties that could be reassigned, the required and preferred qualifications, the reporting line, the location and schedule, any real physical or environmental demands, the pay range, the exempt or non-exempt classification, and an equal-opportunity statement.
How do you write a job description?
Start with a one-sentence summary of why the role exists, then list five to eight essential functions as outcomes rather than methods, each beginning with a verb. Keep reassignable tasks in a separate marginal-duties section, list only the qualifications genuinely required to do the essential functions, and add the location, schedule, pay range, and classification. Write to a specific person, not a committee.
What are essential functions in a job description?
Essential functions are the tasks the job exists to perform: the ones that, if a person could not do them with or without a reasonable accommodation, would mean the role was not being filled. The EEOC weighs whether the job exists to perform the function, how much time it takes, the consequence of not performing it, and whether other employees could do it instead. State them as outcomes, not as the customary method.
How long should a job description be?
Long enough to be clear and no longer. In practice that is a one or two sentence summary, five to eight essential functions, a short marginal-duties list, and tight required and preferred qualifications, which usually lands between roughly 300 and 700 words. A description that runs to a twenty-item task list reads as an unfillable everything-role and drives strong candidates away.
Do I have to include a salary range in a job description?
A growing number of US states and cities now require a pay range in the job posting itself, and even where it is not required, including a range gets you more and better-matched applicants and saves time confirming a number on the phone. Because the rules differ by location and change often, the simplest habit is to include a real range on every posting rather than tracking which rule applies where.
What is the difference between a job description and a job posting?
A job description is the internal reference document: the full statement of the role, its essential functions, qualifications, and classification, used for hiring, performance, and compliance. A job posting is the outward-facing advertisement drawn from it, written to attract applicants, usually shorter and warmer. Write the description first, then adapt it into the posting; doing it the other way around is why so many descriptions read like ad copy.
Should a job description list specific software or tools?
Usually no, at least not in the essential functions. Describe the outcome ("reconcile the monthly statements") rather than the tool ("use QuickBooks to reconcile"), because baking a specific product into an essential function narrows your candidate pool for no real reason and can undercut a reasonable accommodation later. If a specific tool is genuinely required, list it under preferred qualifications, not as the essence of the work.
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