Writing a Job Description
As a leading European lifescience and medical device recruitment company Remtec is pleased to offer you guidance on writing a Job Description (JD)
Once you have made the decision to hire a new employee the next task is to write a detailed JD, this is not a legal requirement but it can be useful for deciding the scope of the work, advertising the role, and clarifying what applicants will have to do in the role. It also assists in the deciding of interview questions and competencies required and allows the employer to make an informed hiring decision.
This section suggests things to include that are often missed out of a JD.
In the ideal world each candidate would have a detailed knowledge of the marketplace and will have heard of your company, but the European Lifescience and healthcare market consists of many thousands of companies and particularly if you?re a new entrant to the market or a new start up then the JD is often the first thing the candidate will see about your company, it is to the company, what a CV is to a candidate.
It needs to act as an information tool as well as a tool to sell the opportunity to join the company, it should contain the following.
Company Overview
A brief but informative overview of the business, the product area, the key brand names, to aid web searching, your web address and your growth and development plans as a reason for wanting candidates to join the business.
Location of the role
This is an area of most debate and time wasting within the recruitment marketplace, it is imperative to communicate this clearly.
If the role is office based this should be clearly stated, with a guide to, what distance from the office the candidate lives would be acceptable to the company, if applicable hours of work should also be included.
Marketing roles are often part office based and part work from home or in the field once again clear indication as to the percentage of time in the office or the amount of travel involved is important.
Sales managers roles are mostly field based with a requirement to visit the office regularly, the JD should stipulate how often this is likely to be and what distance from the office the company would be happy for someone to live.
UK sales, roles should have a clear list of counties, main towns, hospitals or post codes however the company divides territories with a couple of ideal living locations specified.
International roles should list the countries, regions or continents managed with a couple of ideal living locations specified.
Home based roles allow the employee to claim mileage allowance for all journeys including those to and from the office, since their official place of work is their home, thus labelling a role ?home based? will increase the pool of candidates who apply for the role, this extra expense being claimed may be a useful negotiation tool with candidates.
Key Role and Responsibilities
This section is generally a series of bullet points listing the key responsibilities of the role ? namely:
Size of sales team, value of the business, launching new products, managing various countries and distributors, developing new products, raising finance and whatever other information outlines the role.
Person Specification
This section is generally as series of bullet points outlining what experience is required and would normally include the following
Qualifications, a degree, what discipline you would like this to be Science, engineering or business, or a professional qualification - CIM diploma in marketing, qualified nurse or chartered engineer.
Language requirements if applicable.
Specific functional experience, sales, marketing, general management.
Specific industry knowledge, hospital or community market, UK or International sales.
Specific technical requirements, knowledge of CE marking, ISO 13485, FDA or PMA processes.
Management experience required, size of teams or businesses managed.
Legal requirements
It is important that the company recruitment process and documentation conform with all current legislation and this generally covers the following areas.
Age, gender, sexual orientation, disability, race, marital status and religion and you are recommended to seek professional HR legal advice to ensure your process and documentation is compliant.
