Standard 9: Proactive recruitment and onboarding for timely start-up.

• Primary responsible: Human resources (HR) manager or officer (for national staff) and headquarters (HQ) talent acquisition specialist (for international staff)
  • The HR manager (or officer) or HQ talent acquisition specialist leads the process to ensure each project position has a clear job description (JD).

• Others involved: Hiring manager; project manager/chief of party (PM/CoP) (for positions for which the PM/CoP is not the hiring manager); country representative (CR) or delegated approver
  • The hiring manager (often the PM/CoP) works with HR to develop/update JDs.
  • The PM/CoP provides support to HR and partners, and uses final JDs for onboarding and project management;
  • The CR or delegate provides approval.

• Externally funded projects:
  
  • For proposals with a high win probability: Develop/finalize any JDs for staff not designated as "key personnel"“Key personnel” is a specific term used by the U.S. government. Many requests for applications (RFAs) require that the applicant identify key personnel for the project; some require that the applicant propose specific individuals for key personnel positions and submit CVs for key personnel candidates. Key personnel candidates must be approved by the donor and any changes to key personnel during project implementation require prior approval from the donor. or project leadership shortly after proposal submission.
  • For other proposals: Develop/finalize JDs as soon as there is an indication of a win.
• ​Discretionary funded projects: Develop/finalize JDs during early start-up; allow enough time to ensure the project is fully staffed by its start date.

Follow these steps to ensure that all proposed CRS and partner project positions have clear job descriptions:

1. The HR manager or officer reviews any JDs included in the proposal to ensure they are still accurate.
2. If CRS did not develop a JD for a position during proposal development, or if the JD has changed since proposal development, the hiring manager works with the HR manager or officer (or HQ talent acquisition specialist) to create or update the JD.

• For creating and updating JDs, use the library of standard CRS job descriptionsThe standard JDs are pre-populated with typical job responsibilities; experience, qualification, and skills requirements; and competencies; and formatted using CRS’ standard job description template. . For JD updates, use Step 2 in the draft Country Program National Staff Recruitment Checklist and Guidance or Step 2 in the Recruitment Guide for Hiring Managers; incorporate final project details, and tailor the summary of responsibilities, necessary qualifications and competencies for the project.
• For positions that include significant responsibility for partnership and capacity strengthening (P/CS), refer to the sample P/CS CRS job description.
• To create a JD for a position for which there is no standard CRS JD, use the CRS standard job description template and include responsibilities, competencies, and requirements for qualifications and past experience. Clearly describe the staff member’s responsibilities in relation to project management.

Remember that good JDs are important for recruitment. Once staff are hired, JDs are also important for guiding job training and employee development and serve as points of reference for performance evaluations and salary administration. Identify appropriate standard JDs and then adapt per guidance. Follow the "outlier process"In the “outlier process,” the HR manager adjusts the format of the outlier job description to fit CRS’ standard JD template format and uses criteria from Birches Group (consultant specialists with a focus on markets outside of the United States) to recommend banding alignment. The HR manager then determines an appropriate title and job family and shares recommendations with the regional HR focal point, CR, head of operations (HoOps) and/or supervisor of the staff for confirmation, and approval by CR. for positions that do not align with standard JDs.

3. The HR manager completes and submits a Personnel Requisition Form (PRF) with the JD to the hiring manager and/or the CR (or authorized approver) for review, approval, and use in the recruitment process. For international positions hired through HQ, the hiring manager creates a requisition via the Applicant Tracking System for Hiring Managers.
4. The PM/CoP and supervisors use the final, approved JDs to help guide staff onboarding.