/ A
Remarkable
Place
To Work.

Notes for recruiting departments - LAST UPDATED July 2017

These notes are to provide recruiting managers with further guidance on completing the About The Job (ATJ) template.

If you require any further assistance in putting your ATJ together please contact your customary HR adviser.

Once completed don’t forget to provide the appointee with a copy of the ATJ as part of their induction. This document will form the foundation of the induction process and future review of the appointee’s development

FOR EACH ATJ / X
Are you using the most up-to-date version of this template? Up to date ATJ
All University staff contribute to achieving the University’s Mission, Vision and Identity as detailed within the Strategic plan (Our plan). You need to ensure that reference to these principles is built into the responsibilities of every role.
For academic posts: The University's expectations of the qualities and responsibilities of its academic staff are presented in the Sheffield Academic statement (Sheffield Academic). Please refer to this when creating the ATJ for all academic posts.
For professional services posts: The University’s expectations of the qualities of its professional service staff are presented in the Sheffield Professional.
Sheffield Professional
Please refer to this when creating an ATJ for all professional service posts. /
The Sheffield Leader Behaviours: The Sheffield Leader Behaviours are introduced to participants of Sheffield Leader, at all levels, together with theSheffield Leader Statement.
Please refer to this when creating an ATJ for all posts with leadership duties. /
Give full consideration to the grading of the post in line with the agreed University grade profiles. University grade profiles
Please remove all prompts before submitting (these are in italics throughout the template).
Check all text that you provide is in TUOS Blake font, size 12
Attach the completed ATJ to the job requisition in e-Recruitment in Word format.

------START OF TEMPLATE------

Overview

[Action: Use this section to sell the opportunity and set the context of the post. Provide a succinct and relevant summary overview of (1) the role; its purpose and who you’re looking for (e.g. highlight the top 3 essential criteria from your person specification) and (2) how the post will contribute to the aims and objectives of the faculty, department, and University strategy.

Person Specification

[Action:

  • The criteria set within the person specification will form the basis on which you must measure all applicants and their suitability to undertake the post. Take care to identify the assessment which will most effectively measure the criterion in question, eg application, interview, presentations, writing tests, technical test etc.
  • Prioritise all the essential criteria needed for the role at the top of the list. Follow with desirable but not essential.
  • Criteria might include requirements around: qualifications and relevant work experience; generic and specific knowledge; leadership and management strengths and skills. Other strengths, skills and abilities, including for example: communication; customer service; team working; managing and motivating staff performance and progress; project management; problem solving; decision making; personal effectiveness, etc.
  • The examples included below may not be appropriate for all grades of post, please amend to suit the needs of the post.
  • Please use an ‘X’ to mark criteria as essential or desirable, as other icons may not be viewed by some Apple users]

Applicants should provide evidence in their applications that they meet the following criteria. We will use a range of selection methods to measure candidates’ abilities in these areas including reviewing your online application, seeking references, inviting shortlisted candidates to interview and other forms of assessment action relevant to the post.

Criteria / Essential / Desirable
1. / eg Have a good honours degree (or equivalent experience). / X
2. / eg Proven teaching ability, ideally with a teaching qualification. / X
3. / eg Knowledge of relevant systems, policies, legislation and quality standards / X
4. / eg Experience of motivating and communicating with a team of staff. / X
5. / eg Effective communication skills, both written and verbal, report writing skills, experience of delivering presentations ; communicating to staff at all levels the organisation’s strategic plan and their personal contribution towards it / X
6. / eg Excellent customer service skills, with experience of responding efficiently and effectively to phone and email enquiries. / X
7. / eg Ability to develop creative approaches to problem solving. / X
8. / eg Ability to analyse and solve problems with an appreciation of longer-term implications. / X
9. / eg Ability to assess and organise resources, and plan and progress work activities. / X
10. / eg Experience of a range of project management approaches. / X
11. / eg Experience of building and developing a team and aligning the day-to-day work and goals of the team with the organisation’s strategic vision. / X
12. / eg Experience of reviewing individual/team progress and performance and embedding organisational strategy into individual performance planning. / X
13. / eg Ability to motivate high performance in others. / X
14. / For all technical posts please include: Technical Professional Registration or the willingness to work towards it. / X
15. / eg Experience of developing and maintaining a network of contacts throughout own work area. / X
16. / eg Experience of adapting own skills to new circumstances. / X

About the Team

[Action: describe to candidates what the team, or department is like. Add useful weblinks, eg to departmental web pages, plus any social media links that might help the candidate learn more about the team they would be working with, key relationships, and what it’s like to work here (eg departmental twitter feed, YouTube video or Facebook group). Here is also a good place to highlight key faculty or departmental awards eg Athena Swan]

Job Description

[Action: Summarise as bullet points the main duties involved in this role in order of importance, including planning and organising, resource management responsibilities, communicating and embedding the University’s Strategic Plan. Template generic job descriptions which can be used and amended are available for many roles here]

Main Duties and Responsibilities

  • xxx
  • xxx
  • xxx
  • (For Academic posts please include this) You will make a full and active contribution to the principles of the ‘Sheffield Academic’. These include the achievement of excellence in applied teaching and research, and scholarly pursuits to make a genuine difference in the subject area and to the University’s achievements as a whole. Further information on the underpinning values of the Sheffield Academic can be found at: Sheffield Academic.
  • (For Professional Service posts please include this)As a member of our Professional staff you will be expected to demonstrate a commitment to the professional behaviours set out in the Sheffield Professional Framework. Please follow this link for further information: Sheffield Professional Framework.
  • (Leave in for all posts) Any other duties, commensurate with the grade of the post.

Reward Package

Terms and conditions of employment:(DELETE as applicable) Will be those for Grade X staff. Or Will be those for XXX (insert the name of the organisation) staff, see Appendix X.
Salary for this grade: £xx,xxx - £xx,xxx per annum pro-rata (DELETE pro-rata if not applicable). Potential to progress to £xx,xxx per annum through sustained exceptional contribution.
[Action: COMPLETE/DELETE as applicable]
This post is fixed-term with a start date of XXX and an end date of XXX.
Or
This post is open ended.
This post is full-time:
This role has been identified as a full-time post, but we are committed to exploring flexible working opportunities with our staff which benefit both the individual and the University (See Therefore, we would consider flexible delivery of the role subject to meeting the business needs of the post. If you wish to explore flexible working opportunities in relation to this post, we encourage you to call or email the departmental contact listed below.
Or
This post is part-time:
Grades 1-6: specify number of hours per week eg working 21 hours per week
Grades 7+: specify working commitment as a percentage eg 60%,
State specific days if required for business need or if negotiable insert “working pattern to be agreed”
[Note – posts of 16 hours or less may also be suitable for advertisement in the University of Sheffield Student Jobshop run by the Careers Service]
If you join the University you will have access to a Total Reward Package that includes a competitive salary, a generous Pension Scheme and annual leave entitlement, as well as access to a range of learning and development courses to support your personal and professional development. You will have access to your own personalised portal where you can also access a comprehensive selection of benefits and offers to suit your changing lifestyle needs, for example financial wellbeing, travel options, shopping and cinema discounts.
To find out more visit / We are committed to making the University a remarkable place to work and we support this through a number of sector leading initiatives such as Juice and Sheffield Leader.
Our innovative Health and Wellbeing programme, Juice, promotes happiness and wellbeing through a broad range of inclusive activities.To find out more visit
Our leadership development has been designed to ensure that our leaders have the knowledge, skills and behaviours needed by the University. To find out more visit

We are also proud of our award-winning equality and diversity action which enhances working life for all. 92% of staff tell us they are treated with fairness and respect (staff survey 2016)
We are the only university to feature in the Sunday Times 100 Best Not-for-Profit organisations to work for 2016. In our staff survey (2016) 94% of staff said they were proud to work for the University and 89% of our staff would recommend the University as an excellent place to work. To find out more about what it’s like to work here visitremarkable.group.shef.ac.uk

Selection – Next Steps

Closing date: For details of the closing date please view this post on our web pages at

Following the closing date, we will contact you by email to let you know whether or not you have been shortlisted to participate in the next stage of the selection process. Please note that due to the large number of applications that we receive, it may take up to two working weeksfollowing the closing date before the recruiting department will be able to contact you.

It is anticipated that interviews and other selection action will be held on XXX. Full details will be provided to invited candidates.

For more information on our application and recruitment processes visit

Informal enquiries

For informal enquiries about this job and the recruiting department, contact: NAME on or on 0114 222 xxxx.

For administration queries and details on the application process, contact the lead recruiter: NAME on or on 0114 222 xxxx.

For all online application system queries and support, visit:

Criminal records check(DELETE if not applicable)

If a check is required confirm with your HR contact which option is relevant to the post

(Option 1)Please note that due to the duties of this post, the appointee will be required to obtain a satisfactory Basic Check - Disclosure Scotland.

(Option 2)Please note that as this post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, a satisfactory Disclosure and Barring Service Disclosure will be required for the appointee. If you have a spent criminal record and are invited to interview for this post, you are required to provide details of your convictions in confidence, with the job reference number/ title of post/recruiting department, in advance of the interview to the Deputy Director of HR, Human Resources, The University of Sheffield, The Arts Tower, Western Bank, Sheffield, S10 2TN (mark the envelope PERSONAL). This information will be treated as strictly confidential and will only be considered if you are invited to interview for the post.

(Option 3 DELETE if not involving work with children or vulnerable adults)

If you have been barred from working with children or vulnerable adults by the Disclosure and Barring Service it is a criminal offence to apply for a post involving regulated activity with children or vulnerable adults. Regulated activity involves contact of a specified nature. If you are unsure if you may apply for this post for this reason then please contact XXX (insert HR Advisers name and contact details) in Human Resources for further information.

(DELETE if post does not include access to biological services facilities)

Appointment to the post will be subject to a security check, which will be carried out for the preferred candidate.

Creating a remarkable place to work

We build teams of people from different heritages and lifestyles whose talent and contributions complement each other to greatest effect. We believe diversity in all its forms delivers greater impact through research, teaching and student experience.

We are consistently ranked in the top 100 of the world’s universities, but there’s so much more to us than that. By joining the University, you will be joining award-winning teams and departments who are all working together to make the University of Sheffield a remarkable place to work.

Learn more here.