Role design
Clarify the reporting line before candidates have to ask
Clarify more than the manager’s name. Explain who sets priorities, evaluates performance, approves important decisions, and supplies day-to-day input. Where a matrix exists, distinguish formal accountability from working partnerships. Resolve competing expectations before interviewing, then give candidates a realistic picture of how disagreements and changes in direction are handled.
On this page
Map four kinds of authority
Write who sets goals, allocates work, reviews quality, and decides performance outcomes. These may be the same person or several people. Do not hide complexity behind dotted-line language. A candidate needs to know whose request wins when priorities compete and whether the formal manager understands the craft well enough to support development.
Describe the manager relationship
State the manager’s role, location or working overlap, team size, and expected cadence of one-to-ones or planning. Avoid promising a management style as a fixed cultural trait. Instead, describe current practices and what the new hire can expect to own independently. If the manager is also new or changing, say what has been decided and what remains open.
Define cross-functional influence
Identify partners who provide requirements, expertise, or approval. Explain which relationships are collaborative and which carry a formal gate. The role should not be accountable for an outcome that another team can block indefinitely without escalation. Name the forum or leader that resolves conflicts so candidates can assess the operating model rather than guessing from the org chart.
Align performance feedback
If several leaders will comment on performance, decide who gathers and interprets the input. Feedback should connect to agreed outcomes, not whichever stakeholder has the loudest recent complaint. Tell candidates how priorities and evaluation stay coherent. This is especially useful for distributed teams where informal context may not travel equally.
- Who sets quarterly priorities?
- Who approves major tradeoffs?
- Who evaluates performance?
- Who resolves partner conflict?
Surface a matrix conflict
Illustrative example: a data analyst formally reports to analytics but works daily with marketing. Both leaders believe they set the backlog. Before hiring, they agree that marketing proposes questions, the analytics manager sets technical standards and capacity, and a monthly planning forum resolves order. The candidate can now ask informed questions about priorities instead of discovering the conflict after joining.
Update the role if the line changes
Organisations move during a search. When the manager or operating model changes, revisit outcomes, level, interview panel, and candidate communication. Tell active candidates promptly if the change affects their decision. Do not describe a temporary reporting line as settled. Clear uncertainty is more useful than a neat diagram that leadership already expects to replace. Before accepting the change, ask who will provide weekly direction during the transition, who owns performance feedback, and when the arrangement will be reviewed. Temporary structures still need working authority. Write those interim commitments into the candidate brief.
Next step
Create a one-page authority map for the role and resolve any task, decision, or performance outcome that appears to have two final owners.