Latest / Executive Careers with Fexingo: VP, C-Suite, and Senior Leadership Career Strategy / How Senior Leaders Write Their Own Job Descriptions
Transcript
- Lucas: Most job descriptions you see at the VP level and above are written by someone who has never done the job, for a role that hasn't existed before, using language that is either impossibly vague or painfully specific in the wrong places. Luna: And you're going to tell me there's a way around that. Lucas: There is. You write your own. Not after you get the offer, not during the negotiation — before you even apply. Before you talk to the recruiter. You draft the job description for the role you want, and you use it to shape the conversation from the very first conversation. Luna: That feels... aggressive. Like you're telling the company you know their business better than they do. Lucas: It can come across that way if you do it badly. But done well, it signals something boards and search committees are starving for — clarity of thought. Let me give you a real example. I know a former Fortune 500 CFO — let's call her Sarah — who was approached by a recruiter for a board seat at a mid-cap industrial company. The initial job description was four bullet points: oversee audit committee, provide financial oversight, attend quarterly meetings, yada yada. Luna: The kind of thing a lawyer writes to avoid saying anything. Lucas: Exactly. So Sarah drafted a three-page role charter. She didn't call it a job description. She called it 'My Understanding of the Role and How I'd Add Value in Year One.' She laid out specific deliverables — like leading a capital allocation framework review in the first six months, restructuring the audit committee charter to align with new SEC rules, and mentoring the CFO on investor day prep. She sent it to the recruiter before the first interview. Luna: And what happened? Lucas: The recruiter nearly fell over. He said the board had been trying to articulate that for months and couldn't. They used her document as the basis for the actual board role description. She got the seat. And here's the key — she didn't write it to get what she wanted. She wrote it because she wanted to be sure the role was worth her time. Luna: So the framing matters. You're not saying 'hire me on my terms.' You're saying 'let me make sure we're aligned on what success looks like.' Lucas: Exactly. And that flips the power dynamic. You're no longer a candidate reacting to a description. You're a partner helping them define the work. That's a huge signal at the executive level. Most senior roles are ambiguous by design — companies don't always know what they need until they see someone who can name it. Luna: But what about the risk of being wrong? If you write a detailed plan and the company says 'that's not what we need,' you've basically talked yourself out of the job. Lucas: That's actually the best outcome. If you're misaligned from day one, you want to know before you invest three months of interviews and reference checks. Better to disqualify yourself early than to take a role that's a bad fit. But honestly, most companies don't have a fixed view. They have a wish list. Your document becomes the anchor. And if they push back on specific points, that's a conversation — not a rejection. Luna: So what goes into this document? Walk me through the structure. Lucas: Three sections. First, the mandate — one paragraph that states the core problem you understand the role to solve. Not 'oversee operations' but 'transform the supply chain from cost center to competitive advantage within 18 months.' Second, the specific deliverables — three to five measurable outcomes for year one. Third, the resources and authority you'll need — budget, headcount, decision rights, board access. That last part is crucial because it forces the company to be honest about what they're actually willing to give you. Luna: And when do you present it? Before the first interview, after, during? Lucas: Before the first formal interview is ideal. Send it to the recruiter or the hiring manager with a note that says 'I've been thinking about this role and wanted to share my initial perspective so we can make the best use of our time together.' That way it's a tool for efficiency, not a demand. For internal promotions, you can hand it to your boss or the succession planning committee. Actually, that's one of the most powerful applications. Luna: Internal promotions are trickier because you're already known. If you've been a VP of marketing for three years and you want to be CMO, writing a job description for the CMO role could look like you're angling. Lucas: It can. But the smart way is to frame it as a transition plan. You say 'Here's how I see the CMO role evolving given our current challenges, and here's how I'd structure my first six months if selected.' That's not presumptuous — it's strategic. I've seen CEOs hand that document straight to the board as part of the succession discussion. Luna: Let me ask about the negotiation piece. If you've already written your own job description, does that set expectations that are hard to walk back? Like, if the company says 'we love your plan but we can only give you a team of five, not ten' — you've already committed to deliverables that require ten. Lucas: That's exactly why you include the resources section. You're not just listing deliverables — you're saying 'to achieve X, I need Y.' If they can't give you Y, you renegotiate the deliverables. The document becomes the basis for a transparent conversation about trade-offs. And that's a much healthier negotiation than haggling over base salary. Luna: It also forces you to be honest with yourself. Before you even start interviewing, you have to decide what matters to you. Is it the scope of the role? The team size? The board access? You can't write the document without clarifying your own priorities. Lucas: That's the hidden benefit. Most executives go into a search reactive — they answer questions, they talk about their experience. They never stop to define what they actually want the job to be. Writing your own job description is an act of self-leadership. And it's hard. It took Sarah three drafts and a conversation with a former board chair to get hers right. Luna: I also wonder about the language. You don't want to sound like you're writing your own press release. The tone has to be collaborative, not presumptuous. Lucas: Absolutely. Use phrases like 'my initial read on this is' and 'I'd love to test my thinking with you.' Avoid 'I will' and 'the role requires.' It's a hypothesis, not a decree. And don't send it as a PDF attachment with a formal cover letter. Send it as a shared Google Doc or a clean email with bullet points. Keep it fluid. The goal is to start a conversation, not close one. Luna: Honestly, if this episode was worth a coffee to you, that's the link — buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. We keep the show ad-free because of listeners who find value in these concrete strategies. If it helped you think about your next role differently, that's all we ask. Lucas: Yeah, same page. It's a small gesture that lets us keep doing deep dives like this one. Not a subscription, not a paywall — just a one-time coffee if today's topic landed for you. Luna: All right, back to the strategy. One thing I want to dig into — how does this work for roles where the job description is actually well-written? Say you're looking at a VP role at a company that has a very detailed, specific job description already. Do you still write your own? Lucas: You do — but you treat theirs as a starting point. Take their description and annotate it. Say 'I see you've listed these five priorities. Based on my experience, I'd suggest adding a sixth around digital transformation, and here's why.' Then you share your annotated version. It shows you've done your homework and you can think at the level of the role, not just execute against a checklist. Luna: So it's always about adding value, not replacing their work. Lucas: Exactly. And it works even if you're not actively looking. If a recruiter reaches out about a role you're not sure about, writing a quick one-pager on how you'd approach it is a great way to test your own interest and show the recruiter you're serious. I've seen executives get flown in for board interviews just because they sent a thoughtful email with a role charter attached. Luna: There's a psychological element too. By the time you walk into the interview, you've already shaped the frame. The interviewer is now responding to your document, not the other way around. Lucas: That's the real power move. You're no longer a candidate being evaluated against a checklist you didn't write. You're a peer who's already thinking about how to solve their problems. And at the senior level, that's the difference between being an applicant and being a partner. Luna: What about the risk that they just take your ideas and hire someone else? I've heard executives worry about that. Lucas: It happens. But if you're worried about that, you're probably not senior enough for this strategy to matter. At the VP and C-suite level, your value isn't a list of initiatives — it's your judgment, your network, your ability to execute in a specific context. Stealing your ideas without hiring you is a sign they weren't serious about you anyway. And frankly, if they steal your plan, that means you influenced the strategy — which is a credential you can cite. Luna: One last question — for listeners who want to try this. How long should the document be? And should you include compensation expectations? Lucas: Keep it to one to two pages max. Three if the role is complex. And no, don't include comp. The job description is about the work. Comp comes later in a separate conversation. If you bring money into the role charter, it dilutes the signal. You want them to think 'this person is focused on impact' not 'this person is focused on their paycheck.' Luna: And the title? Do you put your desired title on it? Like 'Chief Operating Officer'? Lucas: I'd use the title they're hiring for, not the one you want. If they're hiring for a VP of Operations, call it that. Don't rename the role. But you can include a parenthetical like 'VP of Operations, with potential to evolve into COO within two years' — that's a conversation starter, not a demand. Luna: It's almost like bringing a map to a hike where the trail isn't marked. You're not telling them where to go — you're showing them you've thought about the route. Lucas: That's exactly it. And most executives walk into those conversations without a map. They just start walking and hope the trail appears. This is a way to walk in with a compass — and a willingness to adjust based on what you learn. It's one of the highest-leverage things you can do in a senior-level search.