Human Resources Division

Generic role descriptions

Background and purpose

We regularly receive requests for CHRIS/PD33s which are a good example of a type of role at a specific grade. With this in mind, we have begun to develop some generic CHRIS/PD33s for roles which are common throughout the University. We hope that this will save time and effort within institutions and the HR Division by reducing the number of CHRIS/PD33s that are being written and graded, freeing up time to concentrate on more complex roles.

Generic CHRIS/PD33s may also provide a better understanding of the step changes from grade to grade and offer a starting point for writing CHRIS/PD33s for more complex roles.

So far we have developed generic CHRIS/PD33s for a limited number of posts which are listed below. These are either common roles to many departments or divisions of the University or areas which we have received specific requests to look at. We anticipate that this will increase, so please check back periodically in case others have been added that would be useful to you.

If you would like one or more generic CHRIS/PD33s developed by Grading and Reward, please let us know (tel. 60534, email gradingandreward@admin.cam.ac.uk). However, we will only do this if it/they can also be used by a number of departments and would be appropriate for a significant number of roles.

We have not completed every section of the CHRIS/PD33 as we believe that this is not necessary for these types of roles and there should be sufficient information in the duties and responsibilities and knowledge and experience to enable a match to be made. For example, involvement in safe working practices is incorporated in the duties. This would normally go in the work environment section. This has been done to try to make the document concise and user friendly, and to reduce repetition.

What is available now

If you wish to establish a job for which a generic CHRIS/PD33s may have been written, please follow the link to the appropriate CHRIS/PD33.

Academic and research roles

The generic role profiles for academic and research roles are available:

Academic profiles

• Professor
• Reader
• University Senior Lecturer
• University Lecturer

If you would like to establish one of the above posts please complete a CHRIS/2 form.

Research profiles

• Senior Research Associate
• Research Associate
• Research Assistant

If you would like to establish one of these three posts please follow the procedure as outlined in the Career Management Scheme For Contract Research Staff.

How to use them

We suggest that you follow this process if you think a generic CHRIS/PD33 may be appropriate. After you have used this process a few times you may be able to skip certain steps:

• Write a simple list of duties and expectations for the role you wish to establish (this can be modified later for the recruitment process) to gain a sense of the level of the post you would like to establish. It is necessary to consider the basic tasks of the post and not the detailed description of each task. For example, in a laboratory environment the exact experiment is not important; that the post involves experiments in a laboratory is.
• Compare this list to the generic CHRIS/PD33 closest in grade to that sought, to ensure compatibility. You may wish to practise this with existing CHRIS/PD33s in your department that have been HERA scored by Grading and Reward. We can supply other practise CHRIS/PD33s if you do not have appropriate documents in your department.
• Do not necessarily choose the generic CHRIS/PD33 at the appropriate grade, if the general spirit and sense of the requirements of the duties do not fit overall with the content of the generic CHRIS/PD33. If you are unsure at all, write a brief CHRIS/PD33 and we will advise a grade or suggest which generic may be appropriate (if possible).
• We recommend that you complete a full CHRIS/PD33 to Grading and Reward if there are unusual duties within an otherwise standard post.
• Please take note of the list of exceptions at the end of each generic CHRIS/PD33. This will also help guide you as to whether a particular generic CHRIS/PD33 is suitable.

However, it is not intended that a generic CHRIS/PD33 will replace a full job description that you may wish to use in the recruitment process.

The grading request form

If you have found that a generic CHRIS/PD33 is appropriate for your purposes, please add the code to the grading request form. You do not need to attach the generic CHRIS/PD33 to the form and we will be able to issue the CHRIS/1 in a matter of days using this process.

If you do not see an appropriate generic CHRIS/PD33

We have added at the end of each generic CHRIS/PD33 a list of reasons why the generic may not be appropriate. It is important that you take note of this information as not to do so may result in a post being incorrectly graded.

If you believe that a generic CHRIS/PD33 is not applicable you will have to write a CHRIS/PD33 (unless you can establish a clone or near clone from an existing role).

• Information about how to clone a role
• Guidance on writing a CHRIS/PD33

Still have a query?

If you are still uncertain or unclear contact Grading and Reward for further advice (tel. 60534, email gradingandreward@admin.cam.ac.uk).