Web Designer Job Description

When writing any web design job description, it is because you have a need in your department that you must fill by opening a position. Whether this position is brand new or whether this position has been opened because someone else left, it’s the perfect time to review what your needs are now and will be in the future and ensure you attract the right candidates with your job description.

There are four main sections to consider when writing a web designer job description. These are: Basic Requirements, Detailed Requirements, Experience (required and preferred), and Education. A final section may be added to contain miscellaneous items.

Some basic requirements that should be added into almost any job description include the following:

Primary Activity: Should the candidate be able to test and code? Will the candidate have to document their code or assist in user testing? In this requirement, simply identify the primary activities your web designer will have to be able to perform.
Reporting Structure: Does this new person report up through finance, customer care or some other organization? This is important because if the finance executive is the one signing the paycheck, then a financial background could prove beneficial.
Customer: Very briefly, identify the customer. Is the customer internal or external? Is the customer at the executive level of the company or is the customer at a lower level. This helps so you can attract employees who would be comfortable working with the customer on a daily basis.
Work requirements: Does the person have to be on-call? Will the job require travel, heavy lifting or require the employee to drive a company car. These types of work requirements will help the potential candidate know whether their personal abilities will meet the needs of the company.

Here’s a great example of how to phrase the initial, basic requirements:

Overview
Reporting to the Director of Information Technologies in the Financial Services unit, this employee will work closely with the Customer Care Project Managers to design code and test web functionality in order to meet the needs of external customers. This person will need to be able to travel about 20% of the time to other locations within the US and will be on-call one weekend per month.

Now it’s time to look at the specific job requirements as it relates to web design. In web design, there are so many unique niche areas, that it’s better to be a little more specific than to be vague. Of course, remember – many languages and databases are very similar. A candidate with one type of experience may very well be able to easily transition to your technologies.

Some of the technologies you list should include any of the following:

Languages(s): HTML, XHTML, JavaScript, .NET, CSS, PHP, SQL, and others
Software(s): Dreamweaver, Paint Shop Pro, Photoshop or Adobe Illustrator, and others
Operating System(s): Windows, UNIX, Macintosh, or others
Browser(s): Internet Explorer, Firefox, and others
Database(s): SQL Server, Oracle, and others
Web Servers: Apache, MS IIS, and others

Another thing to add in this area is further explain the primary activity. For example, if the incumbent is to create web pages, does it require the use of approved templates or will the incumbent need to create prototypes. Is the incumbent required to help train end users or perform maintenance on the web servers?

When adding this section into a job description, it’s almost better to use a bulleted or numbered list. It’s easier for the prospective candidate to read and it’s much easier to ensure you don’t miss anything vital. Here is a great example:

Detailed Requirements
Creates and designs web prototypes to enhance the Customer Care systems, housed on a UNIX server
Must be able to train customer care representatives while engaging in user testing activities
Must be able to create JavaScript code and use PL SQL for access into Oracle relational databases
Ability to create graphical representations and user icons with Photoshop and Dreamweaver
Web pages should be accessible and functional through Internet Explorer and Firefox browsers and will reside on Apache web servers
Web pages should be accessible and functional for use by all levels of external clients on all types of systems, including older personal computers and Macintosh computers.

The Required and Preferred Experience would be the next section. Now that you’ve identified what the person will be doing and what technologies he will be using, it’s time to show what level of experience you need. For example, if you need a very senior person to code in the .NET framework, you might specify 5-7 years of experience. If you only need a junior level programmer, then at least six months of experience might be acceptable.

The difference between required and preferred experience all depends upon how much you wish to train. In our examples so far, the company needs someone to work on Customer Care applications using JavaScript. In this example – JavaScript would probably be the required experience and Customer Care the preferred. You would consider someone who has never worked in Customer Care before because you can easily teach them to your customer policies and procedures, but it you wouldn’t consider anyone who couldn’t create Java code.

This section is also good for bullets or a numbered list. Let’s look at an example:

Required Experience:
A minimum of five years experience in web design across multiple browsers
Two years experience in JavaScript
Two years experience in SQL
One year experience in relational databases, with a preference given to those who are experience in Oracle
Demonstrated knowledge of Photoshop and Dreamweaver
Demonstrated knowledge of cross-browser and platform issues
Ability to work as a member of a team with a customer-oriented mindset

Preferred Experience:
Demonstrated experience creating Customer Care applications
Demonstrated experience in training end users
2 years of web application documentation in the English language
Experience in Financial Services

The fourth required section should identify Education. This is rather simple and could be one or two sentences. For example:

Education
Bachelor’s degree in IT, Graphic Design, or similar discipline is required. Web Technologies or Multimedia Certifications considered in lieu of education.

Although most job descriptions don’t have any miscellaneous requirements, it’s possible you have one or two. These could be whether you will sponsor an immigration VISA or 3rd party applications. You may also wish to display the salary level as well.

Miscellaneous
3rd party candidates NOT accepted
VISA sponsorship OK
Salary: $40,000 to $60,000 per year

Once you follow these steps and organize your designer job description according to the major sections, you should be able to attract the candidates that will best meet your needs.