How to Build Job Architecture from Scratch: 10 Steps to Get It Right

Many organisations begin building job architecture after noticing the same problems: similar jobs have different titles, employees are promoted without a clear change in responsibility, and managers struggle to explain why one position belongs in a higher salary grade than another.

A job architecture gives the business a common structure for describing work. Done well, it connects job families, career paths, levels and job profiles so that hiring, workforce planning and remuneration decisions can be made consistently. It does not need to begin with a large consulting project. An HR team can create a useful first version using existing position descriptions, a spreadsheet and structured discussions with business leaders.

This guide explains how to build a job architecture framework from scratch, including the decisions to make, the data to collect and the checks to complete before implementation.

Step 1: Decide what the framework needs to solve

Before creating job levels, agree on why the organisation needs the architecture. If the immediate problem is inconsistent job titles, the first priority may be a common job catalogue. If career progression is unclear, career streams and level descriptors will matter more. If the organisation wants salary bands, the architecture must also support job evaluation and market benchmarking.

A useful project brief should cover the workforce in scope, the business decisions the framework will support, who approves the design and what a completed framework will contain.

For example, a 250-person company might decide to deliver a standard job family catalogue, two career streams, six broad job levels, consistent job profiles and a process for classifying new roles. Those are design choices, not mandatory standards. A smaller organisation may need fewer levels, while a diversified employer may require a more detailed structure.

Step 2: Build an inventory of the jobs you already have

Export the current job information from the HR system and combine it with available position descriptions and organisation charts. At this stage, focus on positions and the work performed, not on the characteristics or performance of the employees occupying them.

A practical starting spreadsheet can include:

Remove duplicate position records and flag inconsistent titles or outdated descriptions. Several employees may occupy the same job profile, so you do not necessarily need a separate profile for every person.

If the business has 40 Account Managers performing substantially comparable work, a common job profile with documented variations may be more useful than 40 different position descriptions.

Step 3: Group jobs into families and subfamilies

A job family groups positions that perform related types of work and draw on broadly similar professional capabilities. Common families include Finance, People and Culture, Technology, Operations, Sales, Marketing and Legal.

Subfamilies provide greater detail when the business needs it. Finance, for example, might include Financial Accounting, Financial Planning and Analysis, Treasury and Tax.

Here is an illustrative structure:

Try not to create a new family for every department or unusual title. A job family is an occupational grouping, not a replica of the organisation chart. A Finance Business Partner working in an Operations division may still belong in the Finance family.

The Australian Public Service Commission's Job Family Framework provides an Australian example of classifying work by family, function and role. It is a useful reference for occupational grouping, although its public-sector taxonomy is not a prescribed grading system for private employers.

Step 4: Create career streams before finalising levels

Employees should be able to progress without every senior position becoming a people-management role. Career streams recognise different forms of contribution within the same organisation.

A practical structure could include a support or operational stream, a professional or specialist stream, a people leadership stream and an executive stream. Not every family needs positions in every stream.

For example, the Technology family might include senior technical specialists whose impact is organisation-wide and engineering managers who lead delivery teams. Both may operate at comparable broad levels, even though their accountabilities differ.

Create a short definition for each stream, explaining the type of work, decision-making and progression it represents.

Step 5: Design level descriptors using consistent factors

Job levels should describe meaningful differences in the size and complexity of roles. Avoid basing them on titles, employee tenure or current salary.

Use the same evaluation factors throughout the organisation, such as:

• Knowledge and expertise required for the role
• Complexity of problems and decisions
• Autonomy and decision-making authority
• Financial, operational or organisational impact
• Stakeholder influence and collaboration
• People leadership or resource accountability, where relevant

For a six-level framework, the distinction might progress from work completed with guidance, to independent delivery, to complex professional judgement, to functional leadership, to significant business accountability and finally to enterprise-wide direction.

However, do not rely only on labels such as 'senior' or 'strategic'. Write a few sentences describing what each level is responsible for and give managers examples of the decisions made at that level.

If the organisation uses Mercer, Korn Ferry or another formal job evaluation methodology, align the architecture with the relevant evaluation outcomes without assuming that an external grade maps mechanically to every internal career stream.

Step 6: Build job profiles and a consistent naming convention

Once the families and levels are defined, create a profile for each distinct type of job. A useful profile contains the job title, family, subfamily, stream, proposed level, purpose, principal accountabilities and essential capabilities.

Keep profiles focused on the job rather than the person. An employee's individual strengths, performance and length of service should be managed separately.

A consistent naming convention also helps. For example, an organisation might use Financial Accountant, Senior Financial Accountant and Financial Accounting Manager rather than allowing departments to invent their own titles. Where existing titles carry important customer or industry meaning, retain them as display titles while maintaining a standard internal job profile.

The objective is consistency, not forcing every position into a title that does not accurately describe the work.

Step 7: Evaluate and calibrate jobs before approving the framework

Do not approve hundreds of job classifications based on a single person's spreadsheet assessment. Start by choosing representative jobs across different families and levels, including difficult roles that may expose weaknesses in the proposed framework.

Ask HR and business leaders to review the same role information independently, then hold a calibration session to discuss differences. Consider a senior specialist without direct reports, a team leader supervising a large workforce and a hybrid role spanning two functions.

For every material disagreement, document the evidence, the alternatives considered and the final decision. If reviewers cannot distinguish two adjacent levels consistently, refine the descriptors before mapping the remaining jobs.

A lightweight calibration log can record the position ID, proposed and approved levels, rationale, reviewers, approval date and any exception requiring further review.

For more guidance on applying levels once the framework is established, see Remunera's practical job architecture guide for managers.

Step 8: Connect job levels to market data and salary ranges

After the roles have been evaluated, use appropriate market salary benchmarking to inform remuneration bands or reference ranges. This order matters because benchmarking a poorly matched or incorrectly levelled job can lead to misleading salary recommendations.

Consider two internally comparable Level 3 roles: a Financial Accountant and a Cybersecurity Specialist. Their organisational complexity may be similar, but their external labour markets may differ. A remuneration framework can recognise such differences without automatically reclassifying the specialist to a higher job level.

When designing ranges, decide which remuneration measure you are comparing, such as base salary or fixed annual remuneration, and apply it consistently. Review internal relativities, affordability, market positioning and applicable minimum employment entitlements separately.

For example, if an illustrative level has a midpoint of $120,000 and the business chooses a 20% range either side of the midpoint, the minimum would be $96,000 and the maximum $144,000. That is a mathematical example of a possible range design, not a recommended market band or standard spread. Actual ranges should follow the organisation's policy and relevant market evidence.

See Remunera's salary benchmarking services for the external market-pricing element.

Step 9: Pilot the framework before a company-wide rollout

Select one or two business areas and test the complete workflow: mapping existing roles, assessing new positions, explaining levels to managers and reviewing proposed promotions or restructures.

Ask whether managers can identify the right job family and stream, explain why the role is at a particular level and understand how to request a change.

Use the pilot to resolve unclear definitions and unusual cases. Avoid automatically changing employee titles, remuneration or contract terms simply because the proposed architecture produces a new classification. Those decisions require their own impact assessment, communication and, where relevant, legal review.

Step 10: Establish governance so the architecture stays useful

A framework will drift if managers can introduce new titles or levels without review. Nominate an owner, establish who can approve new profiles and clarify when a role should be re-evaluated.

A review should normally be triggered by a material change in responsibilities, accountability or job scope, not merely by strong performance or an increase in salary.

Maintain a version-controlled job catalogue and a decision log. Review recurring exceptions periodically, and check that the HRIS, recruitment templates and remuneration tools use the approved job identifiers.

A practical implementation plan

This illustrative sequence can be scaled to the size and complexity of the organisation.

The time required will depend on how many distinct roles exist, the quality of position descriptions and how much agreement is needed across business units.

What should your completed job architecture contain?

Before approving the framework, check that you have:

• A clean inventory of current jobs and agreed job identifiers
• Defined job families and subfamilies
• Career streams with clear purpose and progression pathways
• Level descriptors using consistent evaluation factors
• Standard job profiles mapped to families, streams and levels
• A documented calibration and approval process
• Separate market benchmarking and salary range decisions, where required
• A process for new jobs, reclassifications and exceptions
• A nominated framework owner and version-controlled master file

A useful job architecture is not measured by how elaborate the diagram looks. It should make it easier for the organisation to describe work consistently and support decisions that managers can explain.

Remunera supports Australian organisations with job architecture design, job evaluation, salary benchmarking and remuneration frameworks. If you are starting from inconsistent job titles or need to redesign an existing structure, contact Remunera to discuss the scope and a practical implementation approach.

Frequently asked questions

Can a small business build job architecture without a consultant?

Yes. Start with a job inventory, a manageable set of families and levels, and a clear review process. External advice can become useful for complex grading, executive roles or difficult organisation-wide calibration.

How many job families should we create?

Use as many as the work genuinely requires, not one for every department or individual position. Similar work can belong in the same family even when it occurs in different business units.

What is the difference between job architecture and job evaluation?

Job architecture organises roles into a coherent structure. Job evaluation assesses the relative size or value of work using defined factors or a methodology and can help determine levels or grades.

Should salary determine job level?

No. Assess the nature and accountability of the position first. Market remuneration data then informs salary ranges and pay positioning.

Do job architecture changes automatically mean salary increases?

No. Reclassification, salary changes and employment obligations are separate matters that need to be reviewed in the context of existing policies, contractual commitments and applicable industrial instruments.

What software do we need?

A controlled spreadsheet can be sufficient for an initial design. Larger organisations may benefit from tools that maintain job profiles, approval history, market matches and integration with their HRIS.

This article provides general guidance for Australian employers. Job classifications, pay ranges and employment changes should be reviewed in the context of the organisation's circumstances and applicable obligations.