itsual Job Architecture
Overview
Job architecture is the skeleton of people systems: what jobs exist, how they relate, and how people progress. It underpins compensation, mobility, and performance expectations.
When to Use
- Creating or repairing level frameworks
- Title inflation control
- Career path design
- Pay structure foundations
Core Practices
- Define job families and disciplines
- Establish level criteria (scope, impact, complexity, leadership)
- Write role profiles that distinguish levels clearly
- Align titles to levels consistently
- Connect architecture to compensation bands
- Govern exceptions so the system stays credible
Principles
- Ambiguous levels create politics and pay inequity
- Architecture should enable mobility, not trap people
- Perfect granularity is less valuable than consistent use
- Revisit as the org scales and roles evolve
Verification
- Level criteria are written and applied
- Titles map to levels consistently
- Managers can explain progression between levels