Job Families - Printable Versions & FAQ

A Job Family Framework is a mechanism for grouping roles that are related to each other as they are carrying out work in a similar field of activity, and which focusses on the nature of the work rather than the organisational or reporting structure. The Job Families Framework created for our circa 1400 Professional and Administrative Staff in UCD is broken down into 2 elements. Firstly the 9 Job Families recommended by the Project Team and approved by the UMT, and secondly progressive Career Levels which are aligned to our current Administrative Grades.

By defining roles more clearly, by clarifying the competencies required to carry out these roles effectively and by showing how roles relate to each other, it is much easier for staff to plan for their development and identify the various career pathways open to them. One of the direct outcomes from this initiative is a Career and Development Planning Tool covering the range of professional and administrative roles in UCD. This will be launched at the end of May 2018.

• Ability to see for the first time in one place the range of roles available within each Job Family, and understand more about your development and career options.
• Clearer description of responsibilities and accountabilities within roles. You will know where your current role sits so that you can be clear where you are starting from when you want to consider your career options and discuss these with your manager as part of Performance for Growth conversations.

• Standardisation of language used for skills and competencies bringing greater clarity and consistency to the Resourcing process for both applicants and Assessment Boards.
• Improved ability to tailor learning and professional development activities to match the requirements of roles.
• Staff feel more supported in line with UCD’s mission ‘to provide a supportive community in which every member of the University is enabled to achieve their full potential ‘and Strategic Objective 5 ‘to attract and retain an excellent and diverse cohort of students, faculty and staff.

• The Job Families Framework will help managers to have better quality career and development conversations with their staff as part of the P4G process.
• It will enhance the Resourcing process as managers will find it easier when they want to design new roles using the Job Families Framework as a more consistent starting point.
• The competencies required will be described in a much clearer and consistent manner, helping to attract suitable candidates and helping Assessment Boards with their questions and decision-making.

The roles that are in scope for the Job Families Framework are those that are categorised as professional andadministrative roles. There are approximately 1400 staff in this category fulfilling a wide range of different roles.