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Recruiting template

Hiring Plan Template

A hiring plan sets out which roles you will hire, why, when and with what budget, so finance, hiring managers and recruiters work from the same list. Use the headcount plan for a team or company, or one of the other versions for a single role, a quarter, a new team or a request for extra headcount.

Hiring Plan Template

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Annual headcount plan

When to use it: Planning every hire for a team, department or company over a year, to agree with finance and leadership.

HEADCOUNT PLAN: [Department or team], [Company name] Period: [Plan period] Owner: [Plan owner] Finance contact: [Finance contact] Next review: [Next review date] 1. Goals for the period The hires in this plan support these goals: [Business goals the hires support]. 2. Headcount summary Headcount today: [Current headcount] Planned headcount at the end of the period: [Headcount at the end of the period] Total hiring budget: [Total hiring budget] 3. Planned roles # | Role | New or backfill | Priority | Target start | Hiring manager | Salary range | Approved 1 | [Job title] | New | High | [Target start date] | [Hiring manager] | [Salary range] | Yes / No 2 | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____ | Yes / No 3 | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____ | Yes / No 4 | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____ | Yes / No 4. Hiring by quarter Q1: ____ hires Q2: ____ hires Q3: ____ hires Q4: ____ hires 5. Assumptions - Expected leavers to backfill during the period: ____ - Roles that could be filled by internal moves: ____ - Roles that depend on funding, revenue or another milestone: ____ 6. Risks - Roles that may be hard to fill, and why: ____ - What happens to the goals if a key hire is late: ____ 7. Sign-off Plan owner: [Plan owner] Date: ________ Finance: [Finance contact] Date: ________

Hiring plan for a single role

When to use it: One approved role, where the hiring manager and recruiter need to agree the why, the profile, the process and the timeline before the job goes live.

HIRING PLAN: [Job title] Team: [Department or team], [Company name] Hiring manager: [Hiring manager] Recruiter: [Recruiter] 1. Why we are hiring [Reason for the hire]. 2. What success looks like in the first year [What the hire should achieve in the first year]. 3. The profile Must-have skills: [Must-have skills] Nice to have: ____ Location and working pattern: [Location and working pattern] Salary range: [Salary range] 4. Selection process Stage | What it checks | Who runs it Application review | Must-have skills | [Recruiter] Phone screen | Motivation, logistics, salary expectations | [Recruiter] Skills assessment or work sample | The work the role involves | [Hiring manager] Interview | Experience, judgement, how they work with others | [Hiring manager] and one team member Final conversation | Questions both ways, offer details | [Hiring manager] 5. Timeline Job live: ____ Shortlist agreed: ____ Interviews complete: ____ Offer made: ____ Target start: [Target start date] 6. Who decides The hiring manager makes the final decision, after reading every interviewer's written feedback. 7. Where we will look - Job boards: ____ - Referrals from the team: ____ - Direct outreach: ____

Quarterly hiring plan for a startup

When to use it: A small, fast-moving company that plans one quarter at a time and needs to decide which hires come first.

HIRING PLAN: [Company name], [Plan period] Owner: [Plan owner] 1. What we need to achieve this quarter [Business goals the hires support]. 2. Hires in priority order Priority | Role | Why now | Hiring manager | Target start 1 | [Job title] | [Reason for the hire] | [Hiring manager] | [Target start date] 2 | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____ 3 | ____ | ____ | ____ | ____ 3. Hires we are deliberately not making yet Role | What would make us open it ____ | ____ ____ | ____ 4. Budget Total hiring budget: [Total hiring budget] Salary range for the first priority role: [Salary range] Runway after these hires: ____ months 5. How we will hire - Founders or the hiring manager review every application for the first priority role. - Every candidate does the same task, based on the real work, before a final interview. - One person owns each role from job post to offer. 6. Review We will review this plan on [Next review date], or sooner if funding, revenue or a key departure changes the priorities.

Hiring plan for a new team

When to use it: Building a team or function that does not exist yet, where the order of hires matters.

HIRING PLAN: new [Department or team] team, [Company name] Owner: [Plan owner] Period: [Plan period] 1. Why we are building this team [Business goals the hires support]. 2. The first hire Role: [Job title] Reports to: [Hiring manager] Why this role first: [Reason for the hire] What they should achieve in the first year: [What the hire should achieve in the first year] Target start: [Target start date] 3. The hires after that Order | Role | Hired once | Who decides 2 | ____ | the first hire has been in post for ____ months | [Job title] and [Hiring manager] 3 | ____ | ____ | ____ 4 | ____ | ____ | ____ 4. What the team needs before the first person starts - Budget for tools and equipment: ____ - Who they will work with day to day in other teams: ____ - What decisions they can make on their own: ____ 5. Budget Total hiring budget for the period: [Total hiring budget] Salary range for the first hire: [Salary range] 6. Review Review the plan on [Next review date], with the first hire involved in the decisions about the next roles.

Headcount request

When to use it: Asking finance or leadership to approve a role that is not in the current plan.

HEADCOUNT REQUEST Requested by: [Hiring manager] Team: [Department or team], [Company name] Finance contact: [Finance contact] Date: ________ 1. The role Job title: [Job title] New role or backfill: ____ Location and working pattern: [Location and working pattern] Target start: [Target start date] Salary range: [Salary range] 2. Why we need it [Reason for the hire]. 3. What the role will deliver [What the hire should achieve in the first year]. 4. What happens if we do not hire - Work that will stop or slow down: ____ - Who is covering it now, and for how long that can last: ____ 5. Alternatives considered - Moving someone internally: ____ - A contractor or agency for a fixed period: ____ - Changing priorities instead: ____ 6. Effect on the headcount plan Team headcount today: [Current headcount] Team headcount with this role: ____ Approved by: ________________ Date: ________ Finance: [Finance contact] Date: ________

How to use this template

  • 1Start from the business goals for the period, then list the roles that make them possible. A role with no goal behind it is the first to question.
  • 2Use the annual headcount plan for a team or company, and the single-role plan once a role is approved and about to go live.
  • 3Fill in the fields above. The salary range and budget fields have no example: add your own figures from your pay bands and finance plan.
  • 4Mark each role as new or a backfill, and give it a priority, so everyone knows which hires go first if the budget changes.
  • 5Agree the plan with finance and the hiring managers, then review it every quarter against what has actually been hired.

Mistakes to avoid

  • Listing job titles with no reason for each hire, which makes the plan hard to defend when budgets tighten.
  • Planning hires without a target start date, so recruiting starts too late for the work that depends on them.
  • Forgetting backfills: people leave during the year, and replacing them uses the same recruiting time and budget.
  • Treating the plan as fixed for the year instead of reviewing it each quarter.
  • Agreeing the headcount without the hiring managers, who then do not have time to interview.

Questions

What is a hiring plan?

A document that lists the roles a team or company will hire over a period, why each one is needed, when each person should start and the budget for them. It keeps finance, hiring managers and recruiters working from the same list.

What should a hiring plan include?

The goals the hires support, current and planned headcount, each role with its priority, whether it is new or a backfill, the target start date, the hiring manager, the salary range and whether it is approved, plus the total budget, assumptions, risks and a review date.

What is the difference between a hiring plan and a headcount plan?

The terms are often used for the same thing. A headcount plan usually means the numbers: how many people each team will have and when. A hiring plan adds the detail on each role, such as why it is needed and how you will fill it.

What is the difference between a hiring plan and a recruitment plan?

A hiring plan decides which roles to fill, when and with what budget. A recruitment plan sets out how you will find and select the people for those roles: the channels, the stages, the timeline and who does what.

Is there a hiring plan example I can follow?

Yes. Every version above is filled in with a sample company and role when the page loads. Read it as an example, then clear the fields and add your own.

How often should a hiring plan be reviewed?

At least once a quarter, and whenever something big changes, such as funding, revenue, a reorganisation or a key person leaving.

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