A busy team is a starting point, not a job description
When a founder says the team needs help, the instinct is often to hire someone versatile and let the details settle later. That can leave the new person handling a collection of unrelated tasks, without a clear sense of what good work looks like. Dedicated staffing works better when you start with an outcome and build the role around it.
Look at the work that repeatedly waits. It might be regression testing before a release, data preparation for an AI project, or keeping the CRM usable for sales. Choose one coherent area of responsibility. Then describe what a capable person would change in that area, rather than listing every tool the team happens to use.
Define the work before choosing the title
Write a one-page role brief with five things: the outcome, recurring responsibilities, skills that are essential, the person’s manager and the decisions they can make. For an engineer, separate the technologies they must already know from those they can learn. For a GTM role, distinguish campaign execution from ownership of the data and workflows behind it.
A useful test is whether the hiring manager can explain a normal week. Which meetings matter? What arrives in the person’s queue? Who reviews the output? If those answers are unclear, the job title is doing too much work.
Design the handoffs
For UK and Australian teams working with people in the Philippines, working-hour overlap deserves a deliberate conversation. Agree which activities need both teams online and which can be handled asynchronously. Avoid promising a schedule before checking the role and candidate’s availability.
A handoff should tell someone what happened, what happens next and who owns the next action. A shared task board is useful only when the team also agrees on definitions such as ready for review and complete. Name the manager who will resolve questions and make time for early feedback.
Assess the role you actually need
Use a small, relevant exercise that resembles the job. A QA candidate could explain how they would test a feature and record a defect. A GTM engineer could map a lead handoff and identify missing data. An annotation specialist could work through a few ambiguous examples and explain what they would escalate.
Keep the exercise proportionate, tell candidates how you will assess it and avoid asking for unpaid production work. Evaluate communication and judgement alongside technical skill. You are looking for someone who can understand the work, flag uncertainty and become a dependable part of the team.
Give the first month a purpose
Start with access, context and a manageable piece of work. Arrange regular check-ins, introduce the people they depend on and give them a clear way to ask questions. Review the role after the first month: what was easier than expected, where did work stall and which responsibilities need adjusting?
The goal is not to predict every detail before hiring. It is to give a dedicated person enough structure to contribute, then improve that structure together.