How to write a job brief for an offshore assistant

“I need admin help” is a feeling, not a brief — and hiring from a feeling is why so many assistant arrangements drift. Twenty minutes turning it into a proper role brief makes the difference between a hire who's productive in week one and one who's still guessing in month two.

1. List the actual tasks

Write down everything you want off your plate, specifically. Not “admin” but “inbox triage each morning, schedule meetings, chase outstanding invoices, update the CRM after calls, prepare the weekly report.” The specifics define the role and the right person for it.

2. Specify the systems

List the tools they'll use — your email, calendar, CRM, accounting software, project tool. This determines who's a fit and what onboarding they need. A hire who already knows Xero or HubSpot starts faster.

3. Define access levels

Decide what each system access should be — full, edit, or view-only — and what stays off-limits. Thinking this through upfront is good security practice and saves fumbling later.

4. Set hours and communication

Specify the working hours (UK hours, ideally), how you'll communicate (Slack, Teams, email), check-in cadence, and who their point of contact is. Clarity here prevents the “where are they / what are they doing” anxiety.

5. Define what good looks like

Set a few simple success measures — inbox cleared by 10am, invoices chased within 48 hours, report ready every Friday. These give the hire a target and give you an objective way to manage performance.

Hand this brief to a good provider and you'll get a genuinely matched shortlist rather than a generic CV pile — and your new hire arrives knowing exactly what success looks like.