Job requisition form template with approval workflow and a filled example

A job requisition form is the internal request to open a position: what the role is, why it is needed, where it sits, what it pays, and who has approved it. A good form is short enough that a hiring manager fills it in within fifteen minutes, and complete enough that the recruiter can post the role the day it is approved without going back for the pay range, location or level. Below are a full template, a short backfill version, a filled example and an approval workflow.

The requisition comes first. The hiring plan schedules how approved roles get filled, and the intake meeting defines what good looks like. If you work at an agency taking a role from a client, you need a job order instead, which carries fee and submission terms a requisition does not.

What a requisition has to settle

The job requisition form template

Copy this into a form tool, document or your HR system's custom fields. Delete sections your company does not use.

JOB REQUISITION
Req ID: [assigned by HR/TA]      Date submitted: [date]
Submitted by: [hiring manager name, title]

1. POSITION
Job title: [title]                Level / grade: [level]
Department: [dept]                Cost center: [code]
Reports to: [name, title]         Direct reports: [number, or none]
Employment type: [full-time / part-time / temporary / contract]
Number of openings: [n]
Exempt / non-exempt (HR to confirm): [ ]

2. REASON FOR THE REQUEST
[ ] New position   [ ] Backfill   [ ] Conversion (contract to employee)
If backfill: replaces [name], last day [date]. Role changing? [yes/no, how]
Business justification (3 sentences max):
[What work needs doing, what happens if it is not filled, why now.]

3. LOCATION AND SETUP
Primary location: [site, city, state]
Setup: [on-site / hybrid, days on site / remote]
If remote, states or countries allowed: [list, confirmed by HR]
Travel: [% or none]

4. COMPENSATION (HR/comp to confirm)
Pay range for posting: [$min – $max] [per year / per hour]
Target hire point: [$]
Bonus / commission / equity: [details]
Budgeted in current plan? [yes / no — if no, finance approval required]
Relocation or sign-on: [amount or none]

5. ROLE SUMMARY
Job description attached: [yes / link]
Top 3 must-haves (to be confirmed at intake):
1. [ ]
2. [ ]
3. [ ]
Licenses, certifications or clearances required: [list or none]

6. HIRING PROCESS
Target start date: [date]
Interviewers: [names]
Internal posting first? [yes, for X days / no]
Agency use permitted? [no / yes, after date or condition]

7. APPROVALS (name, decision, date)
Hiring manager:           [ ] approved   [date]
Department head:          [ ] approved   [date]   respond by [date]
Finance (if not budgeted):[ ] approved   [date]   respond by [date]
HR / Talent acquisition:  [ ] approved   [date]   respond by [date]

8. FOR TA USE
Recruiter assigned: [name]     Posted: [date]     Status: [open/filled/cancelled]
Filled by: [name]  Offer accepted: [date]  Start: [date]

The short backfill version

For a like-for-like replacement, a long form slows down the one case that should be fast. Use this, and switch to the full form if any answer is "changing".

BACKFILL REQUISITION
Req ID: [ ]   Hiring manager: [name]   Date: [date]

Replacing: [name], [title], last day [date]
Same title, level, location and setup? [yes / changing: describe]
Current posted range: [$min – $max]   Still accurate? [yes / HR review]
Anything about the role we should change before rehiring? [ ]
Target start: [date]   Interviewers: [names]

Approved: [department head, date]   HR/TA: [name, date]

The "anything we should change" line matters more than it looks. A resignation is the one moment a manager can rebalance work across the team without a reorganization, and the question is often never asked.

A filled example

An invented request, filled in the way that gets approved on the first pass:

Filling in the fields that cause delays

Business justification

Three sentences: the work, the cost of not filling it, and why now. Approvers read "we need more help" as a request to argue about. They read "counts run two weeks behind and three leads lose a day a week each" as a decision with the arithmetic done.

Pay range

Settle it here, because the posting may legally need it. New York, for example, requires employers with four or more employees, and employment agencies, to disclose the compensation or a range of compensation in job advertisements, and the job description if one exists (Labor Law § 194-B). California requires employers with 15 or more employees to include a good faith pay scale in any job posting (Labor Code § 432.3). Both as of September 2026; a remote role can be covered by the rules of every place it is open to, so have HR confirm.

Exempt or non-exempt

Whether a role is exempt from overtime depends on its duties and pay, not its title. The Department of Labor's Fact Sheet #17A sets out the federal tests for executive, administrative, professional, computer and outside sales exemptions, and many states have their own, higher thresholds. The hiring manager proposes; HR decides and records it on the form.

Remote locations

List the states or countries HR has confirmed the company can employ in. A remote requisition that says only "remote" produces applicants the company cannot hire, and a posting that may carry obligations in places nobody intended.

An approval workflow that does not stall

The response times above are a starting point to agree internally, not a standard. Three rules keep requisitions moving:

• Parallel where possible. Finance and HR can review at the same time; neither depends on the other's decision.
• A deadline on every step. Write "respond by" dates on the form and escalate on the day after, not the week after.
• Reject with a reason. "Not approved" without a reason creates a second, slower requisition. "Approved at Level 1, not 2" or "approved for a July start" keeps it moving.

Common requisition mistakes

Tracking and closing requisitions

Give every requisition an ID and keep it on everything that follows: the posting, the intake notes, interview feedback and the offer. When the role closes, record the outcome (filled, cancelled, on hold), the date, and who was hired. That single ID is what lets you answer later how long the role took, who interviewed, and why a decision was made, and it is how interview notes stay tied to the right role; see how long to keep interview notes for retention.

• Posted date and every date the posting changed.
• Number of applicants, screens and interviews, from your ATS or tracker.
• Offer accepted date, start date, and days from approval to acceptance.
• If cancelled: why, and who decided, so candidates in process are told promptly.