The ten non-negotiables: a spec template for senior hires

This is the one-page document I agree with a client before any name goes out. It replaces the job description for the purpose of deciding who to see. The job description still exists; it just stops being the thing we select against.

The idea is simple. A CV tells you where someone has been. A non-negotiable tells you what they must be able to evidence. If you write ten of them properly, you have a spec that a candidate can be tested against, a shortlist that can be defended, and a first-ninety-days plan you did not realise you had written. The reasoning is in the article; this page is the tool.

The rules

A non-negotiable is a behaviour or an outcome, never an employer or a number of years. "Fifteen years at a tier-one" is a CV filter. "Has delivered a programme with no float for a client who inspected daily, and can talk you through what broke and what they did about it" is a non-negotiable.

Each one must be testable with a "show me" question. If you cannot ask a candidate to give you the example, it is not a non-negotiable. It is a hope.

Ten, not twelve. If you have more than ten, two of them are nice-to-haves pretending to be essential. Move them down. If you have fewer than ten, you have not thought hard enough about why the last person in the role struggled.

Written in a room, not by email. An hour with the hiring manager and whoever the role reports to, in person where possible. The first draft always contains the contradictions (we want big-company structure and we want someone in the weeds). The conversation is where you resolve them, before a candidate has to.

Signed off by the person who will say yes or no. Not HR, not the recruiter. The decision-maker owns the list.

The template

Copy this into a document and fill it in. Keep it to one page.

Role:
Reports to:
Why this role exists now (two sentences, honest):
What the last person in the role found hardest:

Non-negotiables (ten). For each: the requirement, the "show me" question, and what good evidence sounds like.

Nice to have (five). Things that would shorten the landing but would not stop us hiring.

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Red flags (three). Things that end the conversation regardless of the rest.

1.
2.
3.

Landing sponsor (named person at the top table, not the line manager):
Check-ins booked: week 2, week 6, week 12.

A worked example

A number-two role to a regional MD at a main contractor growing quickly on tight, technically demanding programmes. The first draft from the client was "square pegs for square holes: similar companies, structured CV, good names". After an hour in a room it became this.

Non-negotiables

1. Has run a programme with no float for a client who inspected safety and cost daily. *Show me: talk me through the week it went wrong and what you did by Friday.*
2. Has held a project director to account face to face, not by email, and kept the relationship. *Show me: the last hard conversation and what happened after.*
3. Has been the buffer between an MD and the projects for at least a year. *Show me: a decision you took so the MD did not have to, and how you told him.*
4. Has mobilised a new site and a new team in under three months. *Show me: the plan, the people, and what you would do differently.*
5. Has walked a job weekly, including when it was inconvenient. *Show me: how your diary looked on a bad month.*
6. Has managed a demanding, technically literate client at director level. *Show me: the meeting you lost and how you recovered it.*
7. Can read a programme and a cost report well enough to challenge both without a QS in the room. *Show me: the last time you spotted something the commercial team had not.*
8. Has grown a team from under ten to over thirty without losing the first ten. *Show me: who you kept and why.*
9. Has told an MD no and been proved right. *Show me: once will do.*
10. Wants this because of what it is, not because of what it pays. *Show me: what you are walking away from, and why that is fine.*

Nice to have: experience in the client's sector; has worked for a family-owned or founder-led contractor; has worked abroad; has a network in the North East; has been a project director on a £200m+ job.

Red flags: every previous role held under two years; cannot name a single failure they own; talks about their team in the third person.

Notice that nothing in the ten is an employer name. Notice that eight of the ten are things a CV cannot carry. Notice that number 10 is the one that tells you how the landing will go.

How to use it

Send the ten to the recruiter and nobody else; the candidate should meet them through the questions, not read them in advance. Ask every candidate the same ten "show me" questions, in the same order, and write down the evidence rather than the impression. Score each one 0 (no evidence), 1 (partial), 2 (clear). A candidate under 14 does not progress, however good the CV.

The submission you receive should be organised by the ten, not by employer. If a recruiter sends you a CV with a covering note, send it back and ask for the evidence.

When the person starts, hand the ten to the landing sponsor. They are the first ninety days.

The reasoning behind this is in The CV is the wrong document. If you want a hand writing your ten for a live role, book a call.