Offer preparation and approval

This playbook defines the operating procedure for preparing, reconciling, approving, and staging candidate employment offer packages. One run governs one candidate offer, starting when a hiring manager submits an offer request following candidate interview debriefs, and ending when all required management and finance sign-offs are logged and a staged draft offer package is verified in the organization's document platform or the case is resolved as declined. The agent verifies proposed terms against approved compensation bands, department headcount budgets, and customer-specified legal templates. It surfaces missing terms and band discrepancies, coordinates human approval gates with hiring managers and finance executives, and stages internal draft packages without releasing unapproved commitments or communicating directly with candidates.

• Receive the initial offer request from the hiring manager or recruiting partner. Extract candidate details, target role title, employment level, reporting manager, proposed base salary, variable bonus structure, equity allocation, remote or hybrid work location, and proposed start date. Cross-reference the request against the interview debrief record and the approved open headcount plan in Notion or internal records. If the request references an unapproved role, an inactive job requisition, or is a duplicate case for a candidate with an active in-flight offer, log the conflict in the run notes, halt processing on the duplicate, and flag the case for talent operations review.
• Compare proposed base salary, variable incentives, and equity grant size against the authorized compensation matrix for the role level and geographic tier. Determine whether all terms fall within standard band thresholds (minimum, midpoint, and maximum). Verify that non-compensation provisions—such as benefits eligibility, intellectual property assignment, governing jurisdiction clauses, and equity vesting schedules—align with the customer's approved legal and equity templates rather than assumed standard terms.
• Information request. When required employment terms are omitted or ambiguous—such as missing remote tax jurisdiction, unspecified equity vesting commencement date, unconfirmed visa sponsorship needs, or an unassigned target start date—request the specific missing information from the hiring manager or recruiting lead. Specify the required fields and hold the case in Preparing evidence until the inputs are provided. If the hiring manager confirms that legal entity registration or required employment status is unavailable in the candidate's jurisdiction, escalate the operational constraint to talent operations before proceeding. Silence or unanswered follow-up requests keep the case waiting; an unanswered reminder never authorizes closing the case without the hiring manager's explicit instructions.
• Reconcile out-of-band compensation terms and discretionary perks. If the proposed base salary, signing bonus, or equity grant exceeds the authorized band ceiling for the role level, calculate the exact dollar and percentage variance from the band maximum. Prepare a compensation exception brief summarizing the candidate's relevant background, market counter-offer context provided by the recruiter, peer compensation within the hiring team, and the annualized budget impact.
• Exception. When an offer request contains compensation terms exceeding the authorized band ceiling, custom equity vesting rules, or non-standard severance provisions, submit a formal compensation exception request to the VP of Finance or designated executive comp authority. Present the proposed terms, band ceiling, variance calculation, and hiring manager justification. Silence from the finance authority keeps the exception awaiting decision; an unanswered notification does not permit proceeding. If the finance authority rejects the out-of-band compensation, route the decision back to the hiring manager with the maximum authorized ceiling to determine whether to proceed with revised terms or decline the offer. If the hiring manager declines to proceed within authorized limits, document the rationale and transition the case to Declined or unresolved.
• Draft the formal offer package in the organization's agreement platform (PandaDoc, DocuSign, or Dropbox Sign where configured and verified, falling back to a structured markdown draft or exported document file). Map the reconciled terms into the customer's approved template, populating candidate legal name, job title, employment classification, reporting executive, base compensation, payment frequency, incentive targets, equity share count, and contingency conditions such as background check completion and proof of right to work. Ensure all non-standard terms approved by finance are accurately reflected in applicable rider attachments.
• Verify the drafted document against the approved compensation brief before presenting it for internal review. Inspect the draft for placeholder errors, misaligned currency formatting, conflicting start dates, or unmapped template variables. Confirm that internal counter-signatories and candidate signature placeholders are correctly positioned and marked as draft only, ensuring no automated notification or external document link is dispatched to the candidate.
• Approval. Present the finalized offer dossier and preview of the staged draft offer package to the hiring manager and authorized executive signatory. Present the exact reconciled terms: base salary, bonus structure, equity grant, start date, remote status, and evidence of prior finance exception sign-off where applicable. Silence at the approval gate keeps the case waiting; an unacknowledged review request does not authorize closing the run or staging unapproved documents. Require explicit sign-off to authorize the staged package and confirm the terms for recruiter handoff. If the approving authority requests modifications to start dates or title, adjust the draft document, update the dossier, and re-present for final sign-off. If the offer is cancelled due to budget freeze or candidate withdrawal, record the withdrawal reason and move the case to Declined or unresolved.
• Confirm the approved document handoff to the talent acquisition lead. Keep the envelope strictly in draft or staged status in PandaDoc, DocuSign, or Dropbox Sign, or assign the approved draft document to the recruiting lead in Notion. Verify via API receipt or document status confirmation that the draft package ID is active, candidate-facing dispatch is suppressed, and the audit trail reflects the approved terms hash. Transfer direct ownership of the envelope to the named recruiting partner, logging their explicit acceptance of the handoff for candidate delivery, and record the finalized offer details, approved variances, and package identifiers in the recruiting database.
• An illustrative case demonstrates how band reconciliation and human decision authority resolve non-standard compensation requests. A hiring manager requested an offer for a Senior Site Reliability Engineer with a proposed base salary of $175,000, which exceeded the authorized L5 band maximum of $150,000 by 16.7%. The agent verified the compensation matrix in Notion, identified the $25,000 variance, and opened a compensation exception for the VP of Finance detailing team parity and budget impact. The VP of Finance declined the base salary increase to prevent internal salary compression, but approved an authorized alternative package comprising the $150,000 band maximum base salary, a $15,000 one-time signing bonus, and an additional 2,000 stock option grant governed by the company's approved equity plan rules. The hiring manager accepted the alternative structure, and the agent updated the draft agreement in PandaDoc, including the custom sign-on repayment rider. The final package was submitted to the hiring manager and CEO for formal approval. Upon receiving explicit approvals, the agent staged the draft envelope without notifying the candidate, verified counter-signatory placeholders, logged the recruiting lead's confirmed receipt of the package, and transferred the case to Outcome confirmed with the active draft ID.
• A run is complete when all required management and finance approvals have been captured, the draft offer package has been verified against approved terms, and the draft package is confirmed as staged with an accountable recruiting lead's accepted handoff in Outcome confirmed. If required information remains missing, keep the case waiting in Preparing evidence; do not close the run unless the hiring manager explicitly withdraws or defers the offer with a documented business rationale and a named follow-up owner. If an exception is declined without an acceptable revised package or hiring authorization is rescinded, record the specific rationale and conclude the case in Declined or unresolved. If electronic signature platform integration is unconfigured, unavailable, or document generation fails, retain the reconciled terms dossier, do not treat notification of the error as completion, and keep the case awaiting evidence of the staged package from talent operations, or record the hiring manager's explicit deferral with a named follow-up owner before closing.