Setting Up Associated Brands & Multi-Brand Hiring

Overview

SmoothHiring's Multi-Brand feature allows organizations that operate under multiple brands, divisions, or subsidiaries to manage all of their hiring from a single account. Instead of maintaining separate accounts for each brand, you can create Associated Brands that share core infrastructure while maintaining their own distinct identity, job postings, and candidate pools.

This is ideal for:

• Franchise organizations with multiple locations or brands
• Holding companies managing several subsidiaries
• Companies with distinct product lines that hire independently
• Staffing agencies managing recruitment for multiple clients
• Organizations undergoing mergers that need unified hiring infrastructure

Key Concepts

Primary Brand

Your Primary Brand is the main organization account. It serves as the parent entity and has full administrative control over all associated brands. The primary brand:

• Owns the subscription and billing relationship
• Can create and manage associated brands
• Has access to cross-brand reporting
• Controls which features are available to associated brands

Associated Brands

An Associated Brand is a child entity that operates semi-independently under the primary brand. Each associated brand has:

• Its own company name and branding
• Its own job postings and careers page
• Its own candidate pipeline
• Its own team members (with optional cross-brand access)
• Shared subscription resources from the primary brand

Creating an Associated Brand

Steps to Create a New Brand

1. Navigate to Settings → Account Settings → Associated Brands
2. Click Add New Brand
3. Fill in the brand details:
   • Brand Name — The name of the subsidiary or division
   • Brand Logo — Upload a distinct logo for this brand
   • Brand Description — A brief description of the brand
   • Industry — The industry this brand operates in
   • Location — Primary location for this brand
4. Configure initial settings (these can be changed later)
5. Click Create Brand

Brand Configuration

Each associated brand can be configured with:

• Branding — Logo, colors, and visual identity
• Contact Information — Address, phone, website
• Careers Page — Independent careers page with brand-specific styling
• Email Templates — Customized communication templates
• Assessment Settings — Brand-specific assessment configurations

Switching Between Brands

Once you have multiple brands set up, you can easily switch between them to manage hiring for each brand independently.

How to Switch

1. Look at the company section in the left navigation sidebar
2. Click on the current brand name or the brand switcher icon
3. A dropdown will appear showing all brands you have access to
4. Select the brand you want to switch to
5. The interface will reload with that brand's context

What Changes When You Switch

When you switch brands, the following change to reflect the selected brand:

• Job postings shown are for the selected brand
• Candidate pipeline shows applicants for that brand
• Settings reflect that brand's configuration
• Communications are sent from that brand's identity
• The logo and branding in the interface update

What Stays the Same

• Your user account and login credentials
• Your personal notification preferences
• Cross-brand reports (if you have access)
• Subscription and billing information (primary brand only)

Data Sharing & Separation

Understanding how data is shared and separated across brands is critical for organizations that value data governance.

Separated Data (Brand-Specific)

The following data is kept completely separate between brands:

Shared Data

Some data is shared across all brands under the primary account:

Candidate Data Considerations

• A candidate who applies to multiple brands will have separate application records for each brand
• Their core profile data (resume, contact info) may be shared if they use the same email
• Assessment results are specific to each application
• Hiring managers from one brand cannot see another brand's applicant notes unless given cross-brand access

Role Permissions Across Brands

SmoothHiring provides granular control over who can access which brands and what they can do within each.

Permission Levels

Assigning Brand Access

1. Navigate to Settings → Account Settings → Team
2. Select the team member you want to configure
3. Under Brand Access, check the brands they should have access to
4. Set their role level for each brand (they can have different roles per brand)
5. Save changes

Cross-Brand Access Scenarios

• Centralized HR Team — Give them Admin access to all brands so they can manage hiring across the organization
• Divisional Managers — Give them Hiring Manager access only to their specific brand
• Executive Leadership — Give them Viewer access across all brands for oversight
• Recruiters — Can be assigned to one or multiple brands depending on their responsibilities

Multi-Brand Careers Pages

Each associated brand can have its own dedicated careers page with independent branding.

Brand-Specific Career Pages

• Each brand can use the Careers Page Builder independently
• Brand logos, colors, and imagery are specific to each brand
• Job listings on each careers page only show that brand's open positions
• Application forms can be customized per brand

Unified Careers Page

Alternatively, you can create a unified careers page that:

• Shows jobs from all brands (or selected brands)
• Allows candidates to filter by brand/division
• Maintains consistent parent company branding

Reporting Across Brands

Users with cross-brand access can view consolidated reports:

• Hiring Pipeline — See pipeline health across all brands
• Time to Hire — Compare hiring velocity between brands
• Source Effectiveness — Understand which channels work for which brands
• Assessment Analytics — Cross-brand assessment completion and scores

Managing Subscription Resources

Multi-brand accounts share subscription resources from the primary brand's plan:

• Job Posting Limits — Shared across all brands
• Assessment Credits — Pooled and available to all brands
• User Seats — Users who access multiple brands still only use one seat
• Storage — Shared across the account

Monitor usage in Settings → Subscription → Feature Usage to ensure resources are distributed appropriately.

Best Practices

1. Plan your brand structure before creating brands — restructuring later is more complex
2. Use consistent naming conventions across brands for easier management
3. Assign the minimum necessary access — not everyone needs to see all brands
4. Centralize administrative functions — billing, integrations, and templates at the primary brand level
5. Train brand admins on their responsibilities and the scope of their access
6. Review access regularly — especially when team members change roles

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Is there a limit to how many associated brands I can create? A: The number of brands available depends on your subscription plan. Contact support if you need additional brands.

Q: Can I transfer a brand to become its own independent account? A: Yes, brands can be separated into independent accounts. Contact support to arrange this.

Q: Do candidates know about the multi-brand relationship? A: No. From a candidate's perspective, each brand appears as an independent employer.

Q: Can I merge two brands into one? A: Brand merging requires support assistance to properly consolidate data.

Q: How does billing work with multiple brands? A: All billing is managed through the primary brand. Associated brands do not have separate billing.