Add a Position

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At a glance

Adding a new position drops a new assignment card into a section on one of your templates, so a team member can be placed there on the Shifts screen. You select the section, press Add Position, name it, set its minimum and maximum, and optionally wire up an Associated Checklist or Data Interactions. Save All commits the change to the template; Update Layout pushes it to running shifts. Manager, Director, or Operator permission is required because a new position changes what every team member sees on the Shifts screen.

Before you start

1. You need Manager, Director, or Operator permission to access the Layout Editor. These are the defaults; your store's Customization Rubric may differ. If you cannot open the Layout Editor, see Request a Permission Change.
2. Know which template and which section the new position belongs in. Templates are the layouts assigned to specific active times and days; sections are the groups of positions within a template. If no suitable template exists yet, see Customize a Layout Template or Manage Layout Templates first.
3. Decide whether this position needs an Associated Checklist or Data Interactions (Auto Schedule Priority, Associated Training Position, Associated Permission, HotSchedules Job Title). You can configure these now or add them later.
4. Coordinate with other leaders. Only one person should be editing the Layout Editor at a time. Concurrent edits can cause lost work.
5. Estimated time: two to five minutes for a basic position, longer if you are setting up full Data Interactions at the same time.

Steps

Open the Layout Editor and navigate to the template

1. Open the Layout Editor. For the exact entry point in your store's UI, see Understand the Layout Editor.
2. Choose FOH or BOH depending on where the new position belongs.
3. Use the template dropdown to select the template you want to add the position to. The template's current layout appears with its sections and positions.

Select the section and add the position

1. Click the section title where the new position should appear. The section becomes selected and the right column updates to show section settings. If you accidentally click a position instead, click the section title to select the section itself.
2. In the right column, find the Location box and press + Add Position. A new position card appears in the selected section with a default title.

Set the essentials in the Title and Shape box

1. Click the new position card to select it. The right column updates to show position settings.
2. Rename the position: update the Title field to something leaders will recognize on the Shifts screen (examples: "Runner 1", "iPOS 2", "Front Counter Bagger"). Names must be unique within the template, including among Invisible positions.

3. Still in the Title and Shape box, set the size and assignment rules:

4. Width and Height. Adjust if you want the card visually larger or smaller on the layout. Larger cards hold more assigned team members comfortably.

5. Min Number. The minimum number of team members required in this position. A value of 1 or more marks the position with a red exclamation icon on the Shifts screen when under-filled. Leave at 0 if the position is optional.
6. Max Number. The maximum number of team members allowed in this position. Auto-Scheduler will respect this ceiling.
7. Invisible. Check this only if the position exists to reserve layout space rather than hold an actual assignment. No team member can be placed in an Invisible position.
8. Render. Check this to hide the position temporarily without reserving space. Other positions flow together as if it were not there.

Optional: associate a checklist

1. If the team member placed in this position should automatically receive a specific checklist, scroll to the Associated Checklist box in the right column and choose a checklist from the dropdown. Only active checklists appear in the list. For a deeper treatment of the checklist-position relationship, see Associate a Checklist with a Position.

Optional: configure Data Interactions

1. If the position needs any of the four Data Interactions (Associated Training Position, Associated Permission, Auto Schedule Priority, HotSchedules Job Title), open the Data Interactions box in the right column and fill the relevant fields. Each field is covered in its own section of Configure Data Interactions for a Position; you can also leave all four blank for now and return later.

Optional: mark as a Rotating Container

1. If the position is part of a rotation pattern (for example, a series of positions team members rotate through during a shift), open the Rotating Containers box and check Is a Rotating Container. Check Skip Rotations to exclude the position from rotation tracking even when enabled. For the full rotation workflow, see Set Up Rotating Buddies.

Save and push to the Shifts screen

1. Press Save All at the top of the Layout Editor. Save All commits your changes to the template but does not yet push them to running shifts.
2. Push the new position to the Shifts screen: open the shift time dropdown and choose Update Layout (applies to the current time only) or Update All Layouts (applies to every time using this template). Without Update, the Shifts screen keeps showing the old layout.
3. Verify. Open the Shifts screen, navigate to a time when this template is active, and confirm the new position appears in the section where you added it.

Video

Video coming soon.

Common gotchas

I cannot find the + Add Position button.

• Add Position lives in the Location box of a section's settings, not a position's. Click the section title (not a position within it) to select the section, and the Location box appears in the right column with + Add Position inside.

I pressed Save All but the new position is not on the Shifts screen.

Save All commits to the template; it does not push the change to running shifts. From the shift time dropdown, click Update Layout (current time) or Update All Layouts (every time using this template). If the position still does not appear, refresh the browser.

Save failed with "Error: 1 structures failed to save".

Two or more positions in the same template share the exact same name, including Invisible positions. Rename one of the duplicates and try Save All again. Invisible positions are the most common source because they do not show up on the running Shifts screen and are easy to miss.

The new position is in the wrong section.

Select the position, find the Location box in the right column, and use Move Up, Move Down, Left, or Right to move it inside its current section. To move it to a different section, the fastest path is to delete it from the wrong section and add a fresh one in the correct section.

The position shows up at some times but not others.

Templates can be assigned to multiple active times. If you used Update Layout, only the currently viewed time picked up the change. Open the shift time dropdown and choose Update All Layouts to push to every time using this template.

Two of us were editing at the same time and my new position disappeared.

Concurrent editing in the Layout Editor is not safe. When two leaders save within the same window, one overwrites the other and both writers can see unexpected loss. Pick a single person to make Layout Editor changes, or coordinate start and end times if multiple people must edit.

I do not see the Min Number or Data Interactions fields.

You have a section selected, not a position. Click the new position's card (not its section's title) and the right column updates to show position settings. Section settings and position settings are different views of the right column, and the controls that apply to each are different.

The position I added is taking up more or less space than I wanted.

Adjust Width and Height in the Title and Shape box. If adjustments are not giving you enough flexibility, the template itself may need to be wider; open Manage Templates and increase the Width field there.

I want the position to exist but not be filled by Auto Schedule.

Open the Data Interactions box and set Auto Schedule Priority to -1. That keeps the position on the layout and available for manual assignment while preventing Auto-Scheduler from placing anyone into it.

Can I add a position without attaching a checklist or Data Interactions?

Yes. Both are optional. A position with just a title, size, and Min/Max is valid and will appear on the Shifts screen ready for manual or automatic assignment.

Related articles

1. Understand the Layout Editor (Reference) for the concept model behind templates, sections, and positions.
2. Customize a Layout Template (How-To Guides) for the broader template-customization workflow.
3. Configure Data Interactions for a Position (How-To Guides) for Auto Schedule Priority, Associated Permission, HotSchedules Job Title, and Associated Training Position.
4. Associate a Checklist with a Position (How-To Guides) for the checklist-association workflow in more depth.
5. Set Up Rotating Buddies (How-To Guides) for Rotating Container and Skip Rotations setup.
6. Manage Layout Templates (How-To Guides) if the template needs to be created or reconfigured first.
7. Troubleshoot Layout Editor Save Issues (Troubleshooting) for the duplicate-name error and other save failures.
8. Assign a Job Code to a Position (How-To Guides) for wiring the new position to a job code.
9. Understand Job Codes (Reference) for what the HotSchedules Job Title Data Interaction does.
10. Understand the Shifts Screen (Reference) for where the new position will appear at runtime.
11. Request a Permission Change (How-To Guides) if you need Layout Editor access and do not have it.

Still stuck

If + Add Position is missing when a section is selected, if a new position will not save even after resolving duplicate names, or if the new position does not appear on the Shifts screen after Save All and Update All Layouts, submit a support ticket and include:

1. Your store number.
2. The template name and the section name.
3. The position name or intended name.
4. Screenshots of the Layout Editor with the section selected, the Location box visible, and any error message.
5. Whether you pressed Save All and Update Layout or Update All Layouts.
6. What you expected to happen versus what happened.

Support typically responds within one business day.

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Pre-publish checklist

14 d772e720-ff1b-4749-8583-91bbdfac0bf3 complete Seven sections filled.

15 383dd84e-0062-428a-b771-1c65dfc2e45d complete Single-path How-To (add a new position to an existing template and section).

16 afc27ac0-4272-48ce-8e08-d4cbdb495715 complete No em dashes, no hedge words.

17 912a6c3c-a7ba-405a-a83c-3204ac262b8a complete Permission-based role references (Manager, Director, Operator defaults; Customization Rubric call-out).

18 22a064ce-6df7-411a-8be7-91ad9d007055 complete Voice: leader, not operator.

19 54749eb2-daeb-49b8-abb1-f01da17e40aa complete No real identifying data.

20 f9bf521c-fd7c-42ba-9309-748e8395f5ce complete Scope carved out from Customize a Layout Template (parent workflow) and Configure Data Interactions for a Position (advanced config).

21 aff7d8ea-3d6e-47d5-9a8c-1d3cabae0c36 complete Save and Update two-step model documented consistently with Understand the Layout Editor.

22 faf5883d-5c28-478e-818d-c64d9a68f3ae complete Duplicate-name gotcha (including Invisible positions) surfaced.

23 58523c51-2f9e-41aa-833b-f89f6430e7be complete Concurrent-editing gotcha surfaced.

24 ea85dd42-c7ad-4968-9cae-3f4f51c04a26 incomplete UI verified against Production.

25 9c55d4df-3eaf-47ac-9a27-a949b98d8dc4 incomplete Screenshots at decision points (Layout Editor landing with template dropdown; section selected showing Location box with + Add Position; position selected showing Title and Shape, Associated Checklist, Data Interactions, and Rotating Containers boxes; Save All button; shift time dropdown with Update Layout and Update All Layouts).

26 0975c3cd-5e97-43db-8d4a-0c633dd4341f incomplete Reviewed by Jared and Kevin.

Why this article exists

Surfaced by the Wave 1 cross-link map Pass 3 Batch 3 audit (Turn 45, Flag 42). Both Assign a Job Code to a Position and Understand Job Codes reference "Add a Position" as a logical predecessor: before you can assign a job code to a position, the position has to exist. Positions are the foundation under every Layout Editor, Shifts, Ratings, and Checklists workflow, and creating a position is the entry point every operator uses during onboarding and again whenever the store reorganizes. Explicitly carving out a single-task "add a position" article prevents the "how do I add a station, I don't know where to start" ticket pattern and gives the rest of the Layout Editor content a place to link to for the atomic creation step. Approved for drafting via the Flag 42 Placeholder Decision Memo (pageId 397344811), Turn 48, as priority 1 in the drafting queue.

Source

Layout Editor PDF uploaded to KBRW Turn 24 (April 24, 2026), 24 pages of screenshots with captions. Same source as Understand the Layout Editor v1 (395608130) and Customize a Layout Template. Specific sections referenced: Sections and Positions > Adding New (page 7, the + Add Position button), Position column across Title/Shape, Invisible, Render, and Prioritizing blocks (pages 7-9), Associated Checklists (pages 10-11), Data Interactions (pages 11-14), Rotating Containers (pages 14-15), FAQs for the duplicate-name "1 structures failed to save" error and Update Layout versus Save All (page 22). No new VERIFY blocks introduced; all facts here are directly documented in the spine article's VERIFY-clean content.