Owner Assignment Rules

Owner Assignment Rules Rules which can be created to assign the most suitable owner to each contact. This ensures that every contact is managed by the right person. in Bullhorn Automation help ensure that emails are sent from the most appropriate user and that notifications are directed to the right person. These rules allow you to automatically assign the best owner to each contact based on recent interactions or custom criteria. You can also choose to sync ownership updates back to your ATS if needed.

Common Reasons You Might Use Owner Assignment Rules

• Make emails appear more personal by assigning the ideal owner

• Route important notifications to the correct recruiter or sales user

• Assign owners based on recent ATS activity

• Evenly distribute records using Round Robin

• Create region or specialty based ownership groups

• Ensure inactive or API users do not send emails

• Reassign ownership in bulk during cleanup projects

Understanding Owner Assignment Rules

Owner assignment rules can be found by navigating to Settings > Owner Assignment Rules.

There are two main ways you can pick the best owners in Bullhorn Automation. You can mix and match these rules to make sure the right owner is assigned for any circumstance:

• Using the Bullhorn Automation rules based on recent interactions.
  • Example: Make the owner whoever left the last note.
• Custom rules that you define, based on the candidate.
  • Example: If the candidate lives in Florida, assign them to a recruiter in the Orlando office. 

Bullhorn Automation Rules Based on Recent Interactions

These rules are preconfigured by Bullhorn Automation and determine ownership based on the most recent ATS interaction with the contact. Each rule requires the user to be Active in Bullhorn Automation. An active user is someone who can still log into and use the ATS and is not marked as Inactive in Bullhorn Automation. For more information on Active and Inactive users see ATS Settings Tab.

The rules and descriptions are listed below: 

Contact with an Active ATS Owner

If the contact already has an active owner in the ATS, Bullhorn Automation assigns the same user as the owner in Automation. This rule ensures ownership stays aligned with the ATS. It is added by default and placed at the highest priority.

Note from Active Owner

If an active ATS user left the most recent note on the contact, Bullhorn Automation assigns that user as the owner.

Enhanced Note Type Control

You can now configure this rule to trigger ownership updates based on specific note actions, rather than all note types.

Administrators may choose:

• Any note type (original behavior), or

• Only selected note types, such as Connect, Prescreen, Client Interview, etc.

Multiple Note-Based Rules

You can now create multiple “Note from Active Owner” rules, each configured with different note types and different priority levels. This allows more granular ownership logic, such as assigning owners only for high-value candidate interactions.

Backup Rule

If neither of the above rules apply, ownership is assigned using a Round Robin distribution among the selected users.

Configuring Note Type–Specific Assignment Rules

To enable this new behavior:

1. Go to Settings > Owner Assignment Rules

2. Click + Add New Rule and select Note from Active Owner

3. Choose:

   • Any note type, or

   • Only specific note types

     • If selecting specific types, choose one or more note actions from the dropdown

4. Set rule priority

5. Click Save

The system will automatically process existing records using your updated rules.

Create Custom Owner Assignment Rules Based on Contact Criteria

Custom Rules let you define ownership logic using contact Lists A collection of ATS records that meets specified criteria, such as a scheduled end date or a low NPS response.. These rules assign one or more users to contacts included in the List. When multiple users are selected, Bullhorn Automation distributes ownership evenly using Round Robin logic.

How Custom Rules Work

Custom Rules rely on Lists built from Candidate or Sales Contact attributes. Any criteria available for List creation can be used, such as location, job title, or industry.

Once a List is selected, Bullhorn Automation assigns ownership to the users you choose:

• Single user selected: That user becomes the owner for all contacts in the List.

• Multiple users selected: Ownership is distributed evenly using Round Robin.

You can create an unlimited number of Custom Rules, and each rule can include multiple users.

Add a Custom Rule

1. Click the Add New Rule button and select Custom Rule.
2. If you'd like the owner updated in the ATS toggle on Update Owner in Bullhorn?.
3. Enter a name the rule.
4.  Choose an existing contact list or create a new one.
   • Custom Rules from lists can only be created with Candidate or Sales-based lists.
5. Select one or more users to assign as owners.
   • If multiple users are selected, ownership will be distributed among them based on a percentage.
     

Prioritizing Rules

You can reorder Owner Assignment Rules to determine which ones take precedence. This now includes the ability to assign different priorities to multiple “Note from Active Owner” rules with different note-type configurations.

The Backup Rule always runs last and ensures that every email or notification has an associated owner. If no rules apply and the Backup Rule has no user defined, the contact will not have an owner and emails will not be sent.

Reassigning Ownership

1. To reassign ownership away from a specific user:

2. Create a temporary rule assigning their contacts to someone else.

3. Move the rule to the top of the list and allow time for the transfer.

4. Delete the rule and create a new one to reassign their ATS-owned records, using a Bullhorn ATS tearsheet if needed.

Excluding a User from Ownership

To prevent a user from being assigned contacts or sending emails:

• Set the user's status to Inactive in Bullhorn Automation.

• Navigate to Settings > Bullhorn, then select the user's name and update their status.

Deleting a Custom Rule

To delete a custom rule:

1. Click on the rule.

2. Select the trashcan icon in the bottom-left corner.

Takeaways and Best Practices

General Guidance

• Rules apply to both Candidates and Sales Contacts.

• Ownership updates may take up to two hours.

• Only licensed users can be assigned as owners.

• If a user is inactive in Bullhorn Automation, their ATS ownership remains unchanged.

Backup Rules and Best Practices

• Backup rules prevent emails from being sent by inactive users.

• If no user is available for fallback, emails cannot send.

• A general marketing email or designated catch-all user is recommended.

Clear Round Robin Assignments

If you want to reset Round Robin ownership:

1. Create a temporary rule to reassign ownership.

2. Prioritize this rule at the top.

3. Once all reassignment is complete, delete the temporary rule.

Exclude a User from Round Robin

Set their status to Inactive in Settings > Bullhorn.

Troubleshooting Owner Assignment Rules

If ownership isn’t updating

Check rule priority. Rules run in order from top to bottom.

If emails are sending from the wrong user

Verify:

• The user is active

• They’re included in the correct rule

• The Backup Rule isn’t accidentally taking over

If Round Robin isn’t distributing evenly

Ensure all users in the rule are active and licensed.

If a rule isn’t applying

Check whether the contact is included in the List used by the rule.

If a note-based rule is not applying as expected, verify:

• The rule is configured with the correct note types

• The user who created the note is Active

• The correct note type was selected when entering the note

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Bullhorn Automation store an audit log of rule changes?

No, Owner Assignment Rule modifications are not logged.

Do rules update ATS ownership?

Only if ATS syncing is enabled. By default, ownership updates remain inside Bullhorn Automation.

Can I test rules before enabling them?

Not directly, but you can create temporary Lists or test users.

How quickly do ownership changes apply?

Typically within two hours.

Can I create multiple note-based assignment rules?

Yes. You can create multiple “Note from Active Owner” rules with different selected note types and order them by priority.