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APPENDIX NO. 2 

SENIOR EXECUTIVE SERVICE 

The Senior Executive Service (SES) is a personnel system covering top level policy, supervisory, 

and managerial positions in most Federal agencies. Positions in Government corporations, the FBI 

and Drug Enforcement Administration, certain intelligence agencies, certain financial regulatory agencies, and the Foreign Service are exempt from the SES. 

The SES includes most Civil Service positions above grade 15 of the General Schedule. An agency 

may establish a SES position only within an allocation approved by the U.S. Office of Personnel 

Management (OPM). Currently, there are 8,328 SES positions allocated by OPM to agencies. 

Types of SES Positions 

There are two types of SES positions: Career Reserved and General. About half of the SES positions 

are designated in each category. Once a position is designated by an agency, the designation may 

not be changed without prior OPM approval. 

SES positions are designated Career Reserved when the need to ensure impartiality, or the public’s 

confidence in the impartiality of the Government, requires that they be filled only by career employees 

(e.g., law enforcement and audit positions). 

The remaining SES positions are designated General. A General position may be filled by a career 

appointee, a noncareer appointee, or, if the position meets the criteria described below, by a limited 

term or limited emergency appointee. Because of the limitations on the number of limited appointees, 

most General positions are filled by career appointees. 

A given General position may be filled at one time by a career appointee and at another time 

by a noncareer or limited appointee, or vice versa. Because of the limitations on the number of noncareer 

and limited appointees, as discussed below, most General positions are filled by career appointees. 

This publication lists only General positions since Career Reserved positions must be filled by a career 

appointee. 

Appointments to SES Positions 

The legislation establishing the SES provides three methods of appointments. Veterans preference 

is not applicable in the SES. 

(1) Career appointment: Career appointments are made through a Governmentwide or an ‘‘all 

sources’’ merit staffing (competitive) process, including recruitment through a published announcement, rating and ranking of eligible candidates, approval by the agency of the professional qualifications of the selected candidate, and a further review and approval of the executive/managerial 

qualifications of the proposed selectee by an OPM-administered SES Qualifications Review Board. 

A career appointee serves a 1-year probationary period. Upon completion, the appointee acquires 

tenure rights and may be removed from the SES only for cause or for poor performance. (A 

performance appraisal for a career appointee may not be made, however, within 120 days after 

the beginning of a new Presidential Administration, i.e., one where the President changes.) 

When a career appointee is reassigned within an agency, he or she must be given at least 

a 15-day advance written notice. If the reassignment is to another commuting area, the notice 

period is 60 days; the agency first must consult with the individual as to the reasons and the 

individual’s preferences. 

A career appointee may not be involuntarily reassigned within 120 days after the appointment 

of a new agency head, or during the same period after the appointment of a noncareer supervisor 

who has the authority to make an initial appraisal of the career appointee’s performance. A career 

appointee may not be involuntarily transferred to another agency. 

Like all career Federal employees, a career SES appointee is entitled to protection against 

retaliatory or politically motivated personnel actions and may lodge a complaint with the Office 

of the Special Counsel if a prohibited personnel practice has occurred. 

(2) Noncareer appointment: By law, no more than 10 percent of total SES positions governmentwide may be filled by noncareer appointees. The proportion of noncareer appointees may, however, 

vary from agency to agency, generally up to a limit of 25 percent of the agency’s number of 

SES positions. OPM approves each use of a noncareer authority by an agency, and the authority 

reverts to OPM when the noncareer appointee leaves the position. 

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SENIOR EXECUTIVE SERVICE 201 

Noncareer appointees may be appointed to any SES General position. There is no requirement 

for competitive staffing, but the agency head must certify that the appointee meets the qualifications 

requirements for the position. 

Any noncareer appointee may be removed by the appointing authority (e.g., for loss of confidence 

or change in policy). There is no appeal right. 

(3) Limited appointment: Limited appointments are used in situations where the position is 

not continuing (e.g., to head a special project), or where the position is established to meet a 

bona fide, unanticipated, urgent need. Limited term appointments may not exceed 3 years; limited 

emergency appointments, 18 months. 

By law, limited appointments governmentwide may not exceed 5 percent of total SES positions. 

The appointments may be made only to General positions. Generally, OPM allocates limited appointment authorities on a case-by-case basis. However, each agency has a small pool of limited authorities equal to 3 percent of their total SES position allocations from OPM. Such pool authorities 

may be used only for appointment of career or career-type Federal civil service employees. Selection 

procedures and qualification requirements are determined by the agency, and the incumbent serves 

at the pleasure of the appointing authority. 

By law, the appointment to or removal from any SES position in an independent regulatory commission shall not be subject, directly or indirectly, to review or approval by an officer or entity within 

the Executive Office of the President. 

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