Senior Foreign Service The Senior Foreign Service ( SFS ) comprises the top four ranks of the United States Foreign Service . These ranks were created by the Foreign Service Act of 1980 and in order to provide the Foreign Service with senior grades equivalent to general - and flag ranks in the military and naval establishments , respectively , and to grades in the Senior Executive Service . Like military ranks and other Foreign Service ranks , the Senior Foreign Service grade system assigns rank in person , not rank in position . Grade structure . The four grades , from highest to lowest , with their military and former Senior Executive Service equivalents ( i . e . , prior to the SES ' s shift to an open - range compensation system ) , are : Only one of these ranks , Career Ambassador , is established by law . The Foreign Service Act of 1980 stipulates , " The President may , by and with the advice and consent of the Senate , confer the personal rank of career ambassador upon a career member of the Senior Foreign Service in recognition of especially distinguished service over a sustained period . " Otherwise , the 1980 Act states the President shall " prescribe salary classes for the Senior Foreign Service and shall prescribe an appropriate title for each class . " President Ronald Reagan established the other three Senior Foreign Service ranks with . Protocol . According to McCaffree ' s " Protocol : The Complete Handbook of Diplomatic , Official & Social Usage " , Career Ministers of the Senior Foreign Service are to be accorded the honorific " The Honorable " . Career Ambassadors , as ambassadors , are accorded the honorific " Her / His Excellency " . Pay scale . The Senior Foreign Service pay system is an open - range , performance - based pay system that is linked to the Senior Executive Service ( SES ) pay system . SFS members , like SES members , are not entitled to automatic across - the - board increases and locality - based comparability payments . Instead , pay adjustments are based on a member ’ s individual performance and / or contribution to the agency ’ s performance . As amended under 5 U . S . C . 5376 , Executive Order 12293 prescribes three SFS salary classes linked to the Executive Schedule , ranging from 120 percent of the pay rate for a GS - 15 , step 1 to the pay rate for ES - II : The Executive Order originally prescribed three SFS salary classes linked to the SES as follows : Prior to creation of the Senior Foreign Service ( i . e . , prior to implementation of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 ) Career Ministers were paid at the same rate as Class 1 Foreign Service Officers . In 1979 , an FSO - 1 earned from $ 61 , 903 to $ 65 , 750 per annum , with the caveat that civil service and Foreign Service salaries were capped at $ 50 , 112 . 50 per annum , equal to the pay rate for Level V of the Executive Schedule , per Section 5308 of Title 5 of the U . S . Code . The top theoretical annual salary , $ 65 , 750 , was equal to that of a GS - 18 . History . Prior to passage of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 , the Rogers Act and subsequently the Foreign Service Act of 1946 had established a grade system from FSS - 22 up to FSO - 1 . A single “ senior ” grade , Career Minister , was established by the 1946 Act for Foreign Service Officers who had served with noteworthy distinction in ambassadorships or other , equivalent positions ( usually as Assistant Secretary or Under Secretary of State ) . Since Career Ministers were paid at the same rate as senior FSO - 1s , however , the “ promotion ” was merely symbolic . The rank of Career Ambassador " was first established by an Act of Congress on Aug 5 , 1955 , as an amendment to the Foreign Service Act of 1946 . Under its provisions , the President with the advice and consent of the Senate was empowered to appoint individuals to the class who had ( 1 ) served at least 15 years in a position of responsibility in a government agency , including at least 3 years as a Career Minister ; ( 2 ) rendered exceptionally distinguished service to the government ; and ( 3 ) met other requirements prescribed by the Secretary of State . " Ambassadors were appointed as a rule from the ranks of FSO - 2s and FSO - 1s , with very senior ambassadorships going to the relatively rare Career Ministers and exceedingly rare Career Ambassadors . Following reform of the civil service in 1949 , when the General Schedule with its three “ supergrades ” ( GS - 16 through GS - 18 ) was created , and then following creation of the Senior Executive Service in 1978 , however , Foreign Service Officers in senior policy positions found themselves regularly equated to mid - level counterparts in the military and the civil service . The 1980 Act sought in part to redress this imbalance in perceived status versus level of authority and responsibility . Functions . The intent of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 in establishing the Senior Foreign Service was to create a cadre of senior , policy - level foreign affairs professionals on a par with the senior , policy - level officers of the military and naval establishments , and with the civil service - based Senior Executive Service , which had been formed a few years prior . The 1980 Act describes the Senior Foreign Service as the " corps of leaders and experts for the management of the Service and the performance of its functions . " The Act provides , moreover , that for promotion into and within the Senior Foreign Service , the precepts used by selection boards ( the bodies responsible for recommending promotions and involuntary separations of underperformers ) " shall emphasize performance which demonstrates the strong policy formulation capabilities , executive leadership qualities , and highly developed functional and area expertise " requisite for these positions . In addition to their eligibility to serve in ambassadorships , SFS officers serve in senior positions in U . S . diplomatic missions ( e . g . , as deputy chief of mission , as head of section in a large embassy , or as consul general in a large consulate general ) as well as in headquarters positions in their respective foreign affairs agencies . Eligibility and time in class . In order to be promoted into the Senior Foreign Service , an FS - 1 Foreign Service Officer or Specialist must " open his / her window " , that is , must formally request in writing consideration for promotion into the Senior Foreign Service . This application starts a clock ; if the officer is not promoted into the Senior Foreign Service within a specific number of convocations of Selection Boards ( set by regulation in each foreign affairs agency ) , the officer is mandatorily retired . Like the rest of the Foreign Service , as well as their military counterparts , Senior Foreign Service officers are subject to time - in - class provisions . If not promoted within a specific " time in class " for the rank encumbered , the officer is mandatorily retired . The time in class for each grade varies both by grade and by foreign affairs agency , and is established by agency regulation . Times in class are now cumulative , so that early promotion to higher grades no longer leads to rapid retirement of rapidly rising officers . These stipulations ensure flow - through of the senior ranks of the service , a specific goal of the rank - in - person Foreign Service personnel system .