Senior Staff

The Senior Staff is comprised of the Commanding Officer, the Executive Officer, and the department heads of each area within the starship or installation. In most cases, the CO will confer with this staff on matters of importance (such as a First Contact situation, battle plan, or other emergency situations) before making his own decision. All other crew members of the starship or installation report to at least one of the Senior Staff.
====Common Members of a Senior Staff, showing the chain of command:====
*Commanding Officer
**Executive Officer
***Senior Flight Controller
***Chief Security Officer / Chief Tactical Officer
***Chief of Operations* or Chief Engineer
***Operations Officer
***Chief Science Officer
**Strategic Operations Officer*
**Diplomatic Officer
**Chief Medical Officer
***Counselor*
Note that unless otherwise noted, "Chief" positions are typically equal in terms of authority.  The exceptions to this are as follows:
*In matters affecting the entire ship, seniority or a prior-appointed chain of command takes effect. For example, if both the CO and XO are incapacitated, the Second Officer (generally one of the Department Heads) will take command, becoming the CO for the duration.
**When a pre-determined chain of command has not been established, the most senior officer will take command.   For example, a Lieutenant Commander would have seniority over a Lieutenant.
***If two officers are of the same rank and department, the officer serving the longest at that rank would be the more senior.  For example, a Lieutenant Commander that has just been promoted to that rank would be inferior to one that has served for a year.
**In emergencies involving a specific situation, where the normal chain of command is not clear, the most appropriate officer will take command.  For example, the CMO would be the most appropriate to command during a medical crisis, while the Chief of Security would be more appropriate during a tactical or security situation.
*Despite their relative equality seniority, it is generally understood that Chiefs of a specific Department will have greater authority over that department.   For example, if both the Security and Engineering Chiefs give conflicting orders to an Engineer regarding an Engineering procedure, the Engineer would be expected to follow the Chief Engineer's orders.
**The Chief Medical Officer and Counselor have complete authority in Medical matters, superseding even the Commanding Officer.  However, the CMO is typically not in the normal chain of command unless they have completed Command Training.
***The Counselor may or may not be a separate position from the CMO.  In many cases, the Counselor may be considered inferior to the CMO, especially if the CMO is of a higher rank.
**The Strategic Operations Officer operates outside the normal chain of command, bypassing the Executive Officer to report directly to the ship's CO.  In some cases, the SOO may also be the Executive Officer or Second Officer of the starbase / starship.
**The Chief of Security has the authority to arrest anyone if there is reasonable suspicion of a criminal or court-martial offense.   This does include the CO, XO, and CMO, but typically requires higher authorization (i.e. from Starfleet Command) and bears significant risk to the security officer's career if the arrest is proven to be unwarranted.  This authority also extends to anyone operating within Starfleet's jurisdiction as needed (i.e. arresting a known criminal inside Federation space).
Additionally, the Chief of Operations and Strategic Operations Officer  are typically only found on board a starbase or fleet flagship.  Diplomatic Officer are also fairly uncommon, often limited to larger starships operating in a diplomatic or exploratory role.  
Category:Titles