It is the purpose of this subchapter to establish a Senior Executive Service to ensure that the executive management of the Government of the United States is responsive to the needs, policies, and goals of the Nation and otherwise is of the highest quality. The Senior Executive Service shall be administered so as to—

(1) As a minimum, the source of recruitment to fill a SES position by career appointment must include all groups of qualified individuals within the civil service (as defined by 5 U.S.C. 2101). It may also include qualified individuals outside the civil service.

OPM has identified five executive core qualifications (ECQs). The executive core qualifications define the competencies needed to build a federal corporate culture that drives for results, serves customers, and builds successful teams and coalitions within and outside the organization.

The Senior Executive Service (SES) [1] is a position classification in the United States federal civil service equivalent to general officer or flag officer rank in the U.S. Armed Forces. It was created in 1979 when the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 went into effect under President Jimmy Carter .

(a) In accordance with 5 CFR 6.7, OPM and any agency with an executive personnel system essentially equivalent to the Senior Executive Service (SES) may, pursuant to legislative and regulatory authorities, enter into an agreement providing for the movement of persons between the SES and the other system. The agreement shall define the status ...

This part contains the regulations of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) that implement subchapter V of chapter 35 of title 5, United States Code, on the Senior Executive Service (SES). § 359.202 Definitions.

Except as provided in subparagraph (B) of this paragraph, a career appointee may be reassigned to any Senior Executive Service position only if the career appointee receives written notice of the reassignment at least 15 days before the effective date of such reassignment.

It is the purpose of this subchapter to establish a Senior Executive Service to ensure that the executive management of the Government of the United States is responsive to the needs, policies, and goals of the Nation and otherwise is of the highest quality. The Senior Executive Service shall be administered so as to-

OPM manages the overall Federal executive personnel program and provides assistance to agencies as they develop, select, and manage their Federal executives. Agency human resources offices are available to help SES members with agency-specific policy and procedural information.

Strong performance appraisal systems provide the necessary foundation for establishing pay-for-performance systems in which an individual’s pay is directly linked to accomplishments. It is within this framework that the Senior Executive Service (SES) pay-for-performance system operates.