Labor & Employment Law Daily Wrap Up, OPM NEWS—Guidance recommends that agencies redesignate SES CIO roles to ‘general’, (Feb 5, 2025)

By Patricia K. Ruiz, J.D.

The modern CIO role is not the sort of impartial or technical position that is fit for career reserved SES positions, the guidance states.

Guidance from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) provides information to agencies regarding Senior Executive Service (SES) Chief Information Officer (CIO) positions currently designated as career reserved. The guidance states that the modern agency CIO role demands policy-making and policy-determining capabilities across a range of controversial political topics. Thus, the OPM recommended that each agency with a CIO role classified as SES and designated as career reserved send a request that the OPM redesignate the position to “general” no later than Friday, February 14, 2025.

Career reserved vs. general positions. There are two types of positions in the SES, according to the OPM. Career reserved positions are those which, as defined in law, are to ensure impartiality, or public’s confidence of impartiality of government. These positions may only be filled by career appointees. General positions may be filled by any type of SES appointee, whether career, noncareer, limited term, or limited emergency.

Digital policy. The guidance states that it is a focus of the Trump administration to improve the government’s digital policy to make government more responsive, transparent, efficient, and accessible to the public and to make using and understanding government programs easier. The administration expects that agency CIOs will be on the front lines of articulating and implementing such policies, both within government and before the general public. When an agency CIO makes policy choices about the topics to prioritize and fund, the CIO determines government policy in important ways.

Change in CIO role. While many policy-determining and policy-advocating jobs throughout the government require a baseline of technical knowledge necessary to understand broader issues and make decisions for the agency, the guidance states that a modern agency CIO is “not a mere engineer, scientist, or technocrat.” Instead, the guidance states, “he crafts and effectuates policy, and sets and deploys his budget, based on his [a]dministration’s priorities.” The modern CIO role is not the sort of impartial or technical position that is fit for career reserved SES positions, the guidance states.

Shortage of talent. Finally, the guidance explains that CIO talent is difficult to find. In 2018, OPM announced direct hire appointing authorities for a variety of STEM, cybersecurity, “and related positions where we have identified severe shortages of candidates and/or critical hiring needs.” The shortage of talent persists today, according to the OPM, and converting certain CIO SES positions to general will help alleviate the shortage by dramatically increasing the number of candidates available to fill such roles.

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