New Air Force program aims to groom civilian executives
Service will designate dozens of senior positions to serve as stepping stones to the SES.
Officials in the Air Force's Civilian Strategic Leader Program are working to identify more than 75 positions across the service that will be used to groom future members of the Senior Executive Service.
The command-equivalent positions will be open to eligible GS-14 and GS-15 grade employees on a competitive basis. Service leaders believe those who serve successfully in the posts will be well-positioned to move into the SES eventually.
The effort is "designed to create multiskilled and interchangeable civilian leaders who will be amply prepared to successfully navigate complex environments," according to a written statement provided to Government Executive on Friday.
The command-equivalent positions, which are wing and group director and deputy director positions, will be posted in April to the Air Force Portal, a Web-based information database open to Air Force personnel.
According to a press release the Air Force Personnel Center issued in late January, "Applicants for the new CSLP program will be identified and invited to participate by their career field leadership." Applications must be submitted by June.
The Air Force currently has more than 6,500 employees at the GS-14 and GS-15 grades, according to the Air Force Personnel Center. The service has about 300 SES positions. Angela Kravetz, CSLP program manager, said in a phone interview on Friday it wasn't yet clear how many civilians would be invited to participate in the program.
To be eligible, applicants must have held their GS-14 or -15 grade for at least 12 months, have at least one current Air Force performance appraisal, have 12 months of supervisory experience and hold a bachelor's degree. They also must sign a mobility agreement.
Applicants currently serving in command-equivalent positions could be moved to one of these positions at a higher level.
Personnel already serving three-year assignments in the newly designated command-equivalent positions will not have to compete for the jobs they currently hold and will be allowed to complete their terms. But not all the positions currently are designated as three-year rotational assignments, so Air Force leaders will work with individuals now filling those jobs on a case-by-case basis to convert them to three-year slots. As positions are vacated, they will be filled by CSLP participants.
Eventually all 75 command-equivalent positions will be designated as three-year assignments and will be associated with CSLP.
"The program provides a disciplined approach for identifying civilians with senior leadership potential, and for properly developing and employing targeted civilians," according to the Air Force statement.