§451.302. Ranks for senior career employees.
5 C.F.R. § 451.302
The circumstances under which the President may award the rank of Distinguished Senior Professional and Meritorious Senior Professional to a senior career employee are set forth in 5 U.S.C. 4507a.
To be eligible for a rank award, a senior career employee must—
Hold a career appointment in a Senior-Level (SL) or Scientific-Professional (ST) position that is subject to OPM position allocations under part 319 of this chapter and paid under 5 U.S.C. 5376 on the nomination deadline set by OPM;
Be an employee of the agency on the nomination deadline set by OPM; and
Have at least 3 years of career or career-type Federal civilian service above GS-15. Service need not be continuous. Qualifying service includes appointments that are not—
Time-limited; or
To positions that are excepted from the competitive service because of their confidential or policy-making character.
Each agency may nominate up to 9 percent of its senior career employees for rank awards.
Notes, amendments, and revision history
Amendments
[67 FR 52596, Aug. 13, 2002, as amended at 72 FR 44367, Aug. 8, 2007; 89 FR 25047, Apr. 9, 2024; 91 FR 5655, Feb. 6, 2026]
Source
Source: 67 FR 52596, Aug. 13, 2002, unless otherwise noted.
Authority
Authority: 5 U.S.C. 4302, 4501-4509; E.O. 11438, 33 FR 18085, 3 CFR, 1966-1970 Comp., p. 755; E.O. 12828, 58 FR 2965, 3 CFR, 1993 Comp., p. 569.
Amendments
[67 FR 52596, Aug. 13, 2002, as amended at 72 FR 44367, Aug. 8, 2007; 89 FR 25047, Apr. 9, 2024; 91 FR 5655, Feb. 6, 2026]