For the first time in more than 15 years, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has updated the Executive Core Qualifications (ECQs).
These changes reflect the evolving demands of federal leadership and the need for executives to lead the complexities of today’s fast-paced world.
What are ECQs?
The Executive Core Qualifications (ECQs) are a framework of leadership criteria to evaluate candidates vying for roles in the Senior Executive Service (SES).
SES executives serve as the highest-level leaders in the Federal government, tasked with managing multi-billion-dollar budgets, driving national initiatives, and overseeing programs that impact millions of lives.
What’s Changing?
The updated ECQs reflect modern leadership priorities, including advancements in technology, data and AI, the importance of data-driven decision-making, and workforce dynamics. Key updates include:
- Driving Results (formerly “Results Driven”).
- Achieving Organizational Success (formerly “Business Acumen”).
- New competencies such as Data Literacy, Systems Thinking, and Building Workplace Culture.
These changes aim to align leadership qualifications with the realities of modern governance and prepare executives for challenges such as leveraging AI, managing diverse teams, and making data-informed decisions.
The Five Updated ECQs
The updated ECQs are grouped into:
- Leading Change – Driving innovation, agility, and resilience.
- Leading People – Building diverse, high-performing teams.
- Driving Results – Delivering measurable outcomes.
- Achieving Organizational Success – Leveraging resources and technology effectively.
- Building Coalitions – Partnering across boundaries for shared goals.
Why ECQs?
The ECQs are an extension of the executive federal resume to expand on leadership acumen, initiatives, and accomplishments. Senior executives lead some of the Federal government’s most important and complex organizations, including agencies such as:
- The Department of Homeland Security, where leaders oversee national security initiatives.
- The Department of Energy (DOE) where executives manage projects at the forefront of advancing the nation’s energy policy, nuclear energy innovation, national laboratory research, addressing environmental challenges through renewable energy solutions, and the modernization of the nation’s energy grid.
- The Department of Transportation (DOT) where executives oversee multi-billion-dollar infrastructure projects such as highway construction, public transit modernization, and aviation safety improvements.
- The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), where leaders drive innovation and exploration.
- The Department of Justice Cybersecurity Efforts. This is where executives coordinate federal responses to ransomware attacks, cybercrime investigations, and the protection of national critical infrastructure.
- The Office of Management and Budget (OMB), where executives manage trillion-dollar budgets and ensure efficiency across numerous federal programs.
Why Are ECQs Required?
ECQs are required for SES candidates to demonstrate their executive leadership against the five categories because these roles demand more than technical expertise.
They require strategic thinking, innovation, and the ability to lead large organizations and change that directly impacts the lives of millions of people—all around the world.
The ECQs ensure that senior executives possess the leadership skills necessary to succeed in roles that shape the future of federal operations. By focusing on leadership acumen, the ECQs provide a standardized method to assess whether candidates can deliver results, inspire teams, and tackle complex government-wide challenges.
Who reviews the ECQs?
After submission, ECQs are reviewed by a Qualifications Review Board (QRB) made up of experienced senior executives. This independent panel of senior executives evaluates whether your narrative demonstrates the competencies required for success at the highest levels of government.
Why these ECQ changes Matter
For candidates, this shift is more than just a set of updated criteria—it’s a chance to demonstrate how your leadership aligns with the government’s forward-looking vision. These updates challenge you to think strategically about how your leadership impacts innovation, modernization, and resilience in a rapidly evolving technology landscape.
From my perspective as an Executive Federal Career Coach and ECQ strategist who has spent more than 25 years helping executives, leaders, and aspiring SES candidates across diverse sectors to craft strategic executive federal resumes, Executive Core Qualifications (ECQs), Technical Qualifications (TQs), navigate USAJOBS, prepare for interviews, and strategize and negotiate job offers and counteroffers, I’m excited about these updates and see the changes as a powerful opportunity for senior executive candidates to showcase modern leadership.
The emphasis on contemporary competencies such as AI literacy and data-driven decision-making aligns with modern effective leadership, adaptability, innovation, resilience, and systems thinking.
For aspiring senior executives, this is an opportunity to enhance your leadership skills in your current positions. Volunteer for opportunities to hone these skills so you can gain expertise, qualify, and craft leadership narratives that align with these priorities.
Prepare for these Key Dates
Agencies must implement the updated ECQs by July 1, 2025, but if you’re a job seeker, the time to act is now. Updating your executive federal resume and ECQs to reflect these changes is essential to stand out in today’s competitive landscape.
How I Can Help
- Identify your leadership experiences that align with the role.
- Highlight your achievements in line with the ECQs.
- Develop impactful stories that demonstrate your expertise in AI, data literacy, and innovation using our advanced STCARI Method™ of writing and showcasing your leadership acumen.
- Build your generative AI literacy to integrate cutting-edge strategies.
- Polish your SES application to position you as a forward-thinking leader ready to tackle government-wide challenges.
- Train agency leaders in writing high-impact leadership narratives, ECQs and TQs, as well as executive federal resumes and LinkedIn profiles.
My expertise ensures that your application represents you as a leader and executive of choice and that it resonates with the Six Audiences™ and the Qualifications Review Board (QRB) who are reviewing and scoring your application.
Let’s work together to tell your leadership story in a way that inspires confidence and positions you for success!
DM me for more information.
What do you think about these changes? How are you preparing for these changes to the ECQ requirements? Let me know in the comments!
#FederalLeadership #ExecutiveCoreQualifications #AIinLeadership #SESApplications #LeadershipDevelopment #CareerGrowth
For more than 25 years, I've been trusted by all levels of professionals to senior executives in the Federal Government to collaborate with them and strategize, coach, and write not only their single most important document—the resume—but all of their career marketing that propels them upward in the ranks of the Federal Government and private sector. And, I would love to meet you and help you with yours! Thank you for stopping by!
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