Federal Employees - What’s a Senior Adviser?

[Anonymous]

I was reading the ProPublica article linked below that focused on Leland Dudek’s strange time with DOGE at Social Security. The article had this interesting mention regarding senior adviser roles:

“Over the years, he was given multiple roles as a “senior adviser,” a title he said is for federal employees who are either incompetent but too established to fire or highly competent in a technical way but lacking in management or people skills.”

https://www.propublica.org/article/inside-doge-social-security-takeover-leland-dudek

As a Brit, I am a bit fascinated by this “senior adviser” sort of role. Is this really a thing within your government? Does every agency have a senior advisor job category? Is it common? Is it a “turkey farm” sort of position?

[Anonymous]

Yes, there are many senior advisors. I disagree with the characterization in the quote however. My experience is that the senior advisor was for someone highly competent but individual contributor, not that they don't have management skills, but often they don't want to be a manager, they want to be an expert.

[Anonymous]

In my agency (I have left) it was a fairly common position but it was not looked down upon as described here. It was a pretty sought after position for highly competent folks who wanted to be doing interesting work, advising at a higher level but not having to be caught up in the sometimes laborious work of managing. I can think of one instance where someone was moved from managing an office into a senior advisor role because they weren’t great at managing the office for the reasons you stated - very high up already etc etc. But for the most part I don’t feel it was viewed that way. Sometimes it was a senior advisor/chief of staff type of role.

[Anonymous]

19:30 pp and +1 to 19:25 I hadn’t seen their response and that’s a great description

[Anonymous]

As a career employee, I was a senior advisor to a political appointee. The role itself definitely was not looked down upon in my agency. I just held it the role for a while so it’s not commentary on me.

[Anonymous]

They are def sought after in my office. Most that i know of are GS14s and dont manage anyone. More of technical experts. People often take lateral moves to be a Senior Advisor.

[Anonymous]

Is this term for people who are in either SL or ST positions?

[Anonymous]

The senior adviser in my former office was a 23-year old political.

[Anonymous]

At my agency, managers that couldn't be fired would be given "senior advisor" positions.

But not everyone with a "senior advisor" position is a joke. New people came in over the years who hears those titles and thought they sounded good. And since the established employees all knew they didn't mean anything, anyone could use a "senior advisor" title if they wanted to.

[Anonymous]

At my agency it tends to start as a "heads a special project" role and then becomes permanent. It seems like more of a plum position for people who are good at the small-p political side of the job, rather than people bad at managing, just because my agency tends to start management at GS-11 or 12. We definitely don't have the budget to move a bunch of poor managers into 14 and 15 positions with no reports.

[Anonymous]

The term Senior Advisor just refers to a male employee in an advisory position.

And, to state the obvious, a Seniorita Advisor is a reference to a female who serves in an advisory capacity.

[Anonymous]

I have not been at my agency for very long, but I know 2 people who moved into senior advisor roles. One was grossly incompetent, often gave wrong guidance and hated dealing with people. The other was one of the best managers I've ever had and an expert in the field. So I guess it's a mixed bag type thing at my agency.

[Anonymous]

Jared Wise, the man starring in the video below was hired as a DOJ Senior Adviser in this new Trump administration. I can imagine that must make for some awkward interactions with law enforcement.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/body-camera-footage-from-jan-6-attack-shows-justice-department-adviser-yelling-for-rioters-to-kill-police/
Video from Jan. 6 attack shows Justice Department adviser telling rioters attacking Capitol Police to "kill 'em"

Video footage from the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol shows a man who now works as an adviser at the Justice Department shouting at rioters to "kill" law enforcement officers responding to the attack and calling them "the Gestapo."

The footage, from a body camera worn by a Metropolitan Police Department officer, was first published Thursday by NPR. The network joined CBS News and other news organizations in suing to obtain thousands of hours of surveillance footage and court exhibits from the more than 1,000 criminal cases brought by the Justice Department against people who allegedly participated in the Capitol attack.

Among those defendants was Jared Wise, who eventually faced six charges as a result of his alleged actions on Jan. 6. He pleaded not guilty. Wise's hiring by the Justice Department was reported last month. A Justice Department spokesperson said in a statement that Wise "is a valued member of The Department of Justice and we appreciate his contributions to our team."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Jared Wise, the man starring in the video below was hired as a DOJ Senior Adviser in this new Trump administration. I can imagine that must make for some awkward interactions with law enforcement.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/body-camera-footage-from-jan-6-attack-shows-justice-department-adviser-yelling-for-rioters-to-kill-police/
Video from Jan. 6 attack shows Justice Department adviser telling rioters attacking Capitol Police to "kill 'em"

Video footage from the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol shows a man who now works as an adviser at the Justice Department shouting at rioters to "kill" law enforcement officers responding to the attack and calling them "the Gestapo."

The footage, from a body camera worn by a Metropolitan Police Department officer, was first published Thursday by NPR. The network joined CBS News and other news organizations in suing to obtain thousands of hours of surveillance footage and court exhibits from the more than 1,000 criminal cases brought by the Justice Department against people who allegedly participated in the Capitol attack.

Among those defendants was Jared Wise, who eventually faced six charges as a result of his alleged actions on Jan. 6. He pleaded not guilty. Wise's hiring by the Justice Department was reported last month. A Justice Department spokesperson said in a statement that Wise "is a valued member of The Department of Justice and we appreciate his contributions to our team."

Off topic much?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Jared Wise, the man starring in the video below was hired as a DOJ Senior Adviser in this new Trump administration. I can imagine that must make for some awkward interactions with law enforcement.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/body-camera-footage-from-jan-6-attack-shows-justice-department-adviser-yelling-for-rioters-to-kill-police/
Video from Jan. 6 attack shows Justice Department adviser telling rioters attacking Capitol Police to "kill 'em"

Video footage from the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol shows a man who now works as an adviser at the Justice Department shouting at rioters to "kill" law enforcement officers responding to the attack and calling them "the Gestapo."

The footage, from a body camera worn by a Metropolitan Police Department officer, was first published Thursday by NPR. The network joined CBS News and other news organizations in suing to obtain thousands of hours of surveillance footage and court exhibits from the more than 1,000 criminal cases brought by the Justice Department against people who allegedly participated in the Capitol attack.

Among those defendants was Jared Wise, who eventually faced six charges as a result of his alleged actions on Jan. 6. He pleaded not guilty. Wise's hiring by the Justice Department was reported last month. A Justice Department spokesperson said in a statement that Wise "is a valued member of The Department of Justice and we appreciate his contributions to our team."

Off topic much?

Nope--OP asked what a senior adviser is. Jared Wise is one.