How to Write and Submit Your OPM Executive Core Qualifications (ECQs)

To write OPM Executive Core Qualifications, build short accomplishment narratives using the Challenge-Context-Action-Result method, cover all 15 competencies across the five ECQ categories OPM revised effective October 1, 2025, and fit the evidence into the two-page resume format the current OPM guide requires.¹ A Qualifications Review Board convened by OPM must certify that evidence before any agency can finalize your career Senior Executive Service appointment.² If you are applying in 2026, the category names, competencies, and formatting rules below are the ones your package must follow. Older ten-page ECQ templates no longer apply.

What Your Narratives Have To Cover

OPM organizes 15 competencies into five ECQ categories, three competencies per category. Your writing has to show concrete executive-level experience in every one of them.³

ECQ 1: Commitment to the Rule of Law and the Principles of the American Founding

Knowledge of the American System of Government, Commitment to the Rule of Law, and Civic-Mindedness. Reviewers want to see that you understand the Constitution, separation of powers, and federalism; that you apply the law fairly and consistently; and that you keep your organization’s work aligned with presidential and public interests.

ECQ 2: Driving Efficiency

Fiscal Responsibility, Managing Resources, and Leveraging Technology. Show cost-benefit analysis driving your priorities, staff and budget allocated against real organizational goals, and emerging technology brought into operations without compromising security.

ECQ 3: Merit and Competence

Technical Skill, Problem Solving, and Agility and Resilience. Reviewers look for domain expertise, critical thinking that reaches root causes, and effectiveness under pressure and change.

ECQ 4: Leading People

Accountability, Developing Others, and Executive Judgement. Recruit and appraise well, act swiftly on performance problems, create space for employees to learn from mistakes, and make timely decisions that balance competing interests.

ECQ 5: Achieving Results

Operational Mindset, Innovation, and Strategic Thinking. Keep programs on measurable deliverables, introduce approaches that improve results, and tie daily operations to long-term goals.

General statements about your management philosophy do not satisfy any of this. Every claim needs a specific example of executive-level work behind it.³

The Format Your Package Has To Fit

The current OPM guide directs agencies to use a resume-based application method. The vacancy announcement typically instructs you to submit a two-page resume that incorporates your ECQ evidence, formatted with 0.8-inch margins and a minimum 11-point font.¹ That is a significant change from the older approach, which allowed up to ten pages of standalone narratives at 12-point type with one-inch margins.

OPM’s Merit Hiring Plan separately imposes a two-page maximum on all resumes submitted through USAJOBS for competitive and excepted service positions under Title 5.⁴ Packages that miss the page or font-size limits can be returned without review, so check the OPM guide and the specific vacancy announcement before you finalize anything.⁵

Two pages forces hard choices. Lead with your strongest examples of executive leadership and quantifiable results. Cut duties-based language such as “Responsible for overseeing” and replace it with accomplishment statements that map to the 15 competencies. Some announcements add their own structural instructions on top of the OPM baseline, so read the posting carefully before you start writing.

Writing Each Example With CCAR

OPM recommends the Challenge-Context-Action-Result model for describing executive accomplishments. The guide presents it as a facilitation method rather than a rigid mandate, but successful candidates use it consistently and QRB reviewers are trained to look for it.¹

Challenge

Open each example with the specific problem or goal you faced. A vague challenge like “improve the program” gives a reviewer nothing to anchor on. Strong ones name the stakes: a regulatory deadline, a budget shortfall, a failing interagency partnership. The challenge should tie clearly to one of the five ECQs.

Context

Describe the environment. Name the organization, the number of people, the budget, and any political or operational constraints. Reviewers use context to gauge the scope of your responsibility. Supervising five employees on a $200,000 budget reads very differently from leading a cross-agency team of 150 with a $40 million portfolio. Be specific about the scale.

Action

This is the part that makes or breaks the narrative. Describe what you personally did, not what your team accomplished. Write in first person. “I negotiated a new memorandum of understanding with three partner agencies” tells a reviewer far more than “A memorandum of understanding was developed.” Every action should map directly to a competency in the ECQ you are addressing. If you are writing for Driving Efficiency, the actions should demonstrate fiscal discipline, resource allocation, or technology adoption, not conflict resolution.

Result

Close with the outcome and quantify wherever you can: dollars saved, processing time reduced by a percentage, satisfaction scores improved. Qualitative outcomes matter too, but a number gives the reviewer something concrete. Connect the result back to the original challenge so the example reads as a complete arc.

With only two pages, you cannot write a full CCAR example for every competency. Pick one or two examples per ECQ that hit multiple competencies at once, and make each one carry weight.

Submitting Through USAJOBS

Start at USAJOBS. SES vacancy announcements are posted there alongside other federal positions, and the listing specifies exactly which documents to upload: your resume, any separate ECQ narratives the agency still requests, and supporting documents such as transcripts or performance appraisals.⁶ After you click Apply, USAJOBS moves you through a multi-step process that may hand you off to the agency’s own portal for additional questions or uploads.⁷

Submit before the closing date on the announcement. There is no grace period. After the window closes, the hiring agency screens applications for basic eligibility and technical qualifications, and only candidates who clear that review move forward.

What the QRB Does With Your Package

OPM convenes a Qualifications Review Board to certify your executive qualifications. The board does not evaluate your technical fit for the specific position; it evaluates only whether your narratives demonstrate the broad leadership competencies the SES requires.²

If the board approves, the certification never expires. You can use it for any future SES career appointment without going back through the QRB.⁸ That permanence is a strong reason to invest in getting the narratives right the first time.

If the board disapproves, the package is returned with feedback. A resubmission is treated as a new QRB case and runs through the same processing timeline, adding weeks or months to the hiring process.⁵ Packages that miss the template requirements are returned without any review at all. Notification of the decision comes through your agency’s human resources office.

After Certification

Certification clears the way for your agency to finalize the appointment, but it is not immediately permanent. Federal law requires a one-year probationary period for all initial career SES appointees.⁹ During that year the agency evaluates your on-the-job performance against the same leadership standards the QRB reviewed on paper. The appointment becomes final only after you complete probation successfully.

Two other QRB paths exist and follow different evidentiary rules: Criterion B for graduates of an OPM-approved SES Candidate Development Program, and Criterion C for candidates with special or unique qualities who lack conventional executive experience.¹⁰ Most competitive SES applicants coming through a USAJOBS announcement are on the Criterion A track, which is what the writing and formatting guidance above is built for. OPM is currently revising its CDP guidance, so check the OPM site if the B route applies to you.¹¹

1
U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Guide to Senior Executive Service Qualifications and the Qualifications Review Board
2
eCFR. 5 CFR 317.502 – Qualifications Review Board Certification
3
U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Executive Core Qualifications
4
U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Agency Guidance on the Two-Page Limit on Resume Length
5
U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Qualifications Review Board Submission Methods
6
USAJOBS. What Documents Do I Need to Provide When I Apply? – Section: Senior Executive Service (SES)
7
USAJOBS Help Center. How Does the Application Process Work?
8
U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Guide to the Senior Executive Service
9
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 USC 3393 – Career Appointments
10
U.S. Office of Personnel Management. What Are the 3 Types of Qualifications Review Board (QRB) Cases?
11
U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Candidate Development Programs