HEO and SEO roles in the Civil Service

Higher executive officers and senior executive officers are the middle grades of the Civil Service, above EO and below Grade 7. They do much of the government’s policy development, analysis, project management and operational leadership: an HEO might draft a ministerial submission or manage a team of EOs, while an SEO might lead a workstream or run an operational site’s management team. Pay is set department by department, with no national scale.

Who works at these grades

The spread of jobs is wide. The main groups are:

• policy: researching options, drafting advice and briefings for ministers, working on legislation and consultations
• analysis: economists, statisticians, social researchers and data analysts, often recruited through their own professions
• operations: managing teams of team leaders in contact centres, processing sites, prisons, courts or jobcentres
• projects and programmes: planning, risk management and reporting on change programmes
• corporate functions: finance, HR, commercial, communications and digital

Our guides to policy advisers and analyst jobs in government go deeper into the two largest specialist groups.

HEO and SEO compared

The grades overlap, and the same job title can appear at both. In general:

	HEO	SEO
Typical responsibility	A defined piece of work or a small team	A workstream, a larger team, or a whole function in a small body
Line management	Often manages EOs or AOs, or none	Often manages HEOs and EOs
Contact with seniors	Drafts for others to clear	Often clears work and briefs senior civil servants directly
Next step	SEO	Grade 7

In policy teams, HEOs and SEOs often work side by side under a Grade 7, with the SEO acting as deputy. In operations, an SEO may be the senior manager on site.

Pay in 2026/27

Each department publishes its own ranges for HEO and SEO, often with a London rate and a national rate, and the advert gives the starting salary. Some professions, including analysts, digital and commercial specialists, get allowances on top where the market requires them.

For 2026/27 the pay remit guidance, published on 21 May 2026, sets a headline maximum of 3.5% for each department’s paybill. Departments can add up to 1% more for a specific group through a small business case, and pay flexibility cases are due by 31 October 2026. The guidance says the 3.5% does not confirm what any individual will receive. Our guide to Civil Service grades and pay explains how departmental ranges compare.

Alpha pension contributions for 2026/27 are 4.6% on pensionable pay up to £36,199, 5.45% from £36,200 to £56,000 and 7.35% from £56,001 to £150,000. HEO and SEO salaries usually fall in the first two bands, depending on the department.

How recruitment works at this level

HEO and SEO campaigns use the Success Profiles, typically several behaviours plus experience or technical elements. You write a personal statement against the person specification as well as behaviour examples. Interviews usually mix behaviour and strengths questions, and many add a presentation or a written exercise, such as drafting a short briefing from a pack of papers.

The behaviours that come up most often at this level are Seeing the Big Picture, Making Effective Decisions, Communicating and Influencing, and Leadership. Our guide to the Civil Service personal statement covers the written stage.

Where the jobs are and how you work

HEO and SEO posts used to cluster in London, but many departments have moved roles to regional hubs, so policy, analysis and project posts are now advertised in cities across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Adverts state the location and often list several offices you can choose from. Hybrid working is normal for these grades, with a minimum share of time in the office set by each department.

Moving around is common at these grades. Loans and secondments let you work in another department or an outside body for a fixed period and come back, and moving sideways between departments at the same grade is a well-used way to broaden your experience before applying for Grade 7. Our guide to secondments explains how they work and what happens to your pay and pension while you are away.

Graduate and internal routes

Graduates can join through the Civil Service Fast Stream, which moves trainees through several postings and aims to get them to Grade 7. Analytical professions also run their own graduate recruitment. Internally, EOs reach HEO through promotion, often after temporary promotion, and some departments run development programmes that support people moving from EO to HEO.

Both grades are open under the Civil Service nationality rules in the same way as other grades, with reserved posts for UK nationals only, and some posts need security clearance before you start.