Applications are now open for the upcoming class of Presidential Management Fellows. Even though it’s been around for 45 years, the 2025 version of the PMF program might look a little different.

Across agencies, the upcoming PMF class could see more options available to them, thanks to the Office of Personnel Management’s new regulations for the Pathways Program. The OPM regulations, finalized in April, added flexibilities in how agencies run their early-career talent programs. It’s the first time the program has been updated in 14 years.

“Federal workers stand at the forefront of American innovation and competition. To continue advancing, we must reinforce the pipeline for early-career talent,” OPM Acting Director Rob Shriver said in a statement to Federal News Network. “These updates will improve an already top-class program, and ensure federal agencies have the flexibility needed to bring on the next generation of promising leaders.”

Many of the new flexibilities are optional, rather than required, meaning it depends on agency resources to make them a reality. And in cases like the Department of Health and Human Services, it requires some creative thinking.

But with OPM’s final rule, for instance, agencies can transfer participants who finish the PMF program to full-time positions at different agencies, rather than being limited to where they worked as a PMF.

“When an agency is unable to convert the eligible recent graduate or PMF, the agency and the government lose the expertise and knowledge the participant has gained during the program,” OPM wrote in the final rule. “The opportunity for conversion at another agency may prevent that loss.”

The catch, though, is Presidential Management Fellows can only move to a different agency if there are no suitable roles available in their employing agency when they graduate from the program. In the proposed regulations, some stakeholders called for more flexibility to let PMF graduates convert at any time. OPM maintained its initial plan in the final rule, but noted several other flexibilities that are still available.

“There are opportunities for recent graduates and PMFs to move into different positions within the federal government before and after their conversion deadline,” OPM wrote. “For example, recent graduates and PMFs can request a transfer to a different agency partway through their program. Once an individual is converted to a permanent position in the competitive service, the individual can seek to transfer to another agency.”

OPM also said it’s developing tools to help ease the process of moving candidates between agencies.

Part-time options and the role PMF coordinators

The highly competitive Presidential Management Fellows Program is one of the three branches of the Pathways Program, alongside the recent graduates and internship programs. PMFs take on two-year paid positions at agencies, generally focused on federal leadership development. The positions are reserved for those with graduate degrees or other similar types of advanced degrees.

Under OPM’s new regulations, upcoming PMF participants could see more flexibility in their work schedules. In certain cases, according to the updates, agencies can let participants work part-time schedules for up to six months, possibly opening the doors to a more diverse pool of candidates. If desired, participants have to request a part-time schedule, and their employing agency can decide whether to grant it.

Additionally, OPM finalized changes for how agencies operate the program, particularly for how Presidential Management Fellows Program coordinators manage each class of participants. In the final rule, OPM outlined more specific responsibilities of agencies’ coordinators.

Before April’s final rule, a PMF coordinator was only broadly defined as “an individual, at the appropriate agency component level, who coordinates the placement, development and other program-related activities of PMFs appointed in his or her agency,” OPM explained.

However, the updates to the program detail more specific responsibilities that an agency’s PMF coordinator must take on. Those include coordinating the recruitment and onboarding processes for PMFs, as well as collaborating with agencywide workforce initiatives to make sure PMFs are appropriately integrated.

In general, PMF coordinators should be situated at or above a GS-12 level, OPM clarified. Additionally, for new coordinators, OPM offers resources and technical assistance to get them up to speed, such as an agency brochure, a participant handbook, an onboarding toolkit and much more.

“The PMF program office also conducts monthly meetings with all coordinators, facilitates an agency PMF advisory board and sponsors a mentoring program for new PMF coordinators,” OPM wrote.

More developmental, rotational opportunities

Starting with the upcoming 2025 cohort, OPM is also clarifying and broadening options for Presidential Management Fellows who take part in “developmental assignments” during the two-year program.

PMF participants typically work on at least one developmental or rotational assignment for a few months during the two-year program. With the new regulations, agencies will now have 90 days, rather than the previous 45-day deadline, to create individual development plans (IDPs) for participants and assign at least one rotational assignment to each individual.

Along with maintaining opportunities for developmental and rotational assignments, OPM’s new regulations also give PMF participants the alternative option of spending four to six months of their time in the program working on a different type of initiative. Instead of a rotational assignment, that can include, for instance, working on an executive order, a major piece of legislation or a cross-agency collaboration on a major administration initiative, OPM said.

Agencies have also recently increased the number of PMF finalists they select. For the 2024 program year, agencies picked 825 finalists governmentwide from more than 7,000 applicants. In total, more than 6,000 participants have joined the federal workforce full-time since the program’s creation.

OPM has said the Pathways Program, including the PMF program, is a major way that agencies bring in and develop early-career talent in the federal workforce. Applications are due by midnight on Sept. 18 for the upcoming 2025 class.

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