PMF - Presidential Management Fellows

• Owning Your Experience
• Training and Development
  • Individual Development Plan
  • Rotational Opportunities
  • Training
• Resources
• FAQs

Current PMFs

Training and Development

Rotational Opportunities

Rotational opportunities are assignments often used to allow Fellows to gain a broader perspective of the Federal Government. These opportunities can take you to another bureau, division, office, program, or even another agency or branch of the Federal Government. By participating in rotational opportunities, you can gain management experience, work in specific occupational fields, or learn about a program function from another perspective.

You are required to do at least one developmental assignment of 4-6 consecutive months in duration in the occupation or functional discipline in which you will most likely be placed, with full-time management and/or technical responsibilities consistent with your IDP. A developmental assignment is a rotational opportunity, but not all rotational opportunities meet the criteria of the required developmental assignment. Please remember that you must receive at least one developmental assignment meeting the above criteria. 

The PMF regulations specify that in addition to the developmental assignment, you may receive other short-term rotations of 1 to 6 months in duration, at your appointing agency's discretion, to occupations or functional areas different from the one in which you will most likely be placed. Rotations and developmental assignments are grouped together as Rotational Opportunities.

The four to six month rotation is mandatory, but other rotations may be available at the agency's discretion (if viewed as useful to achieve agency goals). Because the agency and supervisor will be without your services during the rotational opportunity, but are still paying your salary, there may be times when the agency will turn down or adjust your request regarding these opportunities. 

Rotational opportunities are at the discretion of your home agency. You are required to go through agency-specific procedures before pursuing them. More specifically, it is your responsibility to initiate the approval process, if required by the agency, before making contacts or agreements to go on rotational opportunities.

The PMF Program Office has developed a sample Memorandum of Understanding template that Fellows and agencies may use. The template is available in the Current PMFs\Resources section. This sample PMF MOU is to be used when performing a rotational opportunity at an agency other than your agency. This form should be tailored to meet the needs of the specific assignment. You should consult with your supervisor and/or Agency PMF Coordinator for assistance.

While some rotational opportunities are arranged by your agency, many Fellows take the initiative to identify opportunities they are particularly interested in. If an agency concludes that a rotational opportunity to a non-Federal entity is appropriate to assist you to reach core competencies necessary for conversion to the targeted position at the end of your fellowship, it is the responsibility of the agency to address potential legal and ethical issues associated with such a rotation.

The frequency and duration of rotational opportunities during a Fellow's two-year fellowship may vary greatly from agency to agency. You are encouraged to be flexible and to have reasonable expectations regarding the agency's support for the location, timing, and duration of a rotational opportunity.

While on a rotational opportunity, you remain employed by your agency and are not to be separated from Federal service. While on the rotational opportunity, your salary continues to be paid by the appointing agency, although housing, transportation, training, or other expenses are sometimes paid by the agency hosting the Fellow for this period of time. Agencies that permit a Fellow to perform a rotational opportunity outside of the agency are encouraged to have a memorandum of understanding with the hosting agency in place before the rotational opportunity begins.