Director general

Adirector general,general directorordirector-general(plural:directors general,general directors,directors-general,director generalsordirector-generals) is a senior executive officer, often thechief executive officer,within a governmental, statutory, NGO, third sector ornot-for-profitinstitution.The term is commonly used in many countries worldwide, but with various meanings.

Australia

In most Australian states, the director-general is the most senior civil servant in any government department, reporting only to the democratically electedministerrepresenting that department. In Victoria and theAustralian government,the equivalent position is thesecretaryof the department.

TheAustralian Defence Force Cadetshas three directors-general which are allone-star ranks:

• Director-General of theAustralian Navy Cadets
• Director-General of theAustralian Army Cadets
• Director-General of theAustralian Air Force Cadets

Canada

InCanada,the title director general is used in the federal civil service, known as thePublic Service of Canada.A director general in the federal government is typically not the most senior civil servant in a department. Directors general typically report to a more senior civil servant, such as an assistant deputy minister or associate deputy minister. The title "director general" is not usually used within the civil services of the ten provincial governments, nor the three territorial governments; instead, these civil services usually use the title "executive director", or "director".Deputy ministersare the highest level bureaucrat within theCanadian civil serviceat the federal, provincial and territorial levels. Deputy ministers are not politicians but non-partisan civil servants. Outside the federal, provincial and territorial civil services, some public sector agencies such as school boards inQuebecuse the title "director general".

European Union

ESOandESAdirectors-general sign cooperation agreement

In theEuropean Commissionand theCouncil of the European Union,each department (called adirectorate-general) is headed by a non-political director-general. This is roughly equivalent to a Britishpermanent secretary.

France

In France, the similar wordprésident-directeur général(PDG) means the highest person in a company, who is at the same timechairman(président) of the board of directors andCEO(directeur général). From 2001 the two charges may be disjointed. Thedirecteur général déléguéhas a role similar to that of a chief operating officer.

Frenchministriesare divided into general directorates (directions générales), sometimes named central directorates (directions centrales) or simply directorates (directions), headed respectively by adirecteur général,adirecteur central,or adirecteur.

Ethiopia

Prior to the coup d'état of 1974 which overthrew the government of EmperorHaile Selassie,the chief civil servant of a government ministry or independent state agency was known by the title ofdirector-general.In contemporary Ethiopia, the head official of independent agencies such as theInformation Network Security Agencyor theEthiopian Investment Corporationis titleddirector-general,as are second-tier divisions within ministries, below [permanent] secretariats.

Germany

In Germany,Generaldirektormay be used for the CEO of a large and established concern, corporation, company or enterprise, particularly if subordinates have the titledirector.The title is, however, unofficial (theoretically any person, and even practically every entrepreneur with one employee, may call himself director-general) and by now largely out of use. Officially aGmbHhas aGeschäftsführer('managing director'), anAktiengesellschaft,and a board of executive directors (Vorstand) with a chairman (Vorstandsvorsitzender).

The term is also used byGerman Institute Taipei,Germany's informal representative mission to theRepublic of China (Taiwan),to refer to itshead of mission,as well as the suggested translation for senior executive positions (AbteilungsleiterinorAbteilungsleiter) in German ministries.

Hong Kong

Several positions in theHong Kong governmentbear titled director-general, including the directors-general ofinvestment promotion,oftrade and industry,ofcivil aviation,and of theHong Kong Economic and Trade Office, London.

India

In India,director generalmay refer to the Director General of theBorder Security Forceor to theDirector General of Police,who is the highest ranking official in theCentral Armed Police Forces,theNational Disaster Response Force,and theIndian Coast Guard.In addition, the head of many government agencies are also referred to asdirectors general,like the Director General of theArchaeological Survey of India,the Director General of theCentral Statistics Office,the Director General of theNational Informatics Centre (NIC),the Director General of theIndian Council of Medical Research,etc.

Italy

InItaly,thedirettore generaleof a company is acorporate officerwho reports to the CEO (amministratore delegato) and has duties similar to achief operating officer.

Some Italianministriesare divided into departments (dipartimenti), which are in turn divided into general directorates (direzioni generali) headed by adirettore generale.Other ministries, which do not have departments, are directly divided into general directorates. InItalian provincesand greatestcommunes,direttore generaleis achief administrative officernominated by the president of province or by the mayor. The title ofdirettore generaleis also given to the chief executive of anazienda sanitaria,a local public agency for health services.

Philippines

The worddirector-generalwas used in the Philippines as a highest ranking law enforcer, which means the head of a law enforcement agency. Such agencies are:

• Philippine National Police(until 2019)
• Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency
• Bureau of Corrections

It is also used in various government agencies as the agency's chief of office:

• Food and Drug Administration
• National Economic and Development Authority
• National Intelligence Coordinating Agency
• National Security Council
• Technical Education and Skills Development Authority

Russia

Ageneral directoris the highest executive position in a Russian company, analogous to a US chief executive officer (CEO), or a UK managing director (MD). The position exists for allCommonwealth of Independent States(CIS) legal forms (e.g.joint stock companies(AO) andlimited-liability companies(OOO)), except forsole proprietorships(IP).

The general director is the "single-person executive body" of a company, acts withoutpower of attorneyto represent the company, and issues powers of attorney to others. The general director's powers are defined by the company charter, by decision of the general meeting ofshareholders(AO) or participants (OOO), and by the board of directors.

Spain

In Spain, México, and other Spanish-speaking countries, the termdirector generalof a company (similar to a US corporation) is either the general manager or CEO of the company.

South Africa

In South Africa, the term refers to the non-political head of thenational government and its departments.Provincial governmentsalso have directors-general and they hold similar roles to their national counterparts.

Sweden

In Sweden, the cognate wordGeneraldirektör(GD) is the generic title for the head of astate agency,unless otherwise prescribed by higher authority. For purposes of English translations, the worddirector-generalis officially used.

United Kingdom

In the UK'scivil service,adirector-generalis now usually a senior civil servant (SCS) at pay band 3 level who heads up a group of other directors and reports directly to the permanent secretary of a department.

For historical reasons, it has also been retained as the professional title of the chief executive officers in some organisations which predate the current SCS structure and therefore may be used by those people despite them working at different pay bands. For example, the head of the UK's internal security serviceMI5is also called director-general, despite the fact that the post is atpermanent secretary(pay band 4) level.

The chief executive of theBritish Broadcasting Corporationalso uses the title despite there being no link to the civil service grading structure. The head of theNational Trustalso holds the title. The head ofCamping and Caravanning Clubalso holds the title of Director General.

United States

This term is used ininternational organisationsand government departments, although this sort of position is more commonly called an "executive director" or "managing director" in the United States.

Typically, the chief administrative officer of anoperacompany in the US holds the title of "general director". Such was the case with singer and conductorPlácido Domingo,who formerly functioned in that capacity for theLos Angeles Opera,as he had previously for theWashington National Opera.In another prominent example,Speight Jenkinsserved as the general director of theSeattle Operafor over three decades. General directors are often responsible for artistic decisions, such as which operas to perform and which singers to hire, in addition to financial matters. TheMetropolitan Operais one of the few exceptions among US opera houses; the head of its administration is known as a "general manager"rather than a general director.