Officer

Any holder of an office or of a post may bear the title officer. Generally, the word officer implies a rank, and degree of decision-making responsibility, higher rather than lower in a chain of command and reporting.

Related Topics:
Office - Post - Rank - Chain of command

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However, in some organizations that use the term, all but clerical workers are termed officers (in the U.S., police departments and the diplomatic service).

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In military service, non-commissioned officer (NCO) (or petty officer in naval service) is a usually lower ranking officer with less responsibility (some sergeant majors, or sergeants major, are an exceptions with respect to both rank and responsibility) than any commissioned officer; their careers are also subject to different rules from those with commissions.

Related Topics:
Non-commissioned officer - Petty officer - Commissioned officer

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Examples include:

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• Ship's officer - a senior member of a ship's company, such as a captain.
• Customs officer - An American inspector of imported goods.
• Revenue officer - A UK inspector of imported goods.
• Political officer - Position that answers to a separate chain of command controlled by a Communist Party. Compare commissar.
• Chief Academic Officer - Position in charge of instructional and research affairs.
• Company officer - an employee of a company who is delegated various rights as an agent of the company.
• Chief executive officer - The ranking manager who heads all the other officers of a company.
• Chief financial officer - The head of a group of financial officers.
• Chief information officer - The head of a group of information officers.
• Chief operations officer
• Commissioned officer - Member of a military or paramilitary force who is commissioned by the government. Compare military rank.
• Non-commissioned officer - in the military hierarchy, a junior-ranked, non-sworn executive buffer between commissioned officers and military enlistees.
• Police officer - non-military government employee charged with upholding the law; in the U.S., distinguished from civilians as a sworn officer. In England and Wales; a citizen locally appointed by the Crown and not a governmental employee.