Ministerial terminology

Terminology within the sectors of public administration has a tradition of being culture specific. Therefore, we use some generic terms to describe the groupings and positions within a ministry. However, you should be aware that these names may be called otherwise in your culture and/or organization.

Below, you can find an overview over the most commonly used terms in this guide and a description of how we use them.


Minister	used in a generic context to refer to the politically elected head of a ministry.
Ministerial department	used when it is important to distinguish between the ministry as a complete governmental organ (which includes agencies, authorities, and other offices) and the ministry as an independently running department.
Permanent secretary	refers to the senior-most public servant within the ministry who serves as the head of the ministerial department and reports to the minister.
Ministerial secretariat	refers to the department in the ministry that handles administrative tasks such as ministerial services.
Department	refers to a division within the ministerial department that manages a specific area within the area of the ministry. The top-level manager of a department in a ministry is referred to as the head of department. There are normally more than one department in a ministry and, consequently there are also more than one head of department.
Unit	refers to the smallest division within the ministerial structure and is often placed under a department. The top-level manager of the unit is referred to as the Head of unit.

Regional terminology

In this section, you can find adjusted versions of our generic ministerial organization. These adjustments are made to reflect a sample of a ministerial organizational structure in a specific country. Even though these may be more precise and relatable to public servants of that specific region, the naming conventions may still vary within that region’s ministries.