A type of appointment for federal employment. In the federal government, most civil service employees are members of the competitive service or the excepted service (5 U.S.C. §§ 2102-2103). The excepted service includes all positions in the executive branch that are specifically excluded from the competitive service by statute, executive order, or the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) (5 C.F.R. § 213.101). The excepted service also does not include employees in the senior executive service (SES).

Executive agencies use the excepted service hiring authorities to hire candidates when it is impractical to use traditional competitive hiring procedures, such as the civil service examination. Attorneys and other professionals are frequently hired as excepted service employees. Positions that work closely with agency heads or determine agency policies may also be appointed in the excepted service.