Joseph E. Macmanus assumed the position of Executive Secretary on August 4, 2014. From November 2012 until 2014, Ambassador Macmanus served as U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations Office in Vienna and to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

A career member of the Foreign Service holding the rank of Minister Counselor, he served as the Executive Assistant to the Secretary from May 2012 until November 2012, and from January 2009 until April 2011. As the senior professional aide to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, he helped manage the Secretary's professional office and staff, and accompanied her on foreign travel. From June 2008 until January 2009, he served in the same capacity under Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Ambassador Macmanus was the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs from April 2011 until May 2012. He served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs from 2005 until 2008, managing an office of 30 liaison officers responsible for the Department's day-to-day relationship with Congress on legislation, budget and appropriations, and foreign policy. He has served in this and other capacities in the Department since 2003.

Ambassador Macmanus entered the Foreign Service in 1986 as a Public Diplomacy Officer at the United States Information Agency (USIA). From 1986 until 2003, he served in various Public Diplomacy positions in Mexico, El Salvador, Poland, Belgium, and at the U.S. Information Agency headquarters in Washington, DC.

Ambassador Macmanus served as Assistant to the Deputy Director of USIA from 1995 until 1999, where he worked on a number of initiatives in democracy, human rights, and the consolidation of the U.S. Information Agency into the Department of State.

Ambassador Macmanus has a B.A. in English from the University of Notre Dame and a Masters in Information Science from the State University of New York.