What are a Senior Agency Official for Records Management's specific duties under the NARA Universal ERM Requirements versus the agency records officer's?

Federal agencies rely on two distinct but complementary roles to run a records program: the Senior Agency Official for Records Management (SAORM) and the agency records officer (ARO). NARA’s electronic records framework and broader records management guidance treat these as separate positions with different altitudes of responsibility. The simplest way to understand the difference is that the SAORM provides executive leadership and accountability, while the records officer provides day-to-day program management and technical execution.

The Senior Agency Official’s duties

The SAORM is a senior executive who holds agency-wide accountability for the records management program. The role is strategic and oversight-oriented rather than operational. In general terms, the SAORM is expected to:

• Ensure the agency meets statutory and NARA requirements for managing records in all formats, with emphasis on electronic and digital records.
• Provide leadership, set program direction, and secure the resources, staffing, and authority the program needs to succeed.
• Coordinate across the agency so that records management is integrated with IT, information governance, privacy, and security functions.
• Certify or report on the agency’s progress toward federal electronic records goals, typically through annual reporting to NARA.

The SAORM is the executive who answers for whether the program works, even though they do not perform the hands-on records work themselves.

The agency records officer’s duties

The records officer is the program’s operational lead and subject-matter expert. This role carries the practical, recurring work that keeps records compliant and disposition lawful. In general, the records officer:

• Develops and maintains the agency’s records schedules and works with NARA to obtain disposition authority.
• Implements policies, procedures, and training so staff create, capture, and manage records correctly.
• Oversees the lifecycle: retention, transfer of permanent records to NARA, and legally authorized destruction of temporary records.
• Serves as the agency’s primary point of contact with NARA on scheduling, appraisal, and program matters.

How the roles work together

Think of it as governance versus execution. The SAORM owns accountability, direction, and resources; the records officer owns the schedules, procedures, and disposition that turn that direction into compliant practice. A healthy program needs both, with clear communication between them.

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