Chief Administrative Officer

The Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) is the senior City official responsible for the internal machinery of government: the offices that hire, buy, record and run technology for everyone else. Its mission is to "create and support conditions for City departments and workforce to deliver efficient, effective, and equitable City services."^[1] The office is part of the Mayor's cabinet and works alongside, but separately from, the Managing Director, who oversees most service-delivery departments, and the Director of Finance.

1 The CAO cluster

According to the City's website, the CAO supervises eight entities: the Department of Records, the Office of Administrative Review (OAR), the Office of Innovation and Technology, the Office of Talent and Employee Success, the Office for People with Disabilities, the Procurement Department, the PHL Service Design Studio and Strategic Transformation.^[2] In its March 2026 budget testimony the CAO appeared with the Chief Human Resources Officer (see Office of Human Resources), the Chief Information Officer, the Procurement Commissioner, the Records Commissioner, the Executive Director of the City College for Municipal Employment (CCME), and the executive directors of OAR and the Office for People with Disabilities.^[1] Mayor Cherelle Parker's announcement of cabinet appointments in early 2024 named Camille Duchaussee as CAO,^[3] and the City's department leadership page continued to list her as Chief Administrative Officer in October 2026.^[2]

2 Programs run by the office

The CAO's FY27 budget document describes program areas including Administration, Innovation and Transformation, and the Office of Administrative Review, which handles administrative reviews and appeals of certain City actions.^[1] The City College for Municipal Employment, a first-in-the-nation partnership to train residents for City jobs, is also in the CAO orbit. The CAO and Finance co-sponsor Project OPAL, the multi-year replacement of the City's accounting, contracting and procurement systems with a targeted July 2027 go-live.^[4] The CAO reported in 2026 that its cluster had deployed digital workflow transformation tools for several departments, streamlined the professional-services contract process, expanded upskilling through CCME and the Office of Talent and Employee Success, and launched a national first-of-its-kind deed fraud protection through the Records Department.^[1]

3 Budget and growth for FY27

The proposed FY27 General Fund budget for the CAO's own office was $13,599,931, an increase of about $1.5 million over FY26 estimated spending, mostly due to 28 new positions: CCME fellows, an HR manager, digital workflow automation support, a Digital Equity Manager for the Office for People with Disabilities, and staff for an Economic Mobility Cabinet.^[1] The adopted appropriation was $13.87 million.^[5] Of 106 positions budgeted in FY26 only 81 were filled in November 2025; the average full-time salary was $83,447. The cluster departments have their own separate appropriations, such as about $23 million for OHR and $159.6 million for OIT.

4 Role in the Mayor's agenda

The FY27 budget describes an Economic Mobility Cabinet and an Office of Financial Empowerment ($2.2 million) as part of the economic-opportunity pillar, and $10 million for workforce investments coordinated through CCME.^[6] The CAO thus sits at the intersection of the Mayor's priorities and the City's own workforce pipeline: it develops skills inside government and helps open civil-service pathways, in coordination with the Civil Service Commission and municipal unions such as AFSCME District Council 33.

5 Public interaction

Residents rarely deal with the CAO directly. They meet its departments: Records when recording a deed, Procurement when bidding, OIT through apps and 311 technology, and the Office for People with Disabilities for accessibility. The CAO's central office takes inquiries at the number above. Complaints about City services are better routed through Philly311 and How to File a Complaint.

See also: Mayor's Cabinet and Offices, Managing Director's Office, How Philadelphia Government Is Organized, Finance Department.

References

1. Office of the Chief Administrative Officer, "Fiscal Year 2027 Budget Testimony," March 31, 2026 (phlcouncil.com).
2. City of Philadelphia, "Office of the Chief Administrative Officer" department page (phila.gov).
3. City of Philadelphia, Mayor Parker personnel announcements, February 2024 (phila.gov).
4. Office of the Director of Finance, "Fiscal Year 2027 Budget Testimony," March 25, 2026 (phlcouncil.com).
5. City of Philadelphia, Fiscal Year 2027 Appropriation Ordinance, item 2.9 (phila.gov).
6. City of Philadelphia, The Mayor's Operating Budget in Brief for Fiscal Year 2027, Introduction (phila.gov).