A Coordinating Secretary in the Government of Sri Lanka is a senior member of the personal staff of the President, the Prime Minister, a Cabinet Minister or a Secretary of a Ministry.
[1] The appointment is within the power of the minister and may or may not be a civil servant, therefore are considered to be political appointees.
A Coordinating Secretary is normally of middle management level however, as the key official responsible for disseminating the decision of Ministers and indeed as their gatekeeper, their role is of considerably greater significance than the grade or level they hold suggests.
Coordinating secretaries are the principal link between a government Minister and officials in the Ministry.
In that respect a CS will often be in a position of debate with colleagues of much higher seniority.