The Leader of the Social Democratic Party (Vorsitzender der Sozialdemokratischen Partei Deutschlands) is the most senior political figure within the Social Democratic Party of Germany.

Since December 2021, the office has been held jointly by Saskia Esken and Lars Klingbeil.

The party's administration is headed by a General Secretary, which since December 2021 has been Kevin Kühnert.

To stand as leader, a candidate needs to be nominated by 90 "Ortsvereine", local chapters.

This has drawn hefty criticism, so much so that in the last leadership election in April 2018, Simone Lange[1] challenged Andrea Nahles, the candidate nominated by the Federal Executive.