The Office is headed by an Ambassador: in that position, she advises the Secretary of State and the Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Human Rights, and Democracy and works to formulate U.S. policy on prevention and accountability for mass atrocities.

The Ambassador coordinates the deployment of a range of diplomatic, legal, economic, military, and intelligence tools to help expose the truth, judge those responsible, protect and assist victims, enable reconciliation, and build the rule of law.

Previous Ambassadors at Large in the Office of Global Criminal Justice included Todd F. Buchwald and Morse H. Tan.

According to reports in Foreign Policy, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had intended to close the Office and fold its personnel into the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor.

[1] In an August 28, 2017 letter to Senator Bob Corker, Secretary Tillerson informed the Chairman of the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations that he intended to end or transfer as many as three dozen special envoy positions.