(a) Except as otherwise provided by law, the following positions in the Executive Branch of State government are in the executive service:

(1) the chief administrator of a principal unit or a comparable position that is not excluded from the State Personnel Management System under § 6-301 of this title as a constitutional or elected office; and

(2) a deputy secretary or assistant secretary of a principal unit or a position that the Secretary determines has similar stature.

(b) The executive service includes any other position that is determined by the Secretary to be in the executive service.