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A station chief is a government official who is the head of a team, post or function usually in a foreign country. Historically it commonly referred to the head of a defensible structure such as an ambassador's residence or colonial outpost.[citation needed] In Germany a Stationsleiter (station leader) was the government's chief representative in a colonial possession like South Sea Islands. It may also be used to refer to the manager of remote scientific stations such as those in the Antarctic and Jarvis Island, an uninhabited minor U.S. Pacific island.
However, in modern times, this designation is usually used for a senior official of a certain country's intelligence agency, stationed in a foreign country who manages all espionage operations in that country.