Infrastructure

How to become an environmental engineer

Official title: Environmental engineer

Also called: Natural resources engineer, Environment project engineer, Environmental remediation engineer, Conservation engineer, Rivers engineer, Civil and environmental engineer, Environmental designer

Environmental engineers research, assess and manage the impact of human activity on the environment. They develop ways to dispose of waste and environmental hazards and to decrease pollution.

Main tasks

Design environmental control systems
Investigate environmental impacts of projects
Measure air, water and soil pollution
Analyse environmental data
Give sustainability advice and recommendations
Inspect sites and facilities
Prepare environmental reports
Maintain operational records

How to become one

You need a qualification to become an environmental engineer and experience may be useful. You need University Entrance to do the study or training for this job. Required: a Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) or similar. Other requirements: a Bachelor of Engineering Technology; a Master of Renewable Energy; experience in similar work; to be registered as a Chartered Professional Engineer with Engineering New Zealand.

See the full Tahatū profile

Ways in

University: Engineering degrees, Offered by 5 universities in New Zealand

Pay · Past change · AI and this job

Most common pay: $74,000 to $141,000 a year (median $101,000), a TEC estimate before tax.
Lower: $55,000 a year · Upper: $190,000 a year
TEC's pay figures are estimates only. TEC says they must not be used to set pay, in pay negotiations or in visa applications.
Change in the number of people doing this job between the 2018 and 2023 Censuses: Strong increase (TEC). This is past change, not a forecast.
Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Who does this work

About 470 people did this job at the 2023 Census (TEC).
In the group Other Engineering Professionals, 14% of workers are female (sex at birth, 2023 Census).
Where people in the group Other Engineering Professionals work (2023 Census): Auckland 33.8%, Canterbury 14.8%, and Waikato 9.8%.

Questions people ask

How do I become an environmental engineer?

How much does an environmental engineer earn in New Zealand?

The Tertiary Education Commission estimates median pay at $101,000 a year, before tax. Most common pay is $74,000 to $141,000 a year.

Has the number of people working as an environmental engineer grown in New Zealand?

It has grown strongly: TEC records a strong increase in the number of people doing this job between the 2018 and 2023 Censuses. This is past change, not a forecast.

Will AI change the work of an environmental engineer?

Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

Stats NZ (via Figure.NZ): Census 2023: employed by regional council, occupation (ANZSCO V1.3 unit group) and sex at birth (2023 Census), CC BY 4.0 (Stats NZ), CC BY 3.0 NZ (Figure.NZ), retrieved 4 October 2026
Tertiary Education Commission (Tahatu Career Navigator): Tahatu career ideas: descriptions, tasks, pay estimates, people employed, employment change 2018 to 2023, entry requirements, registration, interest scores (Site scrape 2026-10 (816 career ideas, sitemap lastmod 2026-10-01)), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026

This content is sourced from the Tertiary Education Commission through the Tahatū Career Navigator website (www.tahatu.govt.nz) and used under the CC BY 4.0 licence. All or some of the information has been modified by Peernovo. TEC has not approved, endorsed or tested these modifications. TEC will not be held accountable for any errors within this content.

Qualification information from NZQA, used under CC BY 3.0 NZ.

This work is based on/includes Stats NZ's data which are licensed by Stats NZ for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. Census data via Figure.NZ.

Includes information from O*NET OnLine by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.

Sources: Tertiary Education Commission, Tahatū Career Navigator (career ideas, pay estimates, entry requirements and study options, CC BY 4.0, modified by Peernovo); Stats NZ, 2023 Census (via Figure.NZ) and the National Occupation List (CC BY 4.0); NZQA qualification information (CC BY 3.0 NZ); O*NET interest scores (CC BY 4.0); ILO global generative AI exposure index (CC BY 4.0). Links between career ideas and ANZSCO groups, degree fields and broad job groups are Peernovo's.

These results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), which is carefully managed by Stats NZ.

Graduate outcomes: these results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), which is carefully managed by Stats NZ.

Updated 4 October 2026