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How to become an intelligence officer

Official title: Intelligence officer

Also called: Intelligence analyst, Intelligence specialist, Intelligence operator, Electronic warfare operator, Information systems operator, Communication systems operator

Intelligence officers collect and analyse information on people, places and events that may be a threat to businesses or national and international security.

Main tasks

How to become one

You need a qualification to become an intelligence officer and experience may be useful. You usually need University Entrance to do the study or training for this job. Required: a bachelor's degree in psychology, political science and policy, criminology or similar area OR a New Zealand Diploma in Intelligence Analysis (Level 6) OR to complete specialist training through the Defence Force; to pass a police check; a driver licence; a security clearance. Other requirements: experience in similar work.

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Ways in

Pay · Past change · AI and this job

Who does this work

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Questions people ask

How do I become an intelligence officer?

You need a qualification to become an intelligence officer and experience may be useful. You usually need University Entrance to do the study or training for this job. Required: a bachelor's degree in psychology, political science and policy, criminology or similar area OR a New Zealand Diploma in Intelligence Analysis (Level 6) OR to complete specialist training through the Defence Force; to pass a police check; a driver licence; a security clearance. Other requirements: experience in similar work.

How much does an intelligence officer earn in New Zealand?

The Tertiary Education Commission estimates median pay at $104,051 a year, before tax. Most common pay is $86,077 to $122,025 a year.

Will AI change the work of an intelligence officer?

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

Sources

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