How to become a photonics technician
Official title: Photonics technician
Also called: Fibre optics technician, Laser optics technician, Optics technician, Optic fibre technician, Optic fibre drawer
Photonics technicians build, install and repair fibre optic and optical equipment like lasers, lenses and microscopes.
Main tasks
- Build optical equipment
- Adjust optical equipment
- Maintain optical equipment
- Help design new equipment
- Analyse data
- Record results
- Write instructions
- Keep work areas clean
How to become one
You usually need a qualification to become a photonics technician and experience may be useful. You usually need Level 3 to do the study or training for this job. Other requirements: a relevant tertiary qualification; a Bachelor of Science (Honours); experience in similar work.
Ways in
- University: Science degrees, Offered by 6 universities in New Zealand
Pay
- Most common pay: $76,446 to $107,168 a year (median $96,768), a TEC estimate before tax.
- Lower: $56,124 a year · Upper: $117,567 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.
Related jobs
- Radio frequency specialist
- Photonics engineer
- Electrical and electronic engineering technician
- Electric motor technician
- Electrical and electromechanical assembler
- CNC machine programmer
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Questions people ask
How do I become a photonics technician?
You usually need a qualification to become a photonics technician and experience may be useful. You usually need Level 3 to do the study or training for this job. Other requirements: a relevant tertiary qualification; a Bachelor of Science (Honours); experience in similar work.
How much does a photonics technician earn in New Zealand?
The Tertiary Education Commission estimates median pay at $96,768 a year, before tax. Most common pay is $76,446 to $107,168 a year.
Sources
- 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
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