Working for the Service

Introduction

Everyone who works for the Service must be a New Zealand citizen and has to be security cleared ("vetted") to the highest level, as utmost integrity and trustworthiness is required.

The NZSIS is an equal opportunity employer. Staff come from a variety of educational and ethnic backgrounds and have brought to their careers a diverse range of life and work experience.

Core work

The Service is broadly divided into two main areas – Intelligence and Corporate. The Intelligence area undertakes collection, analysis and investigation while the Corporate area provides legal, finance, business analysis, HR and planning functions.

Corporate staff

A variety of roles support the Service’s overall mission and these include:

  • vetting officers
  • generalist support staff, and
  • specialists in areas including information technology, engineering, electronics, finance, or law.

Salary scales and conditions

Salary scales and conditions of service are comparable with other parts of the public service, and a subsidised retirement savings scheme is offered.

Recruitment

Increasingly, staff are recruited through:

Career development

Staff are trained for the specific type of work on which they will be employed. The Service runs a comprehensive management training programme and a variety of other general programmes which staff are encouraged to attend. The Service also offers specialist training programmes.