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Useful experience for foreign policy officers includes:

• volunteer work with community, religious or cultural groups
• work with international organisations in legal, economic or trade fields, or in public policy
• working with Pacific or Māori communities, or other cultures
• coaching or leadership experience.

Foreign policy officers may do some or all of the following:

• work overseas to promote New Zealand's interests
• seek improved access for New Zealand exports and help organise trade missions
• participate in global discussions on protecting New Zealand and international oceans and environment 
• negotiate treaties and agreements with other countries
• liaise with local authorities in other countries
• study and report on political and economic developments
• help develop foreign policy and trade policy
• draft briefing papers and submissions
• inform industries about trade policies of other countries.

• working with international partners to advocate for New Zealand positions and come up with creative solutions for issues.

Few foreign policy officer positions available

Chances of getting a job as a foreign policy officer are average because it's a small, specialist occupation with low staff turnover.

Opportunities for people with similar public service experience are poor as MFAT prefers to train graduates who stay on and progress within the organisation. 

Opportunities with MFAT's graduate training programme 

There are opportunities for graduates in MFAT's foreign policy officer development programme. Around 30 graduates a year are accepted into the programme, which MFAT advertises in March.

Your best chance of applying for the development programme is to sign up for job alerts from the MFAT careers page. Summer internships are also advertised and by doing one you can increase your chances of being accepted into the programme.

One employer of foreign policy officers

All foreign policy officers are employed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Foreign policy officers may progress within MFAT to senior roles such as an overseas ambassador or director of a world regional division. They can also move into adviser or consultant roles in the private sector.

Foreign policy advisers may specialise in working in a particular country or region.

Foreign policy officers need to be:

• adaptable, versatile and resilient
• able to relate to people from a wide range of cultures, but have a strong sense of New Zealand identity 
• able to persuade and influence others
• able to work well as part of a team
• excellent communicators
• good at analysing and interpreting information.