The Southern district's new CIB head will take up the post next month.
Police confirmed yesterday Detective Inspector Steve Wood would take over the Southern district's crime manager role.
The role had been filled by Canterbury district crime manager Detective Inspector Tom Fitzgerald, who moved to Canberra this month to work as a New Zealand police liaison officer.
Det Insp Wood would start the Dunedin-based role in mid-November, a police spokeswoman said.
The role - which included oversight of the district's CIB and serious crime and a seat on the District Governance Group - had remained unfilled for two years.
Police had struggled to find an appropriate applicant to fill the vacancy created by former Detective Inspector Steve McGregor's retirement in 2014.
Police would not provide details on Det Insp Wood's work history yesterday, but the investigator has worked as liaison officer in Canberra, within the Organised and Financial Crime Agency New Zealand, and as a detective in Auckland.
Police also confirmed Superintendent Lane Todd would be acting as district commander after Superintendent Mike Pannett left to take up a position at Police National Headquarters having been less than a year in the role. Supt Todd is the Canterbury metro area commander and previously served in the Southern district as the head of the Southland area.
Police did not provide a timeframe for the appointment of an official replacement for Supt Pannett.
He was preceded by Andrew Coster, who spent 22 months as head of the district before leaving to join the national executive as strategy and transformation assistant commissioner.
