| Rebecca Kitteridge | |
| Office1: | 7th Director-General of Security |
| Primeminister1: | John Key (2014–16) Bill English (2016–17) Jacinda Ardern (2017–2023) Chris Hipkins (2023) |
| Term Start1: | May 2014 |
| Term End1: | 2023 |
| Predecessor1: | Warren Tucker |
| Successor1: | Phil McKee (acting) |
| Office2: | 17th Secretary of the Cabinet |
| Term Start2: | 26 March 2008 |
| Term End2: | 2013 |
| Predecessor2: | Diane Morcom |
| Successor2: | Michael Webster |
| Primeminister2: | Helen Clark (2008) John Key (2008–14) |
Rebecca Lucy Kitteridge (born) is a New Zealand public servant. Her current position is Deputy Public Service Commissioner and acting chief executive of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.
She was Secretary of the Cabinet from 2008 to November 2013 and Director-General of the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service from 2014 to 2023.[1] [2]
Kitteridge attended Upper Hutt College, and is a graduate of Victoria University of Wellington.[3] Her early career was in private legal practice before holding positions at the Crown Law Office, Cabinet Office and Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
She was Deputy Secretary of the Cabinet from 2003 to 2008 and Secretary of the Cabinet from 2008 to November 2013.[4] [5] During the last six months of this time she was seconded to the GCSB as acting associate director-general to carry out a review of compliance systems and processes there, in response to concerns of illegal spying on Kim Dotcom.[6] [7] [8]
She was appointed Director-General of the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service in 2014. She was the first woman to head the organisation.[9] In late 2022, it was announced she would join the State Services Commission as Deputy Public Service Commissioner from March 2023. Instead, however, she was seconded to act as chief executive of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet in March 2023.[10] [11] That appointment was extended in January 2024.[12]
Kitteridge has a husband and a daughter.
On 25 March 2014, Kitteridge was appointed a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order upon relinquishing her roles as Secretary of the Cabinet and Clerk of the Executive Council, and was invested by the Queen in a private ceremony at Buckingham Palace.[13] [14] In 2017, Kitteridge won the Public Policy Award at the New Zealand Women of Influence Awards.[15]