NJ Civil Service Navigator

Classification Officer Family

Career series with 7 positions across 3 levels

Classification Officer groups 7 related titles into a 3-level career ladder.

Entry is typically through Classification Officer 1, advancing through the ladder toward Classification Officer 3 and, from there, into supervisory roles. Pay across the family spans $63,663 to $141,386, around the 70th percentile of all civil service job families by top pay. State payroll records show 17 people across the family's titles, most concentrated at Juvenile Justice Commission.

Classification Officer commonly advances into Fire Officer and Regulatory Officer.

7
Positions
3
Career Levels
1
Specializations
Salary Range: $63,663 - $141,386/year

Specializations

Department Of Corrections

Positions in This Family

What the Classification Officer family covers

Classification Officer is a graded series in the New Jersey civil service classification plan, running 7 title codes across 3 levels. The family straddles jurisdictions: 5 state and 2 both state and local, so parts of it are hired by state departments and parts by local civil service employers.

Personnel titles administer the system this site documents: they run the exams, maintain the eligible lists, classify positions and handle the layoff and grievance machinery. That gives them an unusual footprint, since every department needs the function and the Civil Service Commission sets the rules for all of them. Training, affirmative action and equal employment titles sit in the same neighborhood. Local jurisdictions that have adopted Title 11A hire their own versions, which is why several of these families carry local as well as state codes.

The ladder, ordered by pay

Ordered by what they actually pay rather than by the number in the title, the Classification Officer rungs look like this. Here the numbering happens to agree with the pay order, which is not guaranteed elsewhere in New Jersey's plan.

The distance from the bottom of Classification Officer 1 to the top of Supervising Classification Officer is $77,723, an increase of about 122% over the entry minimum.

What each title does

Each title in the family carries its own published definition. These are the opening lines of each one, which is usually where the difference between two neighboring rungs is actually stated.

  • Classification Officer 1: Under direction of a Classification Officer 3 or other supervisory official, assists in the application of appropriate state and federal laws and department…
  • Classification Officer 2: Under direction of a Supervising Classification Officer or other supervisory official in a State prison, juvenile detention facility, or county jail, applies…
  • Classification Officer 3: Under the direction of a Supervising Classification Officer or other supervisory official, in a state or local government agency, leads a team/group composed of…
  • Supervising Classification Officer: Under direction of a Supervisory Official in an inmate correctional facility or in the central office, supervises the activities of the inmate…
  • Classification Officer 1, Department of Corrections: Under the limited supervision of a Classification Officer 3 or other supervisory official in the Department of Corrections, applies…
  • Classification Officer 2, Department of Corrections: Under the general supervision of a Classification Officer 3 or other supervisory official in the Department of Corrections, takes the…
  • Classification Officer 3, Department of Corrections: Under the direction of a Supervising Classification Officer or other higher-level supervisory official in the Department of…

What it takes to qualify

Across the 7 titles we have parsed, the education requirements read as a bachelor's degree on 7 of them. Stated experience runs from 1 year at the lowest rung to 4 at the highest, which is the main thing separating one level from the next.

On how the jobs are filled: 7 are competitive, filled from an eligible list after an open competitive or promotional examination.

Who actually employs these titles

State payroll records show 17 people working under 4 of this family's titles, spread across 2 agencies. Juvenile Justice Commission alone accounts for about 53% of them.

  • Juvenile Justice Commission — 9 employees
  • Corrections — 8 employees

Median actual pay varies across the family, from $64,203 for Classification Officer 1, Department of Corrections up to $123,437 for Supervising Classification Officer. Those are medians of what people are really paid, not schedule minimums and maximums.

State payroll only, deduplicated by payroll title; local employers file separately, so a family with local codes looks smaller here than it is. How this is counted.

How the pay is set

Titles in this family are paid on the A-P-R-S salary schedule. See every step in that schedule. Bargaining is handled by CWA. Union contracts and rights are collected here.

Where these jobs exist

Because the family mixes jurisdictions, the answer to "who hires this" depends on the specific code. State codes run through the Civil Service Commission's announcement and eligible list process; local codes are hired by the counties, municipalities and authorities that adopted civil service under Title 11A. Check an employer's status before assuming a title is available where you live.

Related titles elsewhere in the plan

These titles sit elsewhere in the classification plan but share vocabulary with Classification Officer, which usually means overlapping duties or a related eligible list.

Families next to this one

New Jersey's classification plan links families by shared terminology and by the routes people actually take between them. These sit closest to Classification Officer.

Common questions about Classification Officer jobs

How many Classification Officer titles are there in New Jersey civil service?

The Classification Officer family holds 7 title codes arranged across 3 levels. Each code is a separate classification with its own published specification, requirements and salary treatment.

What does a Classification Officer earn in New Jersey?

Published salary data for this family runs from $63,663 at the bottom of Classification Officer 1 to $141,386 at the top of Supervising Classification Officer. Those are schedule figures. Where the title appears on the state payroll, actual median pay is listed on the page above.

Do you need to take an exam to become a Classification Officer?

Yes for most of the family. 7 of the 7 titles are in the competitive division, which means appointment comes from an eligible list built by an open competitive or promotional examination.

What qualifications does a Classification Officer need?

The most common education requirement in this family is a bachelor's degree, named on 7 of the 7 titles. Stated experience ranges from 1 to 4 years depending on the rung. Read the individual specification for the exact wording, including any experience substitution.

Which agencies employ Classification Officer staff?

State payroll records show 17 people in this family across 2 agencies, with Juvenile Justice Commission the largest at 9. Local government employers are not covered by that extract.