Pearce graduated from the
Officer Cadet School, Portsea and was
commissioned into the
Royal Australian Corps of Military Police in December 1985. Her early career featured a range of regimental and staff appointments, including postings to Headquarters
1st Brigade, to the G3 (operations) branch at
Land Headquarters, and as staff officer to the commandant of the
Australian Defence Force Academy. She graduated from the
Australian Command and Staff College in 2001 and, in 2002, deployed as a military observer with the
United Nations Mission of Support to East Timor, for which she was awarded a
Chief of the Defence Force Commendation. Following her return to Australia, Pearce was appointed to command the Defence Police Training Centre in 2003. She was next posted as Provost Marshal – Army, prior to assuming command of the 1st Military Police Battalion from 2004 to 2006. Pearce was subsequently posted to the directing staff of the Australian Command and Staff College, served as Director Network Centric Warfare in the
Capability Development Group, and served as Director Special Operations Support from 2010 to 2012. She attended the
Higher Command and Staff Course in the United Kingdom in 2013 and, on her return to Australia, was appointed chief of staff at Headquarters Australian Army from 2013 to 2016. Pearce was subsequently appointed commandant of the Australian Defence Force Academy from 2017 to 2018. In November 2018, the Secretary-General of the United Nations,
António Guterres, announced that Pearce had been selected to succeed Major General
Mohammad Humayun Kabir as Force Commander of the
United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP). Pearce, who assumed command of UNFICYP in January 2019, As force commander, she was responsible for more than 800 personnel from 15 nations working to maintain peace and stability in Cyprus, in spite of the additional challenges posed by the
COVID-19 pandemic. Pearce relinquished command of UNFICYP on 4 January 2021 and, for her "outstanding achievement" in the role, she was awarded the
Conspicuous Service Cross in the
2022 Australia Day Honours. Pearce retired from full-time service in the army shortly following her return from Cyprus and, on 30 August 2021, she was appointed Deputy Commissioner Ports and Enforcement in the
Australian Border Force. Pearce's role was later changed to Deputy Commissioner South, East and Workforce, in which she oversaw Border Force operations in south eastern Australia and was responsible for the organisation's workforce capability and sustainment. She left Border Force and returned to full-time service in the army in June 2023, on being appointed
Deputy Chief of Army. In January 2024, Pearce was again seconded to the United Nations, being appointed Deputy Military Adviser for Peacekeeping Operations. She served in the role for only two months before being appointed acting Military Advisor for Peacekeeping Operations and, in 2025, was promoted to
lieutenant general. ==Personal life and education==