WASHINGTON — John O. Brennan, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, has replaced the acting head of the agency’s clandestine service, a woman who was at the center of the agency’s detention and interrogation program and played a central role in the destruction of interrogation videotapes, American officials said on Tuesday.

In replacing her, Mr. Brennan could be signaling a shift in the agency’s focus away from over a decade of intense manhunts and paramilitary operations — and putting distance between his tenure and the C.I.A.'s detention and interrogation program.

Mr. Brennan’s choice to lead the National Clandestine Service is a career undercover officer in his late 50s who has served in Pakistan and other countries. The officer was chosen after Mr. Brennan considered a small number of candidates. One of them was the female officer who had been the acting leader; another was the head of the agency’s Counterterrorism Center, who for years has managed the C.I.A.'s escalation of drone strikes in Pakistan and other countries.

The man he picked served as a Marine and started at the C.I.A. in its paramilitary branch, known as the special activities division. After several years he became what is known as a case officer, carrying out traditional espionage work in his overseas assignments.