WHAT DOES A DIRECTOR OF SECURITY DO?
Updated: Mai 28, 2025 - The Director of Security ensures the confidentiality of employee security-related issues while overseeing investigations and preparing detailed reports. Conducts corporate governance audits in collaboration with legal counsel and maintains compliance with federal and state regulations, ensuring contracts meet security standards. Develops departmental policies, manages a skilled team, and fosters relationships with law enforcement and regulatory agencies to uphold organizational security and compliance.
A Review of Professional Skills and Functions for Director of Security
1. Director of Security Duties
- Security Expertise: Provide subject matter expertise on security and life safety operations, technologies, and business practices, offering recommendations and ensuring financial accountability and performance improvement.
- Contract Coordination: Coordinate with NSO to prepare and review regional security-related contracts before final approval.
- Expenditure Alignment: Ensure annual expenditures align with NSO strategies, business models, and technology standards prior to final sign-offs.
- Policy Development: Coordinate with NSO to develop and implement policies and procedures related to security operations, guard behaviors, and property safety management.
- Investigation Oversight: Manage security-related investigations in collaboration with stakeholders like Internal Audit and Human Resources to mitigate corporate risks.
- Project Leadership: Lead larger-scale security and life safety projects with a focus on continuous improvement and value maximization.
- Cost Projections: Prepare accurate cost projections within 10% for security-related operational and capital expenditure plans.
- Performance Objectives: Recommend annual performance objectives for security and life safety managers in consultation with business leaders.
- Strategy Implementation: Oversee and execute security strategies through regular liaison with senior management to ensure consistent service delivery and financial efficiency.
- Best Practices Development: Develop and articulate best practices in security and life safety, ensuring alignment with corporate objectives.
- Process Reviews: Conduct reviews of internal business processes in security, emergency management, and business continuity to identify and address gaps.
- Behavioral Change Management: Drive culture change and behavioral improvements across the security portfolio in partnership with senior management.
- Technology Standards: Ensure adherence to national standards in the design, procurement, and implementation of security monitoring technologies.
- Project Recommendations: Provide input and recommendations for larger, complex security projects.
- Budget Oversight: Manage up to $10M in annual security contract expenditures.
- Stakeholder Engagement: Establish and maintain relationships with internal and external partners, including law enforcement and public safety agencies.
- Value Optimization: Promote best practices that demonstrate how security and life safety services optimize and create value.
2. Director of Security Details
- Confidentiality Management: Provide processes for the confidential hearing of employee issues related to security.
- Investigation Oversight: Oversee fact-finding/investigations pursuant to all complaints and allegations of security violations.
- Report Writing: Prepare written investigative reports.
- Corporate Governance Auditing: In conjunction with legal counsel, conduct annual corporate governance audits to determine the state of the corporation and present findings to superiors.
- Regulatory Knowledge: Maintain up-to-date knowledge and understanding of corporate governance requirements, compliance and reporting responsibilities, and related legal benchmarks from federal and state law.
- Contract Compliance: Review contracts and create compliance records/audits for security regulations found in those contracts.
- Security Testing: Create plans and execute security tests/checks/drills.
- Confidentiality Maintenance: Maintain strict confidentiality regarding sensitive information.
- Team Management: Manage experienced professionals who exercise latitude and independence in assignments.
- Recruitment and Evaluation: Select and hire candidates for positions within the department and conduct performance evaluations and salary reviews for assigned staff.
- Policy Development: Responsible for the development of departmental policies.
- Stakeholder Relations: Maintain relationships with external stakeholders, including foreign, national, state, and local law enforcement, intelligence, homeland security, industry regulatory agencies, and representatives.
3. Director of Security Responsibilities
- Security Compliance: Ensure the Industrial Security program adheres to NISPOM, DOD directives, instructions, regulations, and corporate security policies.
- Policy Review: Provide internal reviews of security policies to ensure corporate consistency and alignment with ethical standards.
- Facility Inspections: Conduct required annual and periodic facility inspections to identify and address security vulnerabilities.
- Training Management: Deliver security training packages to cleared personnel, ensuring signed acknowledgments are properly filed.
- Employee Briefings: Develop and provide security briefings for new employees and cleared personnel with access to classified information.
- Record Accuracy: Ensure accurate and efficient submission of facility clearance requests and maintain up-to-date personnel records.
- Background Screening: Process all background screenings for new employees, maintaining strict confidentiality of sensitive information.
- Espionage Reporting: Report any potential espionage, sabotage, or subversive activities in written form to the NSA/DSA.
- Personnel Record Review: Regularly review personnel records in the Joint Personnel Adjudication System for compliance and accuracy.
- Adverse Reporting: Report adverse information concerning cleared employees to management and Defense Security Services.
- Confidential Procedures: Develop and maintain confidential procedures for handling complaints and allegations effectively.
4. Global Director of Security Accountabilities
- Policy Development: Develop and manage security and loss prevention policies for cargo transport and warehousing to prevent damage and theft.
- Risk Identification: Identify security risks and issues affecting the company’s people and assets.
- Risk Analysis: Conduct risk analysis to determine if risks can be eliminated or minimized.
- Loss Monitoring: Monitor cargo losses in transit and on-site to implement corrective actions and prevent recurrence.
- Compliance Coordination: Coordinate with transportation security providers to ensure compliance with security requirements and analyze distribution route risks.
- Security Audits: Conduct security audits of logistics and warehouse locations in collaboration with operations and transportation managers.
- System Management: Manage contract guard operations, access control, alarm systems, and CCTV to support company operations.
- Crisis Management: Lead the Crisis Management Team to develop policies and procedures for handling crises.
- Regulatory Knowledge: Maintain up-to-date knowledge of industry practices and regulations to recommend internal policies.
- Team Leadership: Manage, mentor, and develop a team of safety and security professionals to achieve high-performance
5. Director of Security Functions
- Vision and Strategy: Own the vision and execution plan for a world-class security culture, awareness, and training program.
- Team Building: Mentor and build a high-performance global team through learning opportunities and timely feedback.
- Cross-functional collaboration: Partner with teams across the company to deliver measurable improvements in secure behavior.
- Adaptability: Lead through organizational scale and priority changes in a fast-paced, results-oriented environment.
- Roadmap Development: Develop, manage, and communicate the Culture, Awareness, and Training roadmap to key stakeholders.
- Goal Setting: Define measurable goals, objectives, metrics, and solutions to track progress and impact over time.
- Innovation Partnership: Collaborate with industry experts to introduce innovative solutions and contribute to the security community.
- Cultural Change Leadership: Work with cross-functional teams to drive organizational cultural changes in security practices.
- Trusted Advisor: Establish credibility as an advisor to stakeholders, including customers, executives, and employees.
- Risk Assessment: Gather and assess information affecting security, personnel safety, profitability, or reputation.
- Risk Mitigation: Understand and apply financial and managerial controls to mitigate business environment risks.
- Safety Management: Identify and mitigate safety hazards and conditions effectively.
- Emergency Leadership: Lead emergency management, evacuation, and incident response procedures, including fire systems.
- Public Engagement: Lead customer-facing security personnel to enhance guest and customer experiences.
- Hospitality Initiatives: Drive hospitality initiatives with PM teams and third-party suppliers.
- Customer Service Focus: Implement a customer service-oriented approach for security staff.
- Multi-Faceted Strategy Execution: Execute and resolve conflicts in multi-faceted security strategies led by leadership.
- Asset Safeguarding: Oversee and implement strategies to assess and mitigate risks, protecting the corporation and its assets.