Companies hire security directors to manage the security personnel and systems that keep company data safe. Most security director job descriptions include overseeing security departments and programs.
They manage a staff of security guards and surveillance personnel, who are responsible for patrolling and inspecting the organization's property against theft, fire, vandalism, and terrorism, as well as ensuring the safety of personnel and visitors while on the organization's premises.
A security director is responsible for making sure your organization's facilities are safe for employees, vendors, and visitors. This means monitoring various checkpoints using various forms of surveillance equipment to make sure there is no suspicious activity going on anywhere near or on the premises.
A bachelor's degree in criminal justice, psychology, or other suitable fields of study is required, as well as over five years of experience in security. Over one year of management experience is preferred. Security director salaries vary based on factors such as credentials, position, company, and region. However, the median salary for this position is $108,000 annually.
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a security director. For example, did you know that they make an average of $58.7 an hour? That's $122,094 a year!
There are certain skills that many security directors have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed business skills, organizational skills and communication skills.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a security director, we found that a lot of resumes listed 14.7% of security directors included physical security, while 6.1% of resumes included oversight, and 5.9% of resumes included emergency. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the security director job title. But what industry to start with? Most security directors actually find jobs in the hospitality and technology industries.
If you're interested in becoming a security director, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 36.8% of security directors have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 15.5% of security directors have master's degrees. Even though most security directors have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a security director. When we researched the most common majors for a security director, we found that they most commonly earn bachelor's degree degrees or associate degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on security director resumes include master's degree degrees or high school diploma degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a security director. In fact, many security director jobs require experience in a role such as security officer. Meanwhile, many security directors also have previous career experience in roles such as police officer or security manager.
