What does a security supervisor do?
A security supervisor is in charge of coordinating and overseeing the security staff in a building or within a designated area. Their responsibilities focus on devising strategies, appointing personnel, and implementing protocols that would ensure the safety of an establishment, goods, and the people inside. Furthermore, they must make sure that all security devices and equipment are working correctly, create and manage schedules, monitor and evaluate every security personnel's performance, and maintain a safe environment for everyone. Should there be any incidents, it is crucial to coordinate with the police right away.
Security supervisor responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real security supervisor resumes:
- Configure and change infrastructure for compliance to PCI DSS.
- Respond to medical emergencies to provide first aid, CPR or a support as needed until medical personnel arrive.
- Fill in bartending shifts when need.
- Check ids of airport personal and report any suspicious behavior.
- Used a hand hold metal detector and check ids on any personnel boarding the plane.
- Inspect all other assign equipment to include but not limit to metal handcuffs, CPR life mask, and flashlight.
- Work in every position throughout tenure as needed by management, including serving, bartending, culinary technician, and security.
- Register all visitors and patients before entering hospital facilities.
- Establish the infrastructure roadmap in alignment with corporate requirements and objectives.
- Supervise and train staff, submit payroll, and monitor security and emergency alarm systems
- Respond to emergency calls/incidents to assist staff members, patients, visitors and suspicious activity/persons.
- Maintain security monitoring systems, closed-circuit television (CCTV), internal/perimeter electronic sensors, and communication links.
- Instruct new officers about patrol routes and explain the proper procedures for handling personnel during emergency and non-emergency situations.
- Dispatch patrol officers, monitor security system, fill out daily security reports, supervise a small group of security officers.
- Demonstrate organizational and management skills by creating schedules, training documents, completing payroll, and training new security officers.
Security supervisor skills and personality traits
We calculated that 14% of Security Supervisors are proficient in Patrol, Customer Service, and Incident Reports. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Good judgment, and Observation skills.
We break down the percentage of Security Supervisors that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Patrol, 14%
Dispatched patrol officers, monitored security system, filled out daily security reports, supervised a small group of security officers.
- Customer Service, 13%
Performed customer service by interacting and assisting customers, providing information, addressing customers concerns, and assisting people with disabilities.
- Incident Reports, 7%
Reconcile security logs against shift duties and patrols; review incident reports prior to client submission and coordinate preliminary investigations.
- Emergency Situations, 7%
Coordinate emergency situations; monitor surveillance cameras; investigate duress alarms; resolves safety hazard situations and comply with respective procedures.
- Security Procedures, 6%
Facilitated briefings with security staff to communicate pertinent information and ensure security procedures were in place for special school events.
- CPR, 5%
Attend all CPR, First Aid, and AED certifications and retrains and make sure that my staff is properly trained.
"patrol," "customer service," and "incident reports" are among the most common skills that security supervisors use at work. You can find even more security supervisor responsibilities below, including:
Communication skills. One of the key soft skills for a security supervisor to have is communication skills. You can see how this relates to what security supervisors do because "security guards and surveillance officers must communicate effectively with others, even in stressful situations." Additionally, a security supervisor resume shows how security supervisors use communication skills: "monitor security staff on security operations, tactical communication, and command center operations. "
Observation skills. This is an important skill for security supervisors to perform their duties. For an example of how security supervisor responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "security guards and surveillance officers must be alert and aware of their surroundings, and be able to quickly recognize anything out of the ordinary." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a security supervisor: "staff scheduling, loss prevention, customer service skills, detailed report writing, crisis control,observation and reporting".
The three companies that hire the most security supervisors are:
- Allied Universal
57 security supervisors jobs
- Securitas AB38 security supervisors jobs
- Curaleaf32 security supervisors jobs
Choose from 10+ customizable security supervisor resume templates
Build a professional security supervisor resume in minutes. Our AI resume writing assistant will guide you through every step of the process, and you can choose from 10+ resume templates to create your security supervisor resume.
Compare different security supervisors
Security supervisor vs. Protective officer
A protective officer is in charge of preventing theft and damages in stores and other establishments. Among their responsibilities include monitoring alarm systems and surveillance cameras, patrolling areas, keeping an eye on suspicious activities and behavior, developing strategies to enforce security protocols, and responding to distress. There are also instances where they must conduct inspections and produce reports. Furthermore, as a protective officer, it is essential to coordinate with law enforcement should the situation require.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, security supervisor responsibilities require skills like "security operations," "payroll," "hr," and "performance evaluations." Meanwhile a typical protective officer has skills in areas such as "patients," "criminal justice," "vehicle inspections," and "english language." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Protective officers earn the highest salaries when working in the professional industry, with an average yearly salary of $38,169. On the other hand, security supervisors are paid more in the hospitality industry with an average salary of $41,279.The education levels that protective officers earn slightly differ from security supervisors. In particular, protective officers are 1.6% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a security supervisor. Additionally, they're 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Security supervisor vs. Head of security
The head of security performs overall company security responsibilities, obligations, and duties, such as maintenance responsibilities, performance responsibilities, strategic development responsibilities, and direction responsibilities. They create protocols and policies needed to secure and protect sensitive information. Besides developing and implementing security procedures and protocols, the head of security also makes logistics to secure and protect copyrights, intellectual property, and many other related risks. Moreover, the head of security hires and recruits a professional talent that can build up the security.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, security supervisor responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "patrol," "customer service," "cpr," and "payroll." Meanwhile, a head of security has duties that require skills in areas such as "cloud security," "cloud computing," "ids," and "data loss prevention." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
Average education levels between the two professions vary. Heads of security tend to reach similar levels of education than security supervisors. In fact, they're 1.4% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Security supervisor vs. Commissioned security officer
A protection security officer is responsible for maintaining the safety and security within the premises to protect the employees and company assets. Protection security officers inspect the facilities and patrol around the building to identify unusual activities and monitor suspicious people. They also check surveillance equipment and escalate incident reports to the security team for immediate actions to prevent potential hazards and operational delays. A protection security officer must have excellent communication and observational skills, especially in assisting and verifying the identity of guests and checking their luggage upon arrival.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a security supervisor is likely to be skilled in "customer service," "security procedures," "security operations," and "payroll," while a typical commissioned security officer is skilled in "fire hazards," "vehicle patrols," "deter crime," and "private security."
Most commissioned security officers achieve a similar degree level compared to security supervisors. For example, they're 0.2% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Security supervisor vs. Protection security officer
Even though a few skill sets overlap between security supervisors and protection security officers, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a security supervisor might have more use for skills like "payroll," "hr," "loss prevention," and "performance evaluations." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of protection security officers require skills like "law enforcement," "criminal justice," "traffic control," and "patients. "
In general, protection security officers earn the most working in the utilities industry, with an average salary of $35,274. The highest-paying industry for a security supervisor is the hospitality industry.The average resume of protection security officers showed that they earn similar levels of education compared to security supervisors. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 2.2% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 0.1%.Types of security supervisor
Updated January 8, 2025
