How to hire a senior security officer

How to hire a senior security officer, step by step

Here's a step-by-step senior security officer hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a senior security officer job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new senior security officer
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

Post a senior security officer job for free, promote it for a fee

Post free

1. Identify your hiring needs

   First, determine the employments status of the senior security officer you need to hire. Certain senior security officer roles might require a full-time employee, whereas others can be done by part-time workers or contractors.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   A senior security officer's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, senior security officers from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

   This list presents senior security officer salaries for various positions.

   Type of Senior Security Officer	Description	Hourly rate
   Senior Security Officer	Security guards and gaming surveillance officers patrol and protect property against theft, vandalism, terrorism, and illegal activity.	$11-46
   Officer	An officer is responsible for managing the daily operations of the assigned area, ensuring its peace and security by monitoring and reporting unusual and suspicious activities. Officers are the ones enforcing strict safety protocols and procedures to maintain the order within the premises... Show more	$12-49
   Security/Customer Service	A security/customer service is primarily in charge of enforcing security protocols in business establishments to prevent theft and protect properties and individuals. Part of their daily responsibilities is to patrol areas, keep an eye out for any suspicious activities or behavior, monitor security systems and cameras, and conduct regular inspections... Show more	$11-19

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Patrol
   • Emergency Situations
   • Security Procedures
   • Personnel Security
   • Incident Reports
   • CCTV
   • CPR
   • Local Law Enforcement
   • Security Operations
   • Medical Emergencies
   • Physical Security
   • Criminal Investigations
   • Property Damage
   • Security Systems

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage MILCON SCIF construction projects from conceptualization to implementation base on ICD 705 and DoD 5105.21 volume 2.
   • Monitor CCTV cameras for investigation of incidents and routine monitoring of facilities.
   • Maintain a standard of punctuality and dependability of attendance and retain myself cleanliness, tidiness, neatness and appropriately attire.
   • Maintain a standard of punctuality and dependability of attendance and retain myself cleanliness, tidiness, neatness and appropriately attire.

   More senior security officer duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in the senior security officer job description is a good way to get more applicants. A senior security officer salary can be affected by several factors, such as the location of the job, the level of experience, education, certifications, and the employer's prestige.

   For example, the average salary for a senior security officer in Florida may be lower than in New York, and an entry-level engineer typically earns less than a senior-level senior security officer. Additionally, a senior security officer with lots of experience in the field may command a higher salary as a result.

   Average senior security officer salary

   $47,641yearly

   $22.90 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level senior security officer salary

   $23,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 20, 2025

   Average senior security officer salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	District of Columbia	$76,169	$37
   2	New York	$73,507	$35
   3	New Jersey	$66,246	$32
   4	Maryland	$65,767	$32
   5	Virginia	$63,388	$30
   6	Massachusetts	$61,103	$29
   7	Rhode Island	$60,351	$29
   8	California	$59,540	$29
   9	North Carolina	$51,381	$25
   10	Minnesota	$49,442	$24
   11	Illinois	$48,981	$24
   12	Ohio	$46,436	$22
   13	Washington	$46,062	$22
   14	Wisconsin	$44,657	$21
   15	Texas	$44,294	$21
   16	Michigan	$44,289	$21
   17	Arizona	$43,177	$21
   18	Colorado	$42,565	$20
   19	Alabama	$41,311	$20
   20	New Mexico	$41,043	$20

   Average senior security officer salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Citi	$139,519	$67.08	58
   2	ServiceNow	$127,306	$61.20	9
   3	Nava	$121,705	$58.51
   4	Bank of America	$116,872	$56.19	162
   5	Booz Allen Hamilton	$112,541	$54.11	50
   6	Deloitte	$98,927	$47.56	751
   7	UC Merced	$97,417	$46.84
   8	Ernst & Young	$90,036	$43.29	115
   9	L3Harris	$87,954	$42.29	27
   10	University of California	$85,783	$41.24	20
   11	Antero Resources	$84,800	$40.77
   12	New Jersey Institute of Technology	$83,518	$40.15	1
   13	DigitalGlobe	$80,479	$38.69
   14	BNP Paribas	$78,251	$37.62	1
   15	EagleBank	$74,145	$35.65
   16	Amazon	$62,254	$29.93	111
   17	Chugach Alaska	$58,058	$27.91	9
   18	LG-TEK	$55,152	$26.52	6
   19	Peraton	$54,981	$26.43	25
   20	Grandbridge Real Estate Capital	$51,090	$24.56	139

4. Writing a senior security officer job description

   A good senior security officer job description should include a few things:

   • Summary of the role
   • List of responsibilities
   • Required skills and experience

   Including a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager is also appreciated by candidates. Here's an example of a senior security officer job description:

   Senior security officer job description example

   Sr. Security Officer - Samaritan Hospital- Full Time Day Shift
   
   The selected candidate would under direction of the Security Director, conduct investigations for cases or incidents involving the safety and security of SPHP colleagues, patients, visitors, vendors, or others as directed. Offenses or events requiring investigation and preparation of a complete and thorough report and liaison with appropriate law enforcement, investigative authority, and Senior Leadership.
   * Recognized leader: Magnet Hospital in the Capital Region
   * Quality of Life: Where career opportunities and quality of life converge
   * Advancement: Strong orientation program, generous tuition allowance and career development
   * Work/Life: Positions and shifts to accommodate all schedules
   
   What you will do:
   
   Join the security team of St. Peter's Health Partners. Our security team provides for a safe, secure environment for employees, residents, and visitors. The shift will require every other weekend and every other holiday. The candidate will need to document and follow through with detailed and concise reports involving potential fraud, waste or abuse of corporate resources, imminent threat to life, safety, procedural or other condition requiring investigation. Finally, they would demonstrate St. Peter's Health Partners Standards of Behavior and Core Values.
   
   Responsibilities:
   
   * Knowledge and demonstrated understanding of the New York State Penal Law and Criminal Procedure Law.
   * Knowledge and understanding of the use of force continuum and its application within a private security setting.
   * Knowledge and understanding of accepted current interview techniques, proven investigative report preparation skills with attention to detail with thorough and concise documentation.
   * Ability to follow through on investigative leads.
   
   What you will need:
   
   * Minimum of five years Armed Security Guard experience (needed)
   * Five (5) years Healthcare/ Hospital security or five (5) years Law Enforcement experience preferred but not necessary.
   * High School Diploma/GED Certificate required
   * Valid NYS Drivers License.
   * Unexpired NYS Armed Security Guard License (includes firearms training and a valid NYS pistol permit). Associates Degree and/or completion of Police Basic Training curriculum preferred
   * IAHSS Basic Security Certification must be completed within one year of hire.
   * FEMA Emergency Management Institute courses must be completed within 90 days of hire - IS - 100c, IS - 200b, and IS - 230d.
   
   Our Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion
   
   Trinity Health is a family of 115,000 colleagues and nearly 26,000 physicians and clinicians across 25 states. Because we serve diverse populations, our colleagues are trained to recognize the cultural beliefs, values, traditions, language preferences, and health practices of the communities that we serve and to apply that knowledge to produce positive health outcomes. We also recognize that each of us has a different way of thinking and perceiving our world and that these differences often lead to innovative solutions.
   
   Our dedication to diversity includes a unified workforce (through training and education, recruitment, retention, and development), commitment and accountability, communication, community partnerships, and supplier diversity.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find the right senior security officer for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important sources of talent for any company is its existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and current employees and ask if they know or have worked with senior security officers they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit senior security officers who meet your education requirements.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter now have more than 3.5 billion users, and you can use social media to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your senior security officer job on Zippia to find and recruit senior security officer candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   To successfully recruit senior security officers, your first interview needs to engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. You can go into more detail about the company, the role, and the responsibilities during follow-up interviews.

   Remember to include a few questions that allow candidates to expand on their strengths in their own words. Asking about their unique skills might reveal things you'd miss otherwise. At this point, good candidates can move on to the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new senior security officer

   Once you've found the senior security officer candidate you'd like to hire, it's time to write an offer letter. This should include an explicit job offer that includes the salary and the details of any other perks. Qualified candidates might be looking at multiple positions, so your offer must be competitive if you like the candidate. Also, be prepared for a negotiation stage, as candidates may way want to tweak the details of your initial offer. Once you've settled on these details, you can draft a contract to formalize your agreement.

   It's also important to follow up with applicants who do not get the job with an email letting them know that the position is filled.

   Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new senior security officer. Human Resources should complete Employee Action Forms and ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc. They should also ensure that new employee files are created for internal recordkeeping.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

   Sign up to download full list

   Sign up

How much does it cost to hire a senior security officer?