Security Managers
Direct an organization's security functions, including physical security and safety of employees and facilities.
Most important skills
- Critical Thinking
- Reading Comprehension
- Active Listening
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Speaking
- Monitoring
- Social Perceptiveness
- Complex Problem Solving
Key knowledge
- Public Safety and Security
- English Language
- Law and Government
- Administration and Management
- Customer and Personal Service
- Personnel and Human Resources
- Education and Training
- Computers and Electronics
What the work involves
- Analyze and evaluate security operations to identify risks or opportunities for improvement through auditing, review, or assessment.
- Assess risks to mitigate potential consequences of incidents and develop a plan to respond to incidents.
- Attend meetings, professional seminars, or conferences to keep abreast of changes in executive legislative directives or new technologies impacting security operations.
- Communicate security status, updates, and actual or potential problems, using established protocols.
- Conduct physical examinations of property to ensure compliance with security policies and regulations.
- Conduct threat or vulnerability analyses to determine probable frequency, criticality, consequence, or severity of natural or man-made disasters or criminal activity on the organization's profitability or delivery of products or services.
- Coordinate security operations or activities with public law enforcement, fire and other agencies.
- Create or implement security standards, policies, and procedures.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Enterprising, Conventional, Investigative.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- Bachelor's Degree (70% of respondents)
- Related experience
- Over 4 years, up to and including 6 years (45%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 1 month, up to and including 3 months (20%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 4: Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Security Managers is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
- Projection education uses SOC 11-3013 (detailed_parent); it may describe a broader group.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Moderate | Higher on contact with others than 59% of occupations compared | 60% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Moderate | Higher on dealing with the public than 57% of occupations compared | 45% of surveyed respondents chose “Very important” |
| Teamwork | High | Higher on teamwork than 60% of occupations compared | 56% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | High | Higher on freedom to make decisions than 62% of occupations compared | 50% of surveyed respondents chose “A lot of freedom” |
| Time pressure | Moderate | Lower on time pressure than 54% of occupations compared | 45% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Conflict situations | Very high | Higher on conflict situations than 86% of occupations compared | 47% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Very high | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 84% of occupations compared | 37% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Consequence of error | High | Higher on consequence of error than 63% of occupations compared | 26% of surveyed respondents chose “Fairly serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: moderate
- Conflict situations: very high
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: very high
- Consequence of error: high
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 0%
- Occasional contact with others: 0%
- Contact with others about half the time: 10%
- Contact with others most of the time: 30%
- Constant contact with others: 60%
n = 20, Occupational Expert 08/2025
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 10%
- Fairly important: 5%
- Important: 20%
- Very important: 45%
- Extremely important: 20%
n = 20, Occupational Expert 08/2025
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 0%
- Important: 16.67%
- Very important: 27.78%
- Extremely important: 55.56%
n = 18, Occupational Expert 08/2025
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: 0%
- Limited freedom: 25%
- Some freedom: 25%
- A lot of freedom: 50%
n = 20, Occupational Expert 08/2025
Time pressure
- Never: 5%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 5%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 20%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 45%
- Every day: 25%
n = 20, Occupational Expert 08/2025
Conflict situations
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 15.79%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 26.32%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 47.37%
- Every day: 10.53%
n = 19, Occupational Expert 08/2025
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 15.79%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 31.58%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 36.84%
- Every day: 15.79%
n = 19, Occupational Expert 08/2025
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 5.26%
- Fairly serious: 26.32%
- Serious: 26.32%
- Very serious: 21.05%
- Extremely serious: 21.05%
n = 19, Occupational Expert 08/2025
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O*NET-SOC 11-3013.01 · SOC 11-3013 (detailed_parent, medium confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8