Business and Financial Operations · Holland code CIR
Security Management Specialists
Conduct security assessments for organizations, and design security systems and processes. May specialize in areas such as physical security or the safety of employees and facilities.
Also called: Security Advisor, Security Analyst, Security Consultant, Security Specialist, Physical Security Engineer, Physical Security Specialist, Security and Workplace Violence Consultant, Security Management Consultant.
O*NET 13-1199.07
At a glance
- US median annual pay
- $83,050
- Middle half earn $62,640 to $114,010. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
- Most common education
- Bachelor's Degree
- 65% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
- Preparation needed
- Job Zone 4 of 5
- Considerable preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.
What the work involves
The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.
- Assess the nature and level of physical security threats so that the scope of the problem can be determined.
- Respond to emergency situations on an on-call basis.
- Recommend improvements in security systems or procedures.
- Perform risk analyses so that appropriate countermeasures can be developed.
- Inspect physical security design features, installations, or programs to ensure compliance with applicable standards or regulations.
- Conduct security audits to identify potential vulnerabilities related to physical security or staff safety.
- Design security policies, programs, or practices to ensure adequate security relating to alarm response, access card use, and other security needs.
- Test security measures for final acceptance and implement or provide procedures for ongoing monitoring and evaluation of the measures.
Skills and knowledge it leans on
Skills
- Active Listening4.1 / 5
- Speaking4.0 / 5
- Critical Thinking4.0 / 5
- Reading Comprehension3.9 / 5
- Writing3.6 / 5
- Monitoring3.6 / 5
Knowledge areas
- Public Safety and Security4.7 / 5
- English Language4.2 / 5
- Customer and Personal Service4.0 / 5
- Computers and Electronics3.9 / 5
- Administration and Management3.9 / 5
- Law and Government3.8 / 5
Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.
Who tends to enjoy it
How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.
- Realistic48
- Investigative68
- Artistic11
- Social16
- Enterprising46
- Conventional78
The same work abroad
Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.
European occupation titles (ESCO)
- security manager · DE Sicherheitsbeauftragte/Sicherheitsbeauftragter · FR responsable de sécurité
- chief ICT security officer · DE IT-Sicherheitsleiter/IT-Sicherheitsleiterin · FR responsable de la sécurité des TIC
- ICT security manager · DE IT-Sicherheitsmanager/IT-Sicherheitsmanagerin · FR responsable de la sécurité informatique
- ICT security technician · DE IT-Sicherheitstechniker/IT-Sicherheitstechnikerin · FR technicien en sécurité informatique/technicienne en sécurité informatique
- hospitality establishment security officer · DE Sicherheitsbeauftragter des Beherbergungsbetriebs/Sicherheitsbeauftragte des Beherbergungsbetriebs · FR responsable de la sécurité en établissement hôtelier
- security alarm investigator · DE Wachmann/Wachfrau Alarmzentrale · FR intervenant sur alarme/intervenante sur alarme
Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)
- IT user support technicians (3132)135,000 employed
- Cyber security professionals (2135)91,200 employed
- Security guards and related occupations (9231)158,600 employed
Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.
Pay across Europe, for the whole group
Median annual earnings of all employees in “Service and sales workers”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.
| Country | Median pay |
|---|---|
| Belgium | €32,957 |
| Sweden | €32,596 |
| Netherlands | €29,198 |
| Austria | €29,068 |
| Germany | €27,471 |
| Ireland | €26,978 |
| Italy | €24,995 |
| France | €24,971 |
| Spain | €18,303 |
| Portugal | €10,656 |
| Poland | €7,579 |
Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.
Exposure to AI
This occupation sits in the higher third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of +1.05. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.
Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.
Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (13-1199).
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