Assistant Director of Airport Security: Compliance and Enforcement - Denver International Airport

City and County of Denver•Denver, CO

8d•$115,683 - $196,661•Onsite

About The Position

We are looking to hire our next Assistant Director of Airport Security – Compliance and Enforcement to join the team! With competitive pay, great benefits, and endless opportunities, working for the City and County of Denver means seeing yourself working with purpose — for you, and those who benefit from your passion, skills and expertise. Join our diverse, inclusive and talented workforce of more than 11,000 team members who are at the heart of what makes Denver, Denver. Since opening on Feb. 28, 1995, Denver International Airport (DEN) has become one of the world’s busiest airports. In 2025, 82,427,962 passengers passed through DEN, making DEN 4th busiest airport in the U.S. and the world’s 10th busiest airport. DEN is Colorado’s primary economic engine, generating $47.2 billion in annual economic impact for the state. At DEN, we are committed to fostering a diverse, inclusive, and equitable workplace. We celebrate individuality and strive to keep Equity, Diversity, Inclusion & Accessibility (EDIA) at the center of all that we do. Airport Security is a section of the Airport Operations Division of Denver International Airport (DEN) and is comprised of two (2) distinct units: Compliance & Enforcement (C&E) and Badging & Permitting (B&P). The Assistant Director of C&E will oversee critical contracts and security programs ensuring regulatory compliance and fostering strong partnerships and leading security communication throughout the airport community. The ideal candidate will bring strong leadership, sound judgment, and proven experience leading people, programs, and change in a complex, highly regulated environment. This leader will proactively mitigate security threats, ensure compliance, drive innovation, manage high-impact projects and contracts, and build strong airport partnerships. The successful candidate will translate complex security requirements into effective operations while fostering accountability, collaboration, innovation, and continuous improvement.

Requirements

Airport security and regulatory compliance expertise, with the ability to interpret complex federal, state, and local requirements and translate them into practical, compliant operational solutions.
Demonstrated ability to identify, assess, and mitigate security threats, vulnerabilities, compliance gaps, and operational risks before issues escalate.
Extensive contract, vendor, budget, procurement, and resource oversight experience, including service-level performance, accountability, and stewardship of operational and capital resources.
Strong project management and strategic leadership experience, with success leading complex cross-functional initiatives and aligning people, resources, and processes to organizational goals.
Expertise in security technology, data, metrics, and reporting to evaluate systems, improve processes, strengthen compliance, and enhance efficiency and customer experience.
Exceptional stakeholder engagement and communication skills, with success building productive relationships and clearly conveying complex information to diverse internal and external audiences.
Sound judgment and decision-making skills, with the ability to balance regulatory requirements, operational needs, fiscal responsibility, risk, customer experience, and competing priorities.
Proven people leadership and change management experience, including developing high-performing teams and future leaders, fostering accountability, collaboration, trust, innovation, and continuous improvement, and guiding employees and stakeholders through organizational change to achieve sustainable results.
High attention to detail, accuracy, organization, and consistency across all responsibilities.
Airport Certified Employee (ACE) Security certified and/or a AAAE Certified Member, or the ability to obtain the applicable certification within 6 months.
Bachelor's Degree in Aviation Management, Business Management, Communications or a related field.
Three (3) years of progressive and supervisory experience in airport operations, airport management, or experience at a commercial airport or a military facility environment at an Administrator or supervisor level or higher.
One (1) year of the appropriate type and level of experience may be substituted for each required year of post-high school education.
Additional appropriate education may be substituted for the minimum experience requirements.
Requires a valid Driver’s License at the time of application.
Completion of Airport Security Coordinator (ASC) classroom training by a source recognized and approved by the Transportation Security Administration within six months of employment.
Completion of intermediate and managerial National Incident Management System (NIMS) and Incident Command System (ICS) training to fulfill Section Chief and potential Incident Commander responsibilities within six months of employment.
Licenses and certifications must be kept current as a condition of employment.
FBI criminal background check is required for all positions at Denver International Airport (DEN).
Employees are also required to report any felony convictions and/or moving violations to maintain this clearance and be eligible for continued employment.
By position, a pre-employment physical/drug test may be required.

Responsibilities

Serve as a Security Subject Matter Expert (SME) leading compliance and enforcement programs, identifying trends and deficiencies, developing corrective actions and establishing effective oversight ensuring compliance with federal regulations, security directives, applicable laws, and airport security requirements by interpreting and applying CFRs, TSRs, TSA directives, the Airport Security Program (ASP), DEN Rules and Regulations, and airport policies.
Lead proactive security risk management and threat mitigation efforts by identifying emerging threats, vulnerabilities, compliance risks, and operational gaps; evaluating potential impacts and developing and implementing strategies to mitigate risks before they adversely affect airport operations.
Resolve complex operational and security issues and communicate unit decisions, while collaborating with federal, state, and local agencies, airlines, law enforcement, business technologies, vendors, and other airport stakeholders to support safe, secure, efficient, and compliant airport operations.
Serve as one of two Airport Security unit leaders, providing oversight of strategic planning, project management, fiscal accountability, O&M and CIP budgeting, fiduciary controls, contract administration, vendor relationships, performance management, service level agreement (SLA) compliance, and section recommendations to ensure services meet established performance, compliance, security, and service expectations.
Lead innovation and technology-enabled modernization across Compliance and Enforcement by partnering with DEN Business Technologies to evaluate, implement, enhance and optimize security systems, workflows, automation, data analytics, and other technology that strengthen security, compliance and accountability, and operational efficiency.
Use data, performance metrics, and change leadership to drive security decisions, continuous improvement, and organizational transformation by identifying trends, evaluating risk, measuring program effectiveness, guiding employees and stakeholders through policy, process, technology, and business practice changes, and developing recommendations that improve compliance, operational performance, security outcomes, and sustained results.
Represent Airport Security in executive level meetings, committees, working groups, and stakeholder forums, clearly communicating complex security, compliance, and operational matters to diverse audiences.
Serve as a proven people leader and culture builder by establishing clear goals and expectations, developing supervisors and employees, providing meaningful feedback, recognizing effective performance, addressing performance concerns, and fostering a high-performing, engaged, accountable, and service-oriented team culture
Serve as an alternate Airport Security Coordinator (ASC)and liaison with TSA and other federal and local law enforcement agencies to support regulatory coordination, security inspections, incident response, operational readiness, threat mitigation, and compliance visibility.
Fulfill local and federal security-related data and records requests, including Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) requests, while protecting Sensitive Security Information (SSI) and Personally Identifiable Information (PII).

Benefits

Competitive pay
Great benefits
A guaranteed life-long monthly pension, once vested after 5 years of service
457B Retirement Plan
140 hours of PTO earned within first year
12 paid holidays
1 personal holiday
1 Wellness Day
1 volunteer day per year
Competitive medical, dental and vision plans effective within 1 month of start date