Lead, Data Center Security Operations (North America)

Anthropic•San Francisco, NY

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

Anthropic’s mission is to create reliable, interpretable, and steerable AI systems, aiming for AI to be safe and beneficial for users and society. The team is a rapidly growing group of researchers, engineers, policy experts, and business leaders dedicated to building beneficial AI systems. As Anthropic's Lead for Data Center Security Operations in North America, you will be responsible for the physical security program across the company's North American data center footprint, including owned sites and colocation partners. This role involves close collaboration with data center build and operations teams from initial design through commissioning and into steady-state operations, ensuring a robust security posture for critical AI compute infrastructure. The position is both hands-on and strategic, requiring on-site presence when necessary, authoring regional policies and standards, managing vendor and guard-force relationships, and leading incident response. You will also be a key regional voice in integrating security with infrastructure, compute, real estate, and legal partners as Anthropic expands. This role is part of a developing Data Center Security Engineering function, operating in an ambiguous, fast-moving environment where strategy can shift. The ideal candidate can set direction independently and views security as an enabler of business outcomes.

Requirements

Have extensive experience operating physical security at hyperscale or at a major colocation operator across multiple sites, with direct ownership of the operating model, vendors, and on-call.
Have personally led the security scope on new-build data center projects from design through construction, commissioning, and turnover to operations.
Have worked across both owned data centers and colocation space, and understand how the operator/tenant dynamic changes your controls, vendors, and incident response.
Can author physical security policies, standards, and SOPs that get adopted and followed.
Drive security outcomes through cross-functional partners (infrastructure, construction, real estate, compliance, legal) by shaping decisions, not by blocking them.
Manage a real vendor portfolio, integrators, guard force, general contractors with SLAs, budget, and performance accountability.
Adapt well when design and strategy shift mid-stream and can re-scope a program without losing momentum.
Calibrate security to business reality can explain when you chose not to apply a control and why.
Minimum education: Bachelor’s degree or an equivalent combination of education, training, and/or experience.
Required field of study: A field relevant to the role as demonstrated through coursework, training, or professional experience.

Nice To Haves

CPP (Certified Protection Professional) or PSP (Physical Security Professional) certification.
Experience standing up a data center security function from 0→1 (not just running an established one).
Background in a regulated environment, critical infrastructure, financial services, federal/defense, or similar.
Direct experience leading an external audit or customer security review of data center physical controls.

Responsibilities

Own a region of North America data center security operations program across owned and colocation sites.
Partner with data center build and engineering teams on new-site design and activation, ensuring security scope is defined, delivered, and turned over to operations cleanly.
Lead the regional vendor portfolio such as integrators, guard-force providers, and general contractors with meaningful budget and SLA ownership.
Author and maintain the policies, standards, and SOPs that govern physical security in the region, keeping them aligned with company-wide frameworks.
Lead physical security incident response and investigations, and represent the region in cross-functional forums that shape infrastructure, compute, and real estate decisions.