Security Programs Manager

Kairos Power • Oak Ridge, TN

5d

About The Position

Kairos Power is seeking a Security Manager to lead and oversee physical security operations across the company’s facilities. The role develops and implements a consistent, risk-based physical security program to protect employees, visitors, the public, facilities, information, and company assets. It manages security operations and contract security providers, as well as access control, video surveillance, and visitor management. The manager also participates in incident response, investigations, and emergency preparedness activities.

The position collaborates with Facilities, Construction, Environment, Health and Safety (EHS), Information Technology (IT), Human Resources, Legal, Office Administration, site leadership, and local authorities to support secure and reliable operations aligned with Kairos Power’s mission. Periodic travel to company locations is required, with travel of up to 20% noted. The role may involve overtime, rare weekend work, frequent schedule flexibility, and occasional extended hours for on-call responsibilities.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in security management, criminal justice, emergency management, business administration, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and relevant professional experience.
• Five or more years of progressively responsible experience in physical security management, corporate security, law enforcement, military security, or a related field.
• Demonstrated experience developing and implementing physical security policies, procedures, standards, and programs.
• Experience managing physical security operations across multiple facilities.
• Experience managing contract security providers, vendor relationships, budgets, and service-level performance.
• Experience administering or overseeing access control, video surveillance, alarm monitoring, and visitor management systems.
• Demonstrated ability to lead security personnel and coordinate effectively with cross-functional teams.
• Experience with emergency response planning, incident management, and crisis coordination.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications, including Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook.
• Working knowledge of access control, credential management, video surveillance, alarm monitoring, visitor management, and incident management technologies.
• Knowledge of contract security operations, guard-force management, post orders, staffing models, and vendor-performance management.
• Knowledge of emergency preparedness, incident command principles, crisis management, workplace violence prevention, and business continuity practices.
• Ability to evaluate security threats and vulnerabilities and translate findings into practical, risk-based corrective actions.
• Ability to develop clear, scalable security policies, procedures, standards, post orders, and training materials.
• Strong leadership and decision-making skills, including the ability to remain composed and act effectively during emergencies or high-pressure situations.
• Strong investigation, interviewing, documentation, and report-writing skills.
• Excellent verbal, written, presentation, and executive-briefing skills.
• Strong interpersonal and customer-service skills and the ability to build trusted relationships across departments and locations.
• Ability to handle sensitive, confidential, and investigative information with discretion and integrity.
• Strong organizational, project-management, and time-management skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines.
• Ability to work effectively in a fast-paced, collaborative, and mission-driven environment.
• Ability to meet the role’s physical demands, environmental conditions, safety requirements, and PPE expectations as described in the posting.
• Ability to travel up to 20% to other Kairos Power facilities.
• Ability to accommodate occasional overtime, rare weekend work, frequent schedule flexibility, and occasional extended hours for on-call responsibilities.
• Authorization by the Department of Energy to access Part 810-controlled information at the facility; foreign nationals from countries not on the DOE general authorization list require a DOE export control license for access.

Nice To Haves

• Experience managing security across office, laboratory, R&D, industrial, manufacturing, critical infrastructure, or other high-consequence environments.

Responsibilities

• Develop, implement, and maintain the companywide physical security strategy, policies, standards, procedures, and post orders.
• Provide consistent physical security oversight across Kairos Power sites.
• Evaluate physical security systems and recommend upgrades or improvements based on operational risks, emerging threats, and company growth.
• Manage contract security providers, including scopes of work, staffing requirements, service-level expectations, performance metrics, invoice review, and contract compliance.
• Lead or support investigations involving theft, unauthorized access, property damage, suspicious activity, policy violations, and other security-related incidents.
• Support employee and contractor badging, access authorization, onboarding, offboarding, and periodic access reviews in coordination with HR, EHS, IT, and Facilities.
• Partner with Construction, EHS, Facilities, and IT to incorporate physical security requirements into new construction, facility expansions, renovations, and system upgrades.
• Develop and manage security budgets, identifying opportunities to improve effectiveness and control costs without compromising safety or security.
• Travel periodically to company locations to conduct site assessments, coordinate security activities, support projects, and respond to operational needs.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Benefits

• Competitive compensation packages.
• Medical, dental, and vision benefits for employees and their dependents.
• Paid vacation.
• 401(k).
• Pre-tax health insurance, dependent care, and commuter benefits through FSA arrangements.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level