Group Director, Global Physical Security

What You'll Do

• Global Operations Leadership & Governance • Serve as the global operational leader for physical security and principal advisor to the Vice President, Global Security. • Lead, align, and develop the Regional Security Directors and Senior Manager, GSOC, with clear accountability, decision rights, performance expectations, and succession planning. • Establish a scalable global operating model, governance cadence, standards, metrics, and executive reporting across regional operations and the GSOC. • Drive consistent implementation of global policies, standards, SOPs, and service levels while allowing appropriate adaptation to local law, risk, and culture.
• Americas Operations • Provide direct leadership and oversight for physical security operations across the Americas, including guarding, access control, CCTV, visitor management, incident response, executive support, event security, and life-safety coordination. • Partner with business, HR, Legal, Workplace, IT, Facilities, Engineering, and Business Continuity leaders to identify risk and deliver practical mitigation strategies. • Oversee regional threat, risk, and vulnerability assessments and ensure remediation plans are prioritized, funded, tracked, and closed.
• GSOC, Incident & Crisis Leadership • Ensure the GSOC serves as the central hub for global monitoring, intelligence, communications, escalation, incident coordination, and operational insight. • Integrate regional operations with GSOC workflows to enable timely detection, disciplined escalation, rapid response, and consistent incident documentation. • Serve as the senior operational leader for significant security incidents and establish effective escalation, communications, and after-action review processes.
• Global Program Leadership & Modernization • Define global frameworks, playbooks, minimum operating requirements, metrics, and reporting for physical security operations. • Drive modernization of access control, CCTV, visitor management, GSOC platforms, analytics, automation, and systems integration using an AI-first mindset where appropriate. • Promote open, scalable, and interoperable security architecture and convert operational data into enterprise risk visibility and executive decision support.
• Cross-Functional, People & Vendor Leadership • Advise executive and regional leadership on emerging threats, operational risk, incident outcomes, resource needs, and strategic mitigation plans. • Build a globally connected leadership team and foster accountability, integrity, collaboration, inclusion, and operational excellence. • Own workforce planning, budget development, investment prioritization, and global vendor governance in partnership with the Vice President, Global Security. • Represent Global Security in major projects, sensitive business initiatives, and customer or compliance engagements involving physical security.
• Qualifications Required • 15+ years of progressively responsible experience in corporate security, physical security operations, law enforcement, military, intelligence, or a related field, including significant leadership responsibility. • Proven success leading multi-region or global physical security operations in a complex multinational organization. • Demonstrated ability to lead senior security managers, regional directors, GSOC/SOC functions, and geographically dispersed teams. • Strong command of incident management, crisis leadership, investigations, threat and risk assessment, and executive escalation. • Expertise with modern access control, CCTV, visitor management, GSOC operations, analytics, and security systems integration. • Ability to influence executives and cross-functional stakeholders, balance global consistency with regional requirements, and convert strategy into measurable execution. • Excellent written and verbal communication skills and sound judgment when handling sensitive, high-impact matters. • Ability to travel domestically and internationally as required.
• Preferred • Experience in high-technology, semiconductor, intellectual-property-sensitive, R&D, laboratory, or advanced engineering environments. • Professional certification such as CPP, PSP, CFE, CTM, or a comparable credential. • Experience leading or transforming a GSOC, deploying global standards, or modernizing enterprise security technology. • Working knowledge of relevant security, resilience, and compliance frameworks in a multinational environment.
• Why This Role Matters This role is the operational bridge between global security strategy and execution.
• It unifies regional leadership, Americas operations, and the GSOC into one accountable operating model, elevating the original regional mandate into an enterprise-wide leadership function that protects Cadence’s people, facilities, intellectual property, and business operations.
• The annual salary range for California is $196,000 to $364,000.
• You may also be eligible to receive incentive compensation: bonus, equity, and benefits.
• Sales positions generally offer a competitive On Target Earnings (OTE) incentive compensation structure.
• Please note that the salary range is a guideline and compensation may vary based on factors such as qualifications, skill level, competencies and work location.
• Our benefits programs include: paid vacation and paid holidays, 401(k) plan with employer match, employee stock purchase plan, a variety of medical, dental and vision plan options, and more.
• We’re doing work that matters.
• Help us solve what others can’t.