Manager of Campus Physical Security

Job Description:

The Manager of Campus Physical Security serves as the university's subject matter expert on the physical security of campus buildings and grounds, including access control, video surveillance, intrusion detection, and related door and perimeter hardware. This role evaluates existing facilities and new construction and renovation projects against the university's established physical security standards, verifies and ensures ongoing compliance with those standards, contributes to their assessment and refinement, and serves as a standing member of the team that evaluates and vets incoming requests for new or modified security measures across campus.

This position reports to the Vice President for Public Safety and Emergency Management and works in close, ongoing partnership with the Public Safety technology teams (Office of Information Technology/OIT), as well as with Facilities and Campus Operations, to ensure that physical security decisions are coordinated across systems, construction, and day-to-day building operations.

Major Responsibility: Facility Assessments and Standards Evaluation

• Conduct routine physical security assessments of existing campus buildings, evaluating access control, video surveillance coverage, intrusion detection, door hardware, lighting, and perimeter security against the university's established physical security standards.
• Apply CPTED (Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design) and ASIS International guidelines when assessing facility risk and vulnerability.
• Document assessment findings and produce reports with prioritized, actionable recommendations for remediation.
• Evaluate new construction and renovation plans against the university's established physical security standards, applying the existing baselines to design and specification reviews.
• Verify that facilities, system installations, and vendor work comply with the university's established physical security standards, and flag and track non-compliance items through remediation.
• Continually assess the university's physical security standards themselves, not just compliance with them, identifying gaps, outdated requirements, or emerging risks, and recommending updates through the appropriate governance process.

Major Responsibility: Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) and Site Safety

• Assess campus lighting levels, fixture placement, and maintenance to support natural surveillance and reduce concealment areas along pathways, parking areas, and building exteriors.

• Evaluate landscaping, vegetation, and sightlines for blind spots and overgrowth that compromise visibility, and coordinate trimming or design changes with Facilities and Campus Operations.

• Review pedestrian pathways, parking layouts, and building entrances for natural access control, wayfinding, and territorial reinforcement (signage, landscaping edges, and other cues that distinguish public from private space).

• Evaluate the placement, coverage, and functionality of emergency blue-light phones, callboxes, and other emergency communication infrastructure across campus.

• Incorporate lighting, landscaping, sightline, and other safety-through-design factors into new construction and renovation reviews alongside access control and surveillance requirements

Major Responsibility: Cross-Functional Coordination

• Partner closely with the OIT’s Public Safety Apps team on the technical implementation of access control, video management, and alarm systems, ensuring physical assessments and system configuration stay aligned.

• Coordinate with Facilities and Campus Operations on building conditions, maintenance schedules, construction or renovation timelines, and day-to-day building use, event scheduling, and occupancy patterns that affect physical security infrastructure.

• Attend design and construction meetings for capital projects to represent physical security standards and flag issues early in the design process.

• Perform field inspections during construction and at final commissioning to confirm security hardware is installed to specification.

Major Responsibility: Security Request Evaluation

• Serve as a standing member of the team that reviews and evaluates incoming departmental requests for new or modified security measures (e.g., additional cameras, card readers, door hardware).

• Assess each request against the university's established security standards and risk criteria to determine need, appropriate placement, and hardware requirements.

• Provide recommendations and consult with requesting departments on scope, feasibility, and sequencing of approved work.

Major Responsibility: Continuous Improvement

• Monitor the effectiveness of implemented security measures and standards, and recommend refinements as part of an ongoing, continuous review process; this role is expected to actively help evolve the university's physical security standards, not simply verify adherence to them.
• Track industry trends, emerging threats, and best practices, and bring recommended updates to standards forward through the appropriate governance channels.

• Contribute to after-action reviews following incidents or drills that touch physical security infrastructure.

Decisions free to make:

• Set day-to-day priorities for projects, troubleshooting and break-fix of all University related security and safety systems.

• Budget input and oversight on project spending

• Identify areas of weaknesses that need to be addressed

• Verify that facilities, system installations, and vendor work comply with the university's established physical security standards, and flag and track non-compliance items through remediation.

Decisions that depend on position’s advice:

• Primary owner of the hardware and software needed to provide a safe and secure operations that must have the ability to exert influence and set priority across a wide variety of departments including DSPEM, OIT, Facilities Management, and Executive Leadership.

• Serve as a standing member of the team that reviews and evaluates incoming departmental requests for new or modified security measures (e.g., additional cameras, card readers, door hardware).

• Document assessment findings and produce reports with prioritized, actionable recommendations for remediation.

Dimensions:

• Reports directly to the Vice President for Public Safety and Emergency Management

• Effectively communicate and coordinate with University Facilities and Campus Operations regarding the coordination on construction, renovation, building maintenance, and day-to-day operational impacts affecting security infrastructure.

Qualifications:

Education and Experience

• 8+ years of experience in physical security assessment, physical security system design, or facilities/campus security oversight.

• Bachelor’s degree (preferred)

Required

• Working knowledge of access control and video management systems (e.g., C·CURE, Genetec, etc) and standard door/lock hardware.

• Demonstrated ability to read architectural and low-voltage plans and translate them into security-relevant feedback.

• Strong collaboration and communication skills; proven ability to work effectively across public safety, IT, facilities, and operations teams.

Preferred

• PSP (Physical Security Professional) certification from ASIS International.

• CPTED certification (Basic or Advanced).

• Experience in a higher education or large multi-building campus environment.

Please include a cover letter when submitting your resume to the application.

Criminal and education background check satisfactory to Brown University.

Benefits of Working at Brown:

Please review additional information on the Benefits of Working at Brown.

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Submission Guidelines:

The designated Position Work Location for each position determines the approved modality of work. Positions are classified based on the operational and business needs of the department and may be designated as on-site, hybrid, or remote.

Employees with a designated position work location as remote must reside and perform their work in a state where Brown University is registered to do business. Brown University is a registered employer in the following states: Rhode Island, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, Washington, D.C.

Please note that to be considered for a staff position at Brown University, you must submit a separate application for each position you wish to be considered for. Applications are reviewed only for the specific position to which they are submitted and are not automatically considered for future openings.  

This position is not eligible for visa sponsorship.

Still Have Questions?

If you have any questions you may contact employment@brown.edu.

Brown is an E-Verify Employer.

EEO Statement:

Brown University provides equal opportunity and prohibits discrimination, harassment and retaliation based upon a person’s race, color, religion, sex, age, national or ethnic origin, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or any other characteristic protected under applicable law, in the administration of its policies, programs, and activities. The University recognizes and rewards individuals on the basis of qualifications and performance. The University maintains certain affirmative action programs in compliance with applicable law.