Director of Safety & Security 2026-27

Director of Safety & Security

Porter-Gaud School is an Episcopal, independent, coeducational day school with 1,650 students in Preschool through 12th Grade located in Charleston, South Carolina. The school is currently seeking a full-time Director of Safety & Security to join the school effective July 1, 2026.

The Director of Safety & Security works closely with Administration in an effort to ensure a safe environment for students, faculty & staff as well as families and visitors at both Porter-Gaud and O'Quinn Schools ("the School"), which includes over 80 acres of grounds with more than 280,000 square feet of facilities on three separate campus locations. This position will serve as the safety & security expert, enforcer & educator for our school community. The Director of Safety & Security reports directly to the Assistant Head of School for Finance & Operations.

Primary Essential Duties and Responsibilities (include, but are not limited to)

Security

• Serve as a role model, counselor, mentor, and instructor while building a rapport with students, staff, and community to promote a positive and safe learning environment.
• Plans, develops, and administers school safety policies and procedures for the security of all staff, students and visitors.
• Serves as a visible and accessible role with safety and security expertise to the school community (includes attending and participating in school events) and interacts with parents and community organizations as the point of contact for security-related matters.
• Responsible for coordinating and communicating with and responses of local authorities, state and federal, police, fire and emergency management officials.
• Leads advance planning for managing crises, focusing on prevention, preparedness, response and recovery, including: Developing and coordinating incident/emergency response/crisis plans.

Team Leadership

• Supervises, leads, and evaluates security and safety personnel.
• Responsible for developing and/or vetting and choosing appropriate security and safety

training and certification for staff, according to best practices.

• Plans for and oversees traffic, security and other concerns during school wide and community events.

Technology

• Serves as overseer of security devices and systems within the School.
• Seeks opportunities for and develops security related grant requests.

Community Training & Drills

• Responsible for developing and executing drills as well as measuring performance.
• Implement training for employees, students, parents, and other users of School facilities in matters pertaining to safety and security.
• Coordinate and supervise all emergency preparedness procedures, including fire, severe weather and lock-in drill.

Financial

• Plan and oversee annual security budget and research, recommend security related projects that improve the safety and security of our community members and property.

Operations

• Continuously assess and address safety risks and activities occurring around the School.
• Manage and respond to concerns regarding security/safety events and/or hazards at the School; Oversees investigations and includes relevant parties and/or organizations.
• Meets regularly with Administration to keep them informed of local security issues and in any present or future building and grounds security needs.
• Coordinates safety related communications.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Law Enforcement, Business Management, or related field required.
• At least five to seven years of safety/security experience required;
• At least 3 years of experience as a Director of Security preferred.
• School security experience preferred.
• Advanced training or certification in safety and security preferred.
• Extensive knowledge of fire prevention, safety, and security operations.

Skills

• Excellent management and supervisory skills.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Proficient with Google/Microsoft Office Suite or related software.
• Ability to interact with students, parents, and all levels of management/departments
• In support of maintaining a safe and secure school environment, the Director of Safety & Security must be willing and able to, if deemed required by the School, carry, handle, and if necessary, utilize a firearm in the performance of assigned duties, as determined by the School and in accordance with applicable law.

Personal attributes would include:

• Possesses a high degree of integrity and trustworthiness
• Well organized and uses time efficiently
• Ability to work well with a variety of people in a variety of work settings

Salary: Commensurate with Experience

Physical Requirements:

While performing the duties of this Job, the employee is regularly required to stand; walk; sit; use hands to finger, handle, or feel; reach with hands and arms and talk or hear. Ability to stand and sit for long periods of time is required. The employee is frequently required to climb or balance and stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl. The employee must regularly lift and/or move up to 25 pounds and occasionally lift and/or move up to 50 pounds. Physically able to assist or carry a disabled, ill or injured person if required. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception and ability to adjust focus. Ability to perform duties in extreme weather conditions. Ability to evacuate school children and adults in emergency situations.

Porter-Gaud is a Christian community that seeks to love and serve faculty, staff, students, and families of all faith backgrounds. Therefore, all Porter-Gaud employees will honor the God-given dignity of each member of our community. They will display a continuous commitment to developing the attitudes, knowledge, and skills to engage in appropriate and effective communication with students, colleagues, and families from diverse backgrounds and perspectives. We desire candidates who will contribute to the school's efforts to continue creating a more inclusive and equitable community where all individuals can develop a sense of belonging.

Porter-Gaud School is committed to welcoming and supporting a diverse faculty and staff. The School welcomes applicants from all backgrounds as the School believes that this best serves our students. In accordance with law, Porter-Gaud School is an equal opportunity employer and hires without discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, national origin, or disability.

Porter-Gaud School is committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of our students. We hold our employees to the highest possible standards. All employees are subject to extensive background check screenings and must sign our code of conduct. We strive to monitor employees while interacting with students. We take any inappropriate interactions between students and employees seriously and are committed to mandatory reporting standards as required by law. We will fully cooperate with authorities in any allegation or case of abuse.