Security Managers

AI & job outlook

What today's research says about this occupation's exposure to AI, how AI is actually being used in it, and where employment is headed. These are positions within published studies — measures of exposure and usage, not predictions that this job will disappear.

Exposure to current AI

Each study uses its own scale, so the raw scores are not comparable across rows — the percentile (this job's rank among all U.S. occupations with data) is the comparable figure, and sizes the bars.

OpenAI's exposure study scores tasks three ways: with a language model alone (α 0.1), with simple added tooling (β 0.5), and including AI-powered software (γ 0.9). Higher means more of the job's tasks could be done at least twice as fast — not that they will be automated away.

How AI is actually used in this job

Among measured AI assistant conversations mapped to this occupation (Anthropic Economic Index, 2026-01-15), these task types came up most. These are shares of observed AI conversations — not shares of the job, of worker time, or of what could be automated.

Job outlook

Independent U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics employment projection for 2024–2034 — a labor-market forecast, not an AI-impact forecast.

“Annual openings” counts new jobs plus replacements for workers who leave the occupation, so it can be large even when growth is modest.

Tasks

All 28 tasks O*NET lists for this occupation, ordered by importance. Each links to its own page with AI-exposure and observed-use detail.

• Develop budgets for security operations. · importance 4.7
• Identify, investigate, or resolve security breaches. · importance 4.6
• Plan, direct, or coordinate security activities to safeguard company employees, guests, or others on company property. · importance 4.5
• Direct or participate in emergency management and contingency planning. · importance 4.5
• Respond to medical emergencies, bomb threats, fire alarms, or intrusion alarms, following emergency response procedures. · importance 4.3
• Analyze and evaluate security operations to identify risks or opportunities for improvement through auditing, review, or assessment. · importance 4.2
• Assess risks to mitigate potential consequences of incidents and develop a plan to respond to incidents. · importance 4.2
• Create or implement security standards, policies, and procedures. · importance 4.2
• Develop, implement, manage, or evaluate policies and methods to protect personnel against harassment, threats, or violence. · importance 4.1
• Supervise or provide leadership to subordinate security professionals, performing activities such as hiring, investigating applicants' backgrounds, training, assigning work, evaluating performance, or disciplining. · importance 4.1
• Develop, recommend, or manage security procedures for operations or processes, such as security call centers, access control, and reporting tools. · importance 4.1
• Plan security for special and high-risk events. · importance 4.1
• Conduct threat or vulnerability analyses to determine probable frequency, criticality, consequence, or severity of natural or man-made disasters or criminal activity on the organization's profitability or delivery of products or services. · importance 4.0
• Conduct physical examinations of property to ensure compliance with security policies and regulations. · importance 4.0
• Coordinate security operations or activities with public law enforcement, fire and other agencies. · importance 4.0
• Monitor security policies, programs or procedures to ensure compliance with internal security policies, or applicable government security requirements, policies, and directives. · importance 4.0
• Monitor and ensure a sound, ethical environment. · importance 3.9
• Communicate security status, updates, and actual or potential problems, using established protocols. · importance 3.8
• Write or review security-related documents, such as incident reports, proposals, and tactical or strategic initiatives. · importance 3.8
• Train subordinate security professionals or other organization members in security rules and procedures. · importance 3.8
• Develop or manage investigation programs, including collection and preservation of video and notes of surveillance processes or investigative interviews. · importance 3.7
• Prepare reports or make presentations on internal investigations, losses, or violations of regulations, policies and procedures. · importance 3.7
• Attend meetings, professional seminars, or conferences to keep abreast of changes in executive legislative directives or new technologies impacting security operations. · importance 3.6
• Purchase security-related supplies, equipment, or technology. · importance 3.6
• Develop, arrange for, perform, or assess executive protection activities to reduce security risks. · importance 3.6
• Develop, conduct, support, or assist in governmental reviews, internal corporate evaluations, or assessments of the overall effectiveness of facility and personnel security processes. · importance 3.5
• Review financial reports to ensure efficiency and quality of security operations. · importance 3.5
• Support efforts to reduce substance abuse or other illegal activities in the workplace. · importance 3.4

Work activities

• Analyze risks to minimize losses or damages.
• Develop safety standards, policies, or procedures.
• Maintain knowledge of current developments in area of expertise.
• Communicate organizational policies and procedures.
• Monitor facilities or operational systems.
• Communicate with government agencies.
• Manage organizational security activities.
• Implement organizational process or policy changes.
• Prepare operational budgets.
• Develop operating strategies, plans, or procedures.
• Evaluate program effectiveness.
• Develop procedures to evaluate organizational activities.
• Develop organizational policies or programs.
• Manage human resources activities.
• Develop emergency response plans or procedures.
• Direct organizational operations, projects, or services.
• Maintain surveillance of individuals or establishments.
• Monitor organizational compliance with regulations.
• Prepare reports related to compliance matters.
• Purchase materials, equipment, or other resources.
• Respond to emergencies to provide assistance.
• Analyze financial records to improve efficiency.
• Evaluate employee performance.
• Supervise employees.
• Perform human resources activities.
• Train employees on environmental awareness, conservation, or safety topics.
• Conduct employee training programs.

Knowledge, skills & abilities

O*NET importance rating, from 1 (not important) to 5 (extremely important).

Knowledge

Abilities

Essential skills

Transferable skills

Skills in demand

Skills employers ask for in job postings for this occupation (Lightcast), with whether each is a common or specialized skill.

• English Language Common Skill
• Critical Thinking Common Skill
• Reading Comprehension Common Skill
• Inductive Reasoning Common Skill
• Deductive Reasoning Common Skill
• Active Listening Common Skill
• Social Perceptiveness Common Skill
• Complex Problem Solving Common Skill
• Speech Recognition Specialized Skill
• Writing Common Skill
• Information Ordering Specialized Skill
• Active Learning Common Skill
• Time Management Common Skill
• Microsoft PowerPoint Common Skill
• Microsoft Outlook Common Skill
• Microsoft Excel Common Skill
• Telecommunications Specialized Skill
• Psychology Specialized Skill
• Negotiation Common Skill
• Learning Strategies Specialized Skill
• Instructing Specialized Skill
• Systems Analysis Specialized Skill
• Microsoft Word Common Skill
• Microsoft Visio Specialized Skill
• Microsoft Project Specialized Skill
• Microsoft Access Specialized Skill
• Facebook Specialized Skill
• Visualization Specialized Skill
• Mathematics Common Skill
• Geography Specialized Skill
• Depth Perception Common Skill
• Mapping Software Specialized Skill
• Graphics Software Specialized Skill
• Foreign Language Common Skill
• Equipment Selection Specialized Skill
• Physics Specialized Skill
• Finger Dexterity Common Skill
• Equipment Maintenance Specialized Skill
• Chemistry Specialized Skill
• Biology Specialized Skill

Showing the top 40 of 43.

Tools & technology

Work context

How characteristic each condition is of the job, on O*NET's 1–5 context scale (higher = more present in day-to-day work). Each condition links to how it varies across all occupations.

How to get in

Job zone

Zone 4 — Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed

Education

Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.

Typical entry-level education

Bachelor's degree · BLS, the typical path — not a requirement

Related experience

A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.

Preparation level

SVP (7.0 to < 8.0) — total schooling plus on-the-job experience.

What to study: Business, Management, Marketing, and Related Support Services , Construction Trades , Engineering/Engineering-Related Technologies/Technicians , Family and Consumer Sciences/Human Sciences , Health Professions and Related Programs , Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies , Parks, Recreation, Leisure, Fitness, and Kinesiology . Fields of study crosswalked to this occupation (NCES CIP–SOC), not a requirement.

Education of current workers

Share of people in this occupation at each level of education.

Interests & work styles

The interests and personal qualities O*NET associates with people who do this work.

Work styles

Interest areas

Career interests (Holland / RIASEC)

Wages & employment

U.S. · annual wages (BLS OEWS)

Wages and employment are reported by BLS for the broader occupation group this specialty belongs to (SOC 11-3013), not for the specialty alone.

Industries that employ this occupation

Where these workers are employed, by number of jobs (national, BLS OEWS). Pay shown is the occupation's national median, not industry-specific.

Where this work is most concentrated

Industries where this occupation is far more common than in the economy as a whole. The location quotient is how many times more concentrated it is here (a value of 5 means five times its economy-wide share).

Related occupations

Part of the Energy & Natural Resources , Management & Entrepreneurship and Public Service & Safety career clusters.

• Security Management Specialists · 13-1199.07 Compare →
• First-Line Supervisors of Security Workers · 33-1091.00 Compare →
• Compliance Managers · 11-9199.02 Compare →
• Security Guards · 33-9032.00 Compare →
• Emergency Management Directors · 11-9161.00 Compare →
• Management Analysts · 13-1111.00 Compare →
• Business Continuity Planners · 13-1199.04 Compare →
• Health and Safety Engineers, Except Mining Safety Engineers and Inspectors · 17-2111.00 Compare →
• Facilities Managers · 11-3013.00 Compare →
• Occupational Health and Safety Specialists · 19-5011.00 Compare →
• Penetration Testers · 15-1299.04 Compare →
• Information Security Engineers · 15-1299.05 Compare →

Side-by-side comparisons place two occupations’ pay, preparation, skills, and AI exposure on the same page — same data, same scale, no forecast.

What you can do with this

Options the data surfaces for Security Managers — not advice or a forecast. Each is a real cross-link you can follow into the evidence.

Sources for this page

Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

• O*NET 30.3 U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development
• BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27) Anthropic
• Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai Microsoft Research
• “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130 OpenAI / academic

Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

@misc{singulariki-role-11-3013-01,
  title  = {Security Managers},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/roles/role-11-3013-01}
}