Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Urban Security Coordinator

🎯 Role Definition

The Urban Security Coordinator is responsible for planning, coordinating and executing public safety, security and resilience initiatives across urban environments — including downtown districts, transit hubs, public events, critical infrastructure and municipal properties. This role combines strategic risk assessment, operational incident management, stakeholder liaison (police, fire, transit agencies, private security, community groups), and program delivery (CCTV, access control, crowd management, emergency planning, training and exercises). The Coordinator ensures that security plans align with municipal policies, legal/regulatory requirements and community expectations while optimizing for scalable, data-informed responses to threats and disruptions.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Security Officer / Supervisor
Emergency Management Specialist / Planner
Community Safety Coordinator

Advancement To:

Senior Urban Security Coordinator / Program Manager
Director of Public Safety or Security Operations
Emergency Management Director / Chief Resilience Officer

Lateral Moves:

Risk & Resilience Manager
Facilities or Infrastructure Security Manager
Public Affairs / Community Engagement Manager

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Lead citywide and district-level risk assessments and threat analyses by gathering intelligence, reviewing crime and incident data, assessing critical infrastructure vulnerabilities, and producing prioritized mitigation plans that inform capital and operational budgets.
Develop, maintain and operationalize comprehensive urban security strategies, policies and standard operating procedures (SOPs) for public spaces, transit nodes, and special event venues, ensuring alignment with municipal code and national guidance (NIMS/ICS).
Design and coordinate multi-agency emergency response and contingency plans for high-consequence events (terrorism, active shooter, mass-casualty, natural disasters, infrastructure failure), including roles, communications, resources, and escalation criteria.
Serve as primary liaison with law enforcement, fire services, transit police, private security contractors, utilities and federal partners to synchronize prevention, preparedness, response and recovery activities across jurisdictions.
Manage security operations for planned and unplanned public events — scope crowd-management plans, ingress/egress strategies, permit reviews, medical support coordination, communications protocols and on-site command structure.
Implement Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) reviews and recommendations for streetscapes, parks, transit stations and municipal buildings; coordinate with planning and engineering to integrate passive and active protective measures.
Oversee design, deployment and maintenance of surveillance systems (CCTV/IP cameras), access control, intrusion detection, and related security technology; define coverage, retention policies, data privacy and chain-of-custody procedures.
Coordinate real-time monitoring and incident detection workflows, including control room operations, incident logging, dispatching, and after-action reporting to ensure consistent capture of lessons learned and performance metrics.
Plan and execute exercises and training programs (tabletops, functional, full-scale) for municipal staff, first responders and private stakeholders to test response plans, communication channels and resource interoperability.
Develop and maintain crisis communications plans, messaging templates and public information strategies; brief elected officials, media and community leaders during incidents and coordinate joint information centers when activated.
Direct vendor and contract management for private security providers, systems integrators and technology vendors; lead procurement specifications, performance monitoring, SLAs and contract renewals to ensure quality and cost efficiency.
Maintain and update GIS-based security maps and dashboards that integrate incident data, asset inventories, CCTV coverage, responder locations and evacuation routes to support planning and operational decision-making.
Manage budgets and grant-funded security projects, prepare funding proposals, track expenditures, and report program outcomes to municipal finance teams and grant administrators.
Conduct regular security audits, vulnerability scans and compliance reviews for municipal properties and critical infrastructure; produce remediation schedules and monitor completion of corrective actions.
Establish and maintain data-sharing agreements, privacy impact assessments, and lawful surveillance practices; ensure security programs comply with local ordinances, state law and civil liberties considerations.
Lead intelligence collection and analysis efforts for trend forecasting and predictive policing support; synthesize open-source, social media, CCTV analytics and partner feeds to inform proactive interventions.
Prepare comprehensive incident reports, after-action reviews, and executive briefings with actionable recommendations for policy, training and infrastructure improvements.
Coordinate evacuation planning and continuity of operations (COOP) plans for city departments, prioritizing critical services, temporary housing and resource staging points during prolonged disruptions.
Develop community engagement programs and neighborhood safety partnerships that build public trust, gather local situational awareness, and recruit volunteers for resilience activities such as CERT or neighborhood watch.
Implement access control procedures and credentialing programs for special events, municipal campuses and construction sites; manage visitor management workflows and temporary security clearances.
Provide operational support during major incidents as on-call incident commander or liaison officer, ensuring timely multi-agency coordination, resource allocation and unified command as required.
Track key performance indicators (KPIs) and produce monthly/quarterly security performance reports to inform senior leadership decisions and continuous improvement initiatives.
Advise on urban planning and capital projects to embed security, resilience and redundancy into the built environment, including lighting, surveillance sightlines, barriers, and emergency power.

Secondary Functions

Support ad-hoc security data requests and exploratory analysis to produce incident trend reports, heat maps and after-action analytics for stakeholders.
Contribute to the organization's security strategy and roadmap by researching emerging threats, technologies and best practices for urban resilience.
Collaborate with planning, public works, transit and IT units to translate security needs into engineering and procurement requirements.
Participate in project planning, policy reviews and cross-functional working groups; attend public meetings and represent the security program in community forums.
Assist with recruitment, onboarding and competency development of security staff and contract teams through job descriptions, interviews and training curricula.
Maintain records, documentation and audit trails for incidents, exercises and procurement to support compliance and potential litigation.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Emergency Management & Incident Command (NIMS/ICS) — develop and lead unified command structures during incidents.
Risk Assessment & Vulnerability Analysis — conduct threat modeling, consequence analysis and mitigation prioritization.
CPTED and Physical Security Design — recommend engineering and environmental interventions for crime reduction and resilience.
Surveillance Systems & Access Control — specify, manage and optimize CCTV/IP camera networks, video management systems and credentialing solutions.
GIS & Spatial Analysis — map assets, incidents and footprint coverage to inform strategy and operational deployment.
Vendor & Contract Management — procure, manage and enforce SLAs for security contractors and technology providers.
Exercise Design & Training Delivery — create realistic tabletop, functional and full-scale exercises and lead after-action processes.
Crisis Communications & Public Information — craft messages, run joint information centers and brief elected officials and media.
Data Analytics & Reporting — analyze incident data, produce dashboards and prepare executive-level briefings.
Regulatory & Policy Compliance — ensure programs meet legal standards, privacy requirements and grant terms.
Permit & Event Security Management — review permits, design security plans for events and coordinate required approvals.
Budgeting & Grant Management — develop budgets, manage grant proposals and track project spending.

Soft Skills

Strong stakeholder management and diplomacy — coordinate across police, fire, transit, community groups and elected officials.
Leadership under pressure — decisive, calm command presence during incidents and exercises.
Clear written and oral communication — produce persuasive reports, briefings and community materials.
Collaboration and consensus-building — facilitate multi-disciplinary working groups and public consultations.
Problem-solving and critical thinking — synthesize complex inputs into practicable security measures.
Cultural competence and public-facing community engagement.
Negotiation and vendor oversight.
Attention to detail and high ethical standards for privacy and civil liberties.
Adaptability and continuous learning mindset to incorporate new threats and technologies.
Project management and time prioritization across concurrent programs.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice, Emergency Management, Urban Planning, Public Administration, Security Management, or a related field.

Preferred Education:

Master's degree in Emergency Management, Public Administration (MPA), Urban Planning, Homeland Security, or related discipline.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Criminal Justice / Law Enforcement
Emergency Management / Homeland Security
Urban Planning / Architecture
Public Administration / Policy
Information Systems / Geospatial Sciences

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 3–8 years of progressive experience in public safety, security operations, emergency management, urban planning or related roles.

Preferred:

5+ years coordinating multi-agency security programs in municipal, transit, campus or commercial districts.
Experience with CCTV/physical security systems, CPTED reviews, and large-event security planning.
Certifications highly desirable: FEMA ICS/NIMS (100/200/700/800), Certified Protection Professional (CPP), Physical Security Professional (PSP), Certified Emergency Manager (CEM), or similar.
Proven track record managing budgets, vendor contracts and cross-functional stakeholder groups.