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Virginia, United States
Onsite
Job Description:
POLITICO is seeking a Director of Security to lead journalist safety, physical security, and event security across our global operations.
Reporting into Operations and working closely with Editorial leadership and cross‑functional partners (HR, Legal, Communications, Cyber Security, Events, and Facilities), the Director of Security will serve as the primary point of contact for newsroom safety, oversee security planning for global events and offices, and lead incident and crisis response efforts. This includes managing threats related to online harassment, doxxing, and hostile narratives; supporting high‑risk reporting and travel; delivering safety training; and coordinating responses to security incidents worldwide.
This role is a 5x per week in office role based in Arlington, VA, with frequent travel required.
Who You Are:
The ideal candidate brings deep experience in physical and event security, risk assessment, and crisis management—ideally within media, political, or other high‑visibility environments—and thrives in high‑pressure situations.
What You’ll Do:
You will help ensure POLITICO’s journalists, newsroom, staff, offices, and events can operate safely in a fast-moving and often high-risk political environment.
Journalist and newsroom safety
Serve as the primary point of contact for journalist safety, including online harassment, threats, and doxxing
Identify, monitor, and assess risks affecting journalists, including online threats and hostile narratives
Lead threat intake, triage, and escalation across Editorial, HR, Legal, Communications, and Cyber Security
Provide guidance and briefings for high-risk reporting (elections, protests, political events)
Support travel risk planning and protective measures for staff on assignment
Assess potential spillover from online or reputational threats into physical or operational risks
Plan and deliver safety trainings and briefings (e.g. protest safety, situational awareness, online risk awareness)
Manage and maintain personal protective equipment (PPE), including procurement, tracking, and readiness
Event security
Produce risk assessments, operational plans, and incident procedures
Serve as on-site security lead for higher-risk events
Coordinate with venues, partners, and local authorities where required
Physical security and site operations
Oversee day-to-day physical security for POLITICO sites (access control, visitor management, CCTV, alarms in partnership with Facilities)
Conduct site risk assessments and implement mitigation measures
Manage security vendors and external partners
Maintain practical playbooks and procedures for workplace security and incident reporting
Incident and crisis response
Coordinate and support response to incidents and crisis situations affecting journalists, staff, offices, or events
Act as a key security point of contact during incidents, supporting decision-making and information flow across stakeholders
Ensure early escalation and structured coordination in line with group crisis management principles
Support activation and coordination of cross-functional response (Editorial, HR, Legal, Communications, Cyber, leadership)
Help maintain clear roles, contact structures, and escalation pathways to enable effective crisis response
Contribute to scenario planning, exercises, and post-incident reviews to strengthen preparedness and resilience
What You’ll Need:
Required
Experience in physical security, event security, and incident or crisis management in complex environments
Experience supporting high-visibility environments (media, political, or events)
Strong risk assessment and operational execution skills
Strong communication skills, especially in fast-paced or high-pressure situations
Ability to travel and work flexible hours
Preferred
Experience supporting newsroom safety or journalists in high-risk environments
Understanding of online threats, harassment, and reputational risks
Experience delivering trainings or briefings
Experience working with PPE or safety equipment
Experience working with Cyber Security or digital risk topics
We value our people. Click here for more on what we offer and what it’s like to work for POLITICO.
Let’s keep in touch. You can view our list of open positions here. We hope to see your application soon!
About Us.
POLITICO illuminates the forces shaping global power. Since 2007, we have delivered intelligence that anticipates tomorrow's headlines, not reports on yesterday's news. As politics has increasingly become the defining force of our era, our work has never been more vital.
Cabinet secretaries and Ministers start their mornings with our analysis. CEOs shape strategy around our reporting. Advocacy leaders rely on our insights to move policy. We deliver the straightforward facts and clear-eyed analysis they need to navigate the most complex political landscape of our lifetimes.
Our 1,100+ publishing professionals across the world's key democratic capitals—Washington, Brussels, London, Paris, Berlin, Sacramento, and New York—form the world's premier politics and policy newsroom. We tell the story of how power really works by explaining who wields it and how they plan to exercise it, connecting dots others miss and delivering scoops from sources others don't even know exist.
Innovation has always been a core tenet of our story. At launch, we bet that depth would trump scale, that talent would trump traffic, and that politics would become central to modern life. In 2011, we made another bet and launched POLITICO Pro to help decision-makers understand the business of government, transforming both how they shape government action and the business of journalism itself.
These bets have made POLITICO the most successful digital news startup of its generation and the indispensable resource for leaders who shape the future. Today, we are a rarity in media: a growing, profitable, and sustainable news organization.
POLITICO is a subsidiary of Axel Springer SE, a family-owned transatlantic media company headquartered in Berlin and New York. Axel Springer is dedicated to shaping the future of journalism in the free world, believing that a free and informed society is essential to democracy. The company’s guiding principles - first articulated as The Essentials by founder Axel Springer in the aftermath of World War II - remain a cornerstone of the company’s foundation today. Learn more about Axel Springer.
Posting date:
2026-05-13Title:
Director of Security