Director, Security & Guest Experience

Vancouver Convention Centre; Vancouver; On-site; CAD 120,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Vancouver Convention Centre seeks a strategic Director of Security & Guest Experience to lead Event Security, Venue Security, Guest Experience, and Event Safety & First Aid. You will shape risk assessments, staffing, and technology alignment for major events, ensuring safety and exceptional guest service.

Reporting to the Assistant General Manager, you drive operation-wide standards, budgets, and partnerships with emergency services and regulators.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree preferred in Security, Emergency Management, Business, Public Administration, Hospitality, Event Management, or related discipline.
• ICS or Emergency Management training required.
• Security, crowd management, occupational safety, or accessibility-related training is an asset.

Responsibilities

• Develop and implement integrated strategy for Guest Experience, Event Security, Venue Security, and Event Safety & First Aid.
• Establish service standards and performance measures for consistency.
• Lead security and guest experience operations across major events and venues.

Skills

Leadership

Communication

Judgment

Relationship building

Education

Bachelor's degree in Security or related field

Tools

Microsoft 365

Incident management systems

Job description

Create the environment where every guest feels safe, welcomed, and cared for at BC Place Stadium.

Behind every exceptional event is a team dedicated to delivering a secure, seamless, and memorable experience. We're seeking an experienced and strategic Director, Security & Guest Experience to lead the teams responsible for Event Security, Venue Security, Guest Experience, and Event Safety & First Aid, ensuring every guest, employee, athlete, performer, contractor, and partner feels confident in our venue and operations.

Reporting to the Assistant General Manager, this role provides strategic and operational leadership across the entire function, establishing the frameworks, standards, and practices that support safety, service excellence, accessibility, and operational readiness. The Director serves as a key operational leader during major events and emergencies while fostering strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders to ensure best-in-class event delivery.

What You'll Do

• Develop and advance an integrated strategy for Guest Experience, Event Security, Venue Security, and Event Safety & First Aid that supports organizational goals and operational excellence.
• Establish service standards, performance measures, operating principles, and accountabilities that promote consistency across the function.
• Ensure comprehensive event risk assessments are completed for all major events, including security planning, crowd management, emergency response, access control, and guest services.
• Lead the strategic direction of event and venue security operations, aligning staffing, technology, procedures, and resources with event requirements and risk profiles.
• Oversee the venue protection framework, including Control Room operations, screening, CCTV, access control, key management, and security technology.
• Define and continuously enhance the guest experience strategy, including guest services, accessibility, premium experiences, service recovery, and operational standards.
• Establish an integrated event safety and first aid model that supports emergency preparedness, medical response, inspections, crowd flow management, and coordination with response partners.
• Provide senior operational leadership during major events, incidents, and emergencies, ensuring effective decision-making, communication, and coordinated response efforts.
• Lead contractor and supplier strategies, including procurement input, service standards, performance management, and contract governance.
• Develop workforce strategies that align staffing, scheduling, leadership capacity, and training requirements with operational needs and event schedules.
• Maintain policies, procedures, operating standards, and decision-making frameworks that support safe, effective, and consistent operations.
• Manage department budgets and ensure resources are strategically aligned with operational priorities and risk management requirements.
• Build and maintain strong partnerships with police, emergency services, regulators, clients, contractors, and industry stakeholders.
• Establish reporting and intelligence processes that leverage incidents, operational trends, guest feedback, workforce data, and event outcomes to drive continuous improvement.
• Lead post-event and post-incident reviews, ensuring lessons learned are translated into meaningful operational improvements.
• Represent the venue within industry forums and contribute to the adoption of leading practices in security, emergency management, accessibility, guest experience, and public safety.

What You'll Bring

• Bachelor's degree in Security, Emergency Management, Business, Public Administration, Hospitality, Event Management, or a related discipline preferred.
• Equivalent combinations of education and experience will be considered.
• Incident Command System (ICS) or Emergency Management training is required.
• Security, crowd management, occupational health and safety, or accessibility-related training is considered an asset.

• 10+ years of progressive experience in security, emergency management, guest experience, event operations, public safety, or a related field.
• 5+ years of senior leadership experience within a large, complex operational environment.
• Demonstrated success developing and implementing strategy across security, emergency management, event operations, guest experience, or public safety functions.
• Experience leading integrated operations in a stadium, arena, convention centre, entertainment venue, or similarly complex facility.
• Proven experience leading unionized employees, event-time staff, contractors, and external service providers.
• Extensive experience developing security, safety, emergency response, and guest experience programs for large-scale events.
• Experience leading significant incident response and organizational readiness initiatives.
• Strong knowledge of event security, crowd management, emergency response, accessibility, guest services, and venue operations.
• Demonstrated ability to use operational data, risk assessments, and performance metrics to inform strategic decision-making.
• Exceptional communication, relationship-building, leadership, and judgment skills.
• Ability to work flexible hours, including evenings, weekends, holidays, and major events.
• Proficiency with Microsoft 365 and workforce, operational, or incident management systems.
• Valid Security Worker License (BST) or ability to obtain one.

You’ll Thrive in This Role If You;

• Lead with a calm, confident, and proactive approach.
• Are passionate about creating safe, inclusive, and welcoming experiences for guests.
• Build strong partnerships and bring teams together around a common purpose.
• Excel at balancing strategic planning with operational execution.
• Enjoy solving complex challenges and driving meaningful improvements.
• Inspire trust, accountability, and collaboration in the teams you lead.

The salary range for this position is $120,449 to $150,000