Senior Protective Intelligence Specialist - Travel & Event Assessment

Vanguard; Charlotte (NC); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Vanguard seeks a Senior Protective Intelligence Specialist to support protection of senior Vanguard executives globally. The role requires an experienced analyst who can manage complex travel and event assessments, prioritize competing needs, and deliver decision-ready intelligence under time pressure.

The position focuses on travel and event intelligence using Global Physical Security methodology to direct Executive Protection moves and posture decisions for protectee global travel and event

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in intelligence studies, security studies, or related field; or equivalent experience.
• Minimum five years in protective intelligence, travel risk analysis, or executive threat assessment.
• Experience operating with limited oversight in fast-paced protective environments.
• Strong OSINT skills: collecting and analyzing public data under time constraints.
• Knowledge of executive protection operations and advance work.
• High ethics and discretion handling sensitive information.
• Excellent written and verbal communication; briefing senior leaders under time pressure.
• Ability to think critically with incomplete or conflicting information.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end protective intelligence assessments for executive travel and event coverage.
• Coordinate with host organizations and security teams ahead of meetings.
• Maintain travel calendars and integrate regional reporting into assessments.
• Escalate concerns during active coverage per escalation standards.
• Log products in tracking system and contribute to after-action reviews.

Skills

OSINT

Executive protection

Travel risk analysis

Threat assessment

Communication

Education

Bachelor’s degree in security studies or related field

Tools

Threat intel platforms

Job description

We are seeking a highly capable Senior Protective Intelligence Specialist to support the protection of senior Vanguard executives globally. This role requires an experienced protective intelligence analyst who can independently manage complex travel and event assessment workflows, prioritize competing executive protection needs, and produce decision-ready intelligence products under time pressure.

The position’s focus the program’s travel and event intelligence through scored risk assessments, developed using Global Physical Security’s established methodology, that direct how Executive Protection moves and protects Vanguard’s senior leaders worldwide. The successful candidate’s assessments will inform Executive Protection’s advance work, route planning, and posture decisions for protectee global travel and event attendance. This role sits at the intersection of intelligence tradecraft and protective operations and is ideal for an analyst who writes quickly, thinks operationally, and understands the value of actionable intelligence.

Travel & Event Assessment

• Own end-to-end production of protective intelligence assessments for assigned executive travel and event coverage, including intake, prioritization, collection, analysis, coordination, delivery, and post-coverage updates.
• Assess aggregation and OPSEC risk for multi-executive engagements and translate it into practical arrival, movement, and confidentiality recommendations.
• Issue venue addenda and assessment updates as itineraries evolve, meeting defined SLAs.
• Prioritize overlapping assessment requests across concurrent executive travel, public events, and active coverage periods, balancing urgency, risk, and operational impact in coordination with Executive Protection.

Direct Support to Executive Protection

• Partner daily with Executive Protection teams to provide advance planning support, route and venue intelligence, and real-time OSINT monitoring during sensitive movements.
• Coordinate protective-intelligence liaison with host organizations and counterpart corporate security teams ahead of executive meetings at external sites.
• Maintain the executive travel calendar interface with Global Physical Security Intelligence regional teams (North America and International) and integrate their regional reporting into protectee assessments.
• Escalate emerging concerns during active coverage via immediate notification per the program’s established escalation standards.

Program Contribution

• Operate within the program’s established templates, scoring anchors, and workflows; drive improvements as the product line matures.
• Log all products in the program’s tracking system and contribute to post-trip after-action reviews and program metrics.

Team Model – Primary Focus, Universal Capability

• This specialty is your primary focus, not an exclusive lane. Every analyst trains to produce the program’s core assessment products to standard, rotates through triage and monitoring coverage, and serves as designated backup for at least one other product line – the team carries no single points of failure.
• Cross-train teammates in your specialty and maintain current proficiency in theirs; participate in the program’s dual-review and after-action practices.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in intelligence studies, security studies, criminal justice, international relations, or a related field (or equivalent experience).
• Minimum five years of related experience, with three years in protective intelligence, travel risk analysis, executive threat assessment, or a closely related discipline in a corporate, government, or NGO setting.
• Experience operating with limited oversight in a fast-paced protective intelligence, travel risk, or security operations environment, including prioritizing competing taskings and delivering timely assessments during concurrent executive movements or events.
• Strong open-source intelligence (OSINT) skills: identifying, collecting, evaluating, and analyzing publicly available information under time constraints.
• Working knowledge of executive protection operations and how intelligence integrates with advance work.
• High ethical standards and discretion when handling sensitive executive and corporate information.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to brief senior leaders clearly and calmly under time pressure.
• Proven ability to think critically and assess incomplete, ambiguous, or conflicting information.

Preferred Qualifications

• Familiarity with threat intelligence and alerting platforms and commercial databases.
• ATAP membership; Certified Threat Manager (CTM) or progress toward it.
• Experience mentoring analysts, refining assessment standards, or contributing to the maturity of a protective intelligence program.

Special Factors

• Participation in an on-call rotation for after-hours escalation support.
• Surge support during executive travel windows, including occasional early-morning, evening, or weekend monitoring.

Sponsorship

Vanguard is not offering visa sponsorship for this position.

About Vanguard

At Vanguard, we don't just have a mission—we're on a mission.

To work for the long-term financial wellbeing of our clients. To lead through product and services that transform our clients' lives. To learn and develop our skills as individuals and as a team. From Malvern to Melbourne, our mission drives us forward and inspires us to be our best.

How We Work

Vanguard has implemented a hybrid working model for the majority of our crew members, designed to capture the benefits of enhanced flexibility while enabling in-person learning, collaboration, and connection. We believe our mission-driven and highly collaborative culture is a critical enabler to support long-term client outcomes and enrich the employee experience.