Sr. Manager, Physical Security Operations

About Cipher Digital

We are an industrial-scale data center construction and operations company. We allocate data center opportunities between bitcoin mining and other high performance computing services, such as AI. We continue to develop our pipeline of power capacity at high quality data center sites, either for bitcoin mining or HPC. Our best-in-class management team leverages expertise from the technology, fintech, energy, and finance domains, as well as deep experience related to cryptocurrencies and blockchain.

The Opportunity

Design decides what gets built and integration proves it works, but operations is where a security program is actually lived. The Sr. Manager, Physical Security Operations owns the longest phase of the lifecycle: running the physical security program at every Cipher campus once systems are accepted, and keeping posture, performance, and customer commitments intact from that day forward.

Physical security at Cipher is led by three senior managers, each owning one phase of a project’s life: the Design lead owns the security design, the Integration lead owns installation, commissioning, and turnover, and the Operations lead owns the program once it is live.

Our campuses run in a hybrid construction-and-operations state for years before they are fully built out, so this is not a steady-state-only job. You will run a live, customer-facing security program on sites where construction is still underway, continuing long after turnover, and building the operating model as the portfolio grows.

You own the program, and the embedded Site Security Manager at each campus runs it day to day under your direction. Your job is to set the standard every site follows, carry the commercial and compliance obligations behind it, and build a team and an operating model that scale.

This is an individual contributor role at the outset, with no Cipher direct reports until you hire a site operations manager as the portfolio grows.

Core Responsibilities

OPERATING STANDARD & PROGRAM OWNERSHIP

• Own physical security operations across the portfolio: posture, day-to-day performance, and incidents, around the clock, from turnover through steady state, including the multi-year period in which campuses operate while construction continues.

• Set and maintain the operating standard every site follows. Post orders, SOPs, access and visitor management, patrol and shift procedures, and security incident response, standardized at the program level and adapted to each site.

• Own the security operations budget, including forecasting, guard force and vendor spend, cost allocation, change orders, and program efficiency as the portfolio scales.

TURNOVER ACCEPTANCE & LIFECYCLE CONTINUITY

• Accept turnover from the Integration lead. Partner with that role to confirm that systems, documentation, and site team readiness are genuinely in place before the program transfers and say so plainly when a site is not ready.

• Own the program from the moment of acceptance: operational performance, service levels, and the security posture that follows.

• Close the feedback loop. Feed operational requirements and lessons learned back to the Design lead so future reference designs reflect what it actually takes to run a site.

TEAM LEADERSHIP & EMBEDDED WORKFORCE

• Build the team as the portfolio grows, starting with hiring a site operations manager to lead day-to-day execution across campuses, then developing the bench and planning for succession.

• Direct embedded site security personnel , including the Site Security Manager at each campus, who are contractor employees rather than Cipher employees. Set functional direction, performance expectations, and standards, while working through the contractor’s management structure on employment matters.

• Own the guard services program and security vendor relationships across their full lifecycle, from statements of work and SLAs through performance, cost, and renewal, holding vendors to committed service levels.

CUSTOMER COMMITMENTS, AUDIT & COMPLIANCE

• Own ongoing customer security commitments: SLA adherence, customer audits, site visits, and joint operational reviews, keeping every site “audit ready.”

• Own operational compliance once a site is in service, including ISO 27001 and SOC 2 Type II evidence and lease and customer contractual obligations. The Integration lead owns compliance for delivered scope through acceptance; you own it from acceptance forward.

• Own security reporting, including incident reporting, KPI and SLA reporting, and monthly and quarterly business review content for customers and leadership.

INCIDENT RESPONSE & EMERGENCY COORDINATION

• Own security incident response and escalation across the portfolio, including customer notification within contractual timeframes, formal written incident reports, and root cause analysis with remediation tracked to closure.

• Lead the site security teams in supporting the business continuity, emergency response, and crisis management programs owned by Site Safety and DC Operations, including protocols, drills, and coordination during real events.

• Build and maintain relationships with local law enforcement, fire, and emergency services, and hold a consistent government-official protocol across sites.

SECURITY SYSTEMS IN OPERATION

• Own the operational use of the security platforms at each site, including access control, alarm monitoring, video surveillance, visitor management, delivery management, and key management, along with access requests and reviews, video extraction requests, and retention and chain-of-custody compliance.

• Partner with the digital security engineering function, which owns the security technology platform, so that maintenance, repairs, and system changes land on schedule and meet site and customer requirements. You own the posture and the people; they own the stack those people operate on.

Qualifications

REQUIRED

• Eight or more years of progressive experience in physical security operations, including multi-site or regional responsibility.

• Experience in leading people managers, not only a single-site guard force, and building a team as a portfolio grows.

• Demonstrated ownership of a contracted guard force program end to end: statements of work, SLAs, performance management, and budgeting.

• Experience operating security programs in dynamic environments such as active construction, 24/7 operations, or high-security facilities.

• A track record of carrying customer-facing security commitments through SLAs, audits, and contractual obligations, including sites moving from construction into operations.

• Sound budgeting and financial management, including forecasting, cost allocation, and vendor cost management.

• Working knowledge of Genetec, or an equivalent enterprise access control, intrusion alarm, and video surveillance platform, along with visitor and key management systems.

• Working familiarity with contractual security frameworks such as ISO 27001 and SOC 2 Type II, and with SLA-driven operations.

• Demonstrated leadership across teams and through external partners, with the ability to hire, develop, and lead a team as the role scales.

• Excellent communication and presentation skills with executive leadership and customers.

• Sound judgment under pressure, with the confidence to make senior-level decisions independently.

PREFERRED

• Experience operating security programs in data center, mission-critical, or other critical-infrastructure environments.

• Experience directing embedded or contracted personnel who are not employees of the organization they support.

• Proficiency with security reporting and ticketing platforms such as ServiceNow.

• CPP, PSP, CSPM, or PMP certification, along with any applicable state security or guard licensing.

EDUCATION

• Bachelor’s degree in security management, business, criminal justice, or a related field, or equivalen