Position Summary...The Group Director, Protective Operations is a senior leader within Walmart Global Security responsible for protecting our associates, executives, facilities, events, and other critical assets across a complex and highly visible operating environment.
This leader oversees three core protective functions: Corporate Security, Executive Protection, and Event Safety & Security. The role requires deep expertise in protective operations combined with strong business judgment, executive presence, operational discipline, and an understanding of how security enables the business.
The successful candidate will bring significant protection and security leadership experience, but equally important, will understand that effective security at Walmart must reflect our culture, support our associates, enable the business, and deliver an experience appropriate for the environment.
This leader will also be expected to define and advance the future of protective operations at Walmart; constantly challenging traditional approaches, anticipating emerging risks, and identifying opportunities to leverage technology, data, automation, artificial intelligence, and new operating models to improve protection, awareness, speed, efficiency, and the associate experience.
What you'll do...Corporate Security - Lead the strategy and operations responsible for protecting Walmart's Home Office campus, corporate offices, critical facilities, and other designated locations across the United States.
- Provide leadership and oversight for Physical Security Specialists (PSS), bike patrol, Corporate Security Operations Center (CSOC), and other protective services.
- Oversee security programs supporting critical infrastructure and specialized facilities, including data centers, optical laboratories, central fill facilities, and other Health & Wellness operations.
- Establish consistent standards for physical security, access control, incident response, communications, staffing, training, and operational readiness.
- Ensure security operations deliver both strong protection and a professional, service-oriented associate experience.
Executive Protection - Lead Walmart's Executive Protection program, including protection strategies for designated executives and other individuals based on risk.
- Oversee protective intelligence integration, advance operations, travel security coordination, transportation, residential considerations, and other protective requirements.
- Exercise exceptional discretion and judgment in highly sensitive matters involving designated executives, individuals and the company.
Event Safety & Security - Lead safety and security planning and execution for Walmart's largest corporate events, including Year Beginning Meeting, Holiday Meeting, Shareholders Meeting and Associate Week, as well as Board meetings, executive offsites, leadership meetings, and other events throughout the year.
- Develop scalable security strategies for events ranging from small executive gatherings to some of the largest private-sector corporate meetings in the world.
- Integrate threat and risk assessments, venue security, access control, executive protection, emergency preparedness, medical response, law enforcement coordination, and crisis management into comprehensive event plans.
- Partner closely with business leaders, event teams, communications, legal, facilities, aviation, law enforcement, and other stakeholders.
Strategy, Innovation & Modernization - Set a forward-looking vision for Protective Operations, continuously evaluating how the organization must evolve to address changing threats, business needs, technology, and expectations.
- Challenge the status quo and routinely question whether existing processes, staffing models, technologies, and protective strategies remain the most effective way to reduce risk and serve the business.
- Use technology and data to improve situational awareness, decision-making, early threat identification, response speed, resource deployment, and operational efficiency.
- Partner with technology, innovation, legal, privacy, and business teams to move promising capabilities from concept and pilot to scalable enterprise solutions.
- Benchmark leading practices inside and outside the security industry and bring new thinking into Walmart rather than relying solely on traditional protective models.
- Build a culture of responsible experimentation, continuous improvement, and learning where leaders are expected to identify better ways of working.
Leadership & Enterprise Responsibilities - Develop and execute a comprehensive talent strategy across a diverse organization by attracting, developing, and retaining high-performing associates and leaders. Align workforce planning with business priorities, anticipate future talent needs, build a strong leadership pipeline, and foster a culture of inclusion, accountability and continuous learning.
- Establish clear standards, accountability, operating rhythms, metrics, and continuous improvement across Protective Operations.
- Build strong partnerships with senior executives and leaders across Walmart and Sam's Club.
- Translate emerging threats and intelligence into proportionate protective measures and clear recommendations for business leaders.
- Develop and manage operating and capital budgets while ensuring responsible financial stewardship and operational efficiency
- Lead effectively during critical incidents, making timely decisions with incomplete information while maintaining clear communication and command.
- Develop strong relationships with federal, state, and local law enforcement and other external security partners.
- Ensure programs comply with applicable laws, regulations, company policies, and Walmart's standards of ethics and integrity.
- Build an organization prepared not only for today's risks, but for what comes next.
What you'll bring:
- 8+ years of experience leading large-scale or multifaceted protective operations, preferably within a major corporation or similarly complex organization.
- Significant senior leadership experience in executive protection, corporate security, protective operations, law enforcement, military, intelligence, or a comparable complex security environment with the ability to operate effectively during high-pressure and rapidly evolving situations.
- Executive leadership experience developing and leading high-performing teams and leading organizations through significant transformation and modernization efforts.
- Exceptional executive presence, communication, relationship-building, and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence senior leadership and business partners.
- Experience protecting senior executives and supporting highly visible or high-risk events.
- Strong business acumen and ability to balance security requirements with operational, cultural, reputational, and business considerations.
- Demonstrated ability to modernize operations, challenge established practices, and translate emerging technologies into practical business and security outcomes.
- Working understanding of AI, automation, analytics, and emerging physical security technologies, with the curiosity and judgment to identify where they can, and cannot, create value.
The above information has been designed to indicate the general nature and level of work performed in the role. It is not designed to contain or be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all responsibilities and qualifications required of employees assigned to this job. The full Job Description can be made available as part of the hiring process.
Minimum Qualifications...Outlined below are the required minimum qualifications for this position. If none are listed, there are no minimum qualifications.
Minimum Qualifications: Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Emergency Management, Risk Management, Security, or related field and 7 years' experience in security, emergency management, risk management, law enforcement, fire service, or related area OR 9 years' experience in security, emergency management, risk management, law enforcement, fire service, or related area. 3 years' supervisory experience.
Preferred Qualifications...Outlined below are the optional preferred qualifications for this position. If none are listed, there are no preferred qualifications.
Emergency Management, Project Management
Masters, Masters: Emergency Management, Masters: Human Resources, Masters: Risk Management
Primary Location...703 Associate Dr, Bentonville, AR 72716, United States of America
