Job Description
Security Operations Center Operator
Physical security operations center · Santa Monica, California
Location
On-site - Santa Monica, California
Employment type
Full-time, non-exempt (hourly). Dedicated to one client account.
Pay range
$30.00 - $34.00 per hour
Entity
M1 Global - part of the Specialized family of brands
About M1 Global
Since 1994, M1 Global has grown from a local security provider to the trusted security partner of Fortune 500 companies worldwide. We build security programs for complex enterprise environments - from loading docks to data centers, headquarters to event venues - powered by Aurix, our proprietary automation platform that pairs skilled specialists with proven processes for industry-leading prevention, detection and reporting. Wherever and however our clients operate, we integrate.
Protecting the companies that power the world.
The Role
You are the first response for everything that reaches the floor. Alarms, video verification, dispatch and the security service queue - you take them, verify them, dispatch them, document them while they are happening, and close them out against published response targets.
The center runs 24/7/365 with two operators and a shift lead on console at every hour. The shift lead carries no routine queue, which means you have a supervisor available when volume climbs rather than one buried in the same work you are.
Documentation is written during the incident, not reconstructed afterward. That standard is the difference between a record that holds up and one that does not.
Key Responsibilities
Alarm and Video
- Monitor intrusion, duress and access control alarms across the client's portfolio, and acknowledge inside published targets.
- Verify alarms on video before dispatching where video exists, and say so clearly when a point cannot be verified.
- Monitor camera systems for developing activity rather than only reacting to what the system flags.
Dispatch and Coordination
- Dispatch on-site security personnel with clear, disciplined radio traffic and confirm receipt.
- Coordinate with on-site guard vendors and local security teams using the published interface for each site.
- Escalate on defined criteria and notify stakeholders through the documented path without waiting to be told.
- Support emergency response coordination, including law enforcement and emergency medical services contact where the procedure directs it.
Documentation and Service Queue
- Write the record while the event is running - timestamped actions, disposition, responder identity, authorizations obtained and handoff status at shift change.
- Work the security service request queue to published service levels and close with a documented disposition.
- Hand off open items completely at shift turnover so nothing depends on your memory.
Floor Discipline
- Maintain console readiness, system status awareness and radio discipline through the shift.
- Follow post orders and procedures as written, and flag where they no longer match reality.
- Take direction from the shift lead on escalation calls, and raise anything that looks wrong.
Required Qualifications
- Experience: Two or more years in a command center, corporate security operations center, public safety or 911 dispatch, or a campus or hospital operations center.
- Console skill: Multi-screen console operation under simultaneous load, with the composure to hold quality when several things happen at once.
- Radio: Radio dispatch discipline - clear, brief, confirmed.
- Documentation: Accurate documentation written concurrently with the event, not afterward.
- Communication: Customer service and de-escalation skill on the phone and on the radio.
- Typing: 40 words per minute minimum, tested at interview.
- Education: High school diploma or equivalent. Post-secondary education preferred but not required.
- Availability: Able to work any shift in a 24/7/365 operation, including nights, weekends and holidays.
- Eligibility: Authorized to work in the United States. Able to pass background, drug and client-required security screening.
Preferred Qualifications
- Certifications: APCO or NENA public safety telecommunicator training. Emergency Medical Dispatch certification.
- Platforms: Prior experience with an enterprise access control platform (LenelS2 OnGuard or comparable) or video management system (Milestone or comparable).
- Background: Prior corporate global security operations center experience.
- Languages: Professional working proficiency in a second language.
Key Competencies
Console Operations
Alarm Handling
Radio Discipline
Video Verification
Documentation Rigor
De-escalation
Escalation Judgment
Composure Under Load
Schedule Adherence
Work Environment
- On-site at a client security operations center in Santa Monica, California. This is an embedded role - you work inside the client's operation, in their systems and their workspace, under M1 Global.
- 24/7/365 operation on eight-hour shifts, three per day on a rotating cycle. Shift assignment includes nights, weekends and holidays.
- Two operators and a shift lead on console at every hour. Your shift lead carries no routine queue and is available to you.
- Sustained console work across multiple screens and systems, with concurrent audio and radio traffic.
- Your incident records are sampled monthly against a published quality rubric, with the score returned to you and your supervisor.
- Schedule construction, call-out coverage and relief staffing are handled by M1 Global's Fusion Centers, which support every M1 Global contract. You are not asked to find your own relief.
- M1 Global is the employer of record. You are assigned to a single client program and work on no other M1 Global account.
- Employment is contingent on background, drug and client-required security screening. Authorization to work in the United States is required; visa sponsorship is not available for this position.
Certification Requirements After Hire
M1 Global funds and schedules these credentials. Each is a condition of continued assignment once its clock expires. Candidates who already hold them are preferred.
- Mass notification and visual command platform operator certification within 90 days.
- CPR, First Aid and AED certification before first unsupervised shift, maintained current.
Compensation
$30.00 - $34.00 per hour
The posted range is the pay scale M1 Global reasonably expects to pay for this position, published in accordance with California Labor Code section 432.3. Actual placement within the range depends on experience and credentials held at hire. This position is non-exempt and eligible for overtime under California law. Compensation includes M1 Global's standard employee benefits package.
Equal Opportunity
M1 Global is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants receive consideration without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. Qualified applicants with criminal histories are considered consistent with the Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance and the California Fair Chance Act.
M1 Global. We are security, smarter.
PPO# 119962