Director of Protective Services

Medora, ND

THE THEODORE ROOSEVELT PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY FOUNDATION

“Believe you can, and you’re halfway there.”
-Theodore Roosevelt

Since 2014, the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library Foundation (TRPLF) has worked to create a new kind of presidential library and museum. Now open in Medora, North Dakota, the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library (TRPL) brings Theodore Roosevelt’s ideas, values, and relentless spirit to life through immersive experiences that invite people to engage with his story—and consider how its lessons can shape their own lives and communities.

More than a place to preserve history, the TRPL is a people’s library, celebrating the stories of all who “dare greatly, think boldly, care deeply, and live passionately.”

The Director of Protective Services will provide strategic leadership and operational oversight for the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library’s comprehensive protective services program — ensuring the safety and security of visitors, staff, volunteers, artifacts, collections, distinguished guests, and campus infrastructure. This is a rare opportunity to help build and lead a world-class protective services operation at one of the nation’s most ambitious cultural institutions, located in the rugged beauty of North Dakota’s Badlands.

This role serves as the senior leader responsible for protective services strategy, emergency preparedness, risk management, physical security systems, investigations, and operational resilience across the Library campus and related properties. The Director will lead a growing protective services department, including managers, supervisors, officers, contractors, and external security partners, while helping shape the long-term safety culture of the organization.

This position is charged with protecting people, places, collections, and reputation — from daily visitor operations to highly complex events involving presidents, heads of state, dignitaries, donors, public officials, and nationally recognized guests. The Director of Protective Services will oversee protective operations not only for the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library campus, but also for select Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library Foundation events, programs, traveling exhibitions, and executive engagements across North Dakota and throughout the United States.

The Director serves as the organization’s senior security and protective operations leader and works closely with executive leadership, operations, facilities, visitor experience, exhibitions, events, information technology, and external agencies to ensure a secure, welcoming, and mission-aligned environment. This role requires balancing sophisticated protective operations with hospitality, accessibility, discretion, and public trust.

The ideal candidate is a calm, strategic, and highly collaborative leader with experience operating in complex public-facing environments where security, executive presence, logistics, visitor experience, and interagency coordination must work seamlessly together.

This is more than a leadership role—it's an opportunity to lead a world-class protective services program at one of America's most ambitious cultural institutions.

• Strategic Leadership & Department Development:
  Demonstrated ability to build, lead, and evolve complex protective services operations, including organizational design, staffing models, budgeting, policy development, and long-range planning
• Emergency Preparedness & Incident Command:
  Deep experience leading emergency planning, crisis response, business continuity, and coordination with law enforcement, fire, EMS, emergency management, and federal agencies including the United States Secret Service
• Security Operations &…