Who is James Murray? Snapchat hires former US Secret Service director as Chief Security Officer

Snapchat's parent company, Snap, announced that it has roped-in retiring US Secret Service Director James Murray as the company’s chief security officer. Murray will join Snapchat after his term with the federal agency ends on July 30.

He will report directly to Snapchat CEO and co-founder Evan Spiegel. Murray will be responsible for the safety and security of over 5,000 employees and will work with law enforcement if the need arises.

Murray's move to the private sector and to Snapchat's parent company was reported earlier this week. The news came shortly after the Secret Service announced the long-term protective service official's departure from the White House.

Pete Boogaard, a Snap spokesperson, said in a statement:

“We’re thrilled to welcome Jim Murray to Snap and look forward to him joining our team on August 1. Jim will bring a wealth of experience to this new role, which will help ensure the safety and security of the more than 5,000 Snap employees who live and work across the globe.”

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James Murray's career graph explored as he joins Snapchat as Chief security officer

Murray will join Snapchat after serving in the Secret Services for 27 long years, where he served as director from May 2019. During his tenure as Director, the agency has overseen the recovery of approximately $4.2 bn in fraud loss. They have also prevented an estimated $ 8.1 bn in additional losses from criminal enterprises.

Murray began his federal career in 1990 as an investigator at the Department of Transportation, and concurrently served as an officer in the U.S. Army Reserve.

In 1995, he joined the Secret Service as a special agent in the New York Field Office. Here, he worked on cyber-enabled financial fraud and acted as a liaison between the agency and the FBI-NYPD Joint Terrorism Task Force.

In a statement made to the press, the Secret Service praised Murray for navigating the unique challenges brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic. Murray also received praise for carrying out an "integrated mission of providing protection to senior elected leaders and investigating crimes targeting our financial infrastructure."

U.S. President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden congratulated the official for his three-decade service in the government and thanked him for his efforts. They said:

“Jim embodies the meaning of service over self, and protected the families of U.S. Presidents like they were part of his own. We are incredibly grateful for his service to our country and our family,”

The agency is mostly involved in protecting the safety of presidents, their families and other senior government officials. However, recently, Secret Service agents have been roped in to probe former U.S. President Donald Trump's involvement in inciting riots at the U.S. Capitol.

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Murray is not the first director of Secret Services to transition to a private role in a media company.

Former Secret Service Director Joseph Clancy rejoined Comcast in 2017 as its VP and Chief Security Officer after serving in the Obama administration. Clancy has served for a ripe 27 years, and was previously employed as Comcast’s director of corporate security.