My Career Journey - Meet Sid Celaj

“Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.” – Andre Gide.  

After a successful career in the restaurant industry, Sid Celaj discovered a new ‘ocean’ and that was the physical security sector. 

After many years in the food industry, Sid started his security career in 2012 as a lead security officer for a luxury condominium with AlliedBarton.  

“I understood that my best opportunity for success was to learn from the ground level,” says Sid.  

Today, as General Manager at Allied Universal, Sid is responsible for New York City business operations overseeing 40,000 hours per week, 50 clients and over 1,000 employees. 

What led Sid to seek employment in the security sector?  

“My wife and I were ready to start a family and my brother was already an employee at Allied Universal and he recommended I look into the company,” says Sid. “Although the restaurant sector is different from security, there are many transferable critical skills including customer service, management, administrative and operational experience.”

In 2013, Sid was quickly promoted to Operations Manager where he managed over 30 remote managed clients in various vertical markets and achieved 100% client retention. The following year, Sid was promoted to Client Value Manager, where he was responsible for managing a team of four Operations Managers, three Field Inspectors, 50 Supervisors, and over 300 Security Professionals. Based on his performance, Sid was ranked 1st out of 99 Client Managers in the country. 

In 2017, Sid was promoted to Branch Manager and led the acquisition of FJC Security Services in Long Island City.  
After successfully transitioning the legacy FJC team and being recognized as a top performing team two consecutive years, Sid was promoted to General Manager in 2019.  

“As GM, I have been fortunate to develop 15 high level promotional opportunities for direct reports,” says Sid. “Many of which started as Security Professionals and ended up as Branch Managers, Portfolio Managers and several Client Managers and Service Managers.”   

“The culture at Allied Universal fosters promoting from within,” says Sid.  “I have never worked with so many hard-working professionals and feel truly lucky to have established long-term relationships with my co-workers, colleagues and mentors.  Our leadership-focused company culture supports employee growth and focuses on helping others succeed.  Our mentorship and coaching programs help employees hone their skills and offer opportunities for advancement.”

Sid Celaj, New York General Manager, shares the career growth opportunities available at Allied Universal®: