IdentITy and Access Management Lead

Role & responsibilities

• Lead the design, implementation, and ongoing management of the organization's Identity & Access Management (IAM) program.
• Define and implement IAM strategies, standards, policies, processes, and controls aligned with business and security objectives.
• Manage identity lifecycle processes, including Joiner-Mover-Leaver (JML), provisioning, deprovisioning, access requests, and access reviews.
• Lead implementation and administration of IGA, PAM, SSO, MFA, RBAC, and privileged-access solutions.
• Design and maintain effective role-based and attribute-based access control models.
• Manage IAM platforms such as SailPoint, Saviynt, Okta, Microsoft Entra ID, CyberArk, Ping Identity, or equivalent technologies.
• Integrate IAM solutions with enterprise applications, directories, databases, cloud platforms, APIs, and third-party systems.
• Establish and monitor access governance, certification, segregation of duties (SoD), and compliance controls.
• Lead IAM projects including platform implementations, migrations, upgrades, integrations, and automation initiatives.
• Identify opportunities to improve IAM processes, security posture, operational efficiency, and user experience through automation.
• Monitor IAM-related incidents, access issues, vulnerabilities, and operational risks and ensure timely resolution.
• Partner with Cybersecurity, IT, Infrastructure, Cloud, Application, HR, Compliance, Risk, and Audit teams.
• Ensure IAM controls meet requirements for SOX, ISO 27001, NIST, GDPR/privacy, and other applicable regulatory frameworks.
• Manage IAM vendors, technology partners, licenses, contracts, SLAs, and operational budgets.
• Define and track IAM KPIs, operational metrics, risk indicators, and service-level objectives.
• Prepare IAM risk, compliance, audit, and performance reports for senior management.
• Lead and mentor IAM engineers, administrators, analysts, and technical consultants.
• Stay current with emerging trends in identity security, Zero Trust, cloud IAM, passwordless authentication, and identity threat detection.

Preferred candidate profile

• 5 to 10 years of experience in IAM, Identity Security, Cybersecurity, Information Security, or a related technology function.
• Proven experience leading IAM implementations, operations, integrations, and transformation initiatives.
• Strong hands-on experience with one or more major IAM platforms such as SailPoint, Saviynt, Okta, Microsoft Entra ID, CyberArk, Ping Identity, or ForgeRock.
• Strong understanding of IGA, PAM, CIAM, SSO, MFA, RBAC, ABAC, JML, access certification, provisioning, and deprovisioning.
• Strong knowledge of identity protocols including SAML, OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect, SCIM, LDAP, and REST APIs.
• Experience integrating IAM platforms with Active Directory, enterprise applications, databases, cloud platforms, SaaS applications, and HR systems.
• Strong understanding of AWS IAM, Microsoft Entra/Azure IAM, Google Cloud IAM, and cloud security is desirable.
• Experience designing and implementing IAM architecture, access models, workflows, role engineering, and identity governance controls.
• Strong knowledge of SoD, access governance, audit, compliance, risk management, and security policies.
• Experience with IAM automation and scripting using tools/languages such as PowerShell, Java, Python, SQL, or platform-specific scripting.
• Proven ability to lead IAM projects, technical teams, vendors, and cross-functional stakeholders.
• Excellent leadership, communication, stakeholder management, analytical, troubleshooting, and problem-solving skills.
• Experience working with internal/external auditors, compliance teams, risk teams, and senior security leadership.
• Ability to translate business and security requirements into scalable, secure, and operationally effective IAM solutions.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Cybersecurity, Information Security, Computer Engineering, or a related field.
• Relevant certifications such as CISSP, CISM, CRISC, Security+, SailPoint, CyberArk, Okta, or Microsoft identity/security certifications are desirable.
• Experience in large enterprise, MNC, GCC, BFSI, healthcare, telecom, or other highly regulated environments is an advantage.