Role Overview

We are looking for an experienced IAM Operations Lead to own and lead day-to-day Identity and Access Management operations, ensuring secure, reliable, and compliant access to applications, systems, and data.

The role will be responsible for leading IAM operations, driving operational excellence, managing access lifecycle processes, overseeing incident and request management, and ensuring adherence to security and compliance requirements. The ideal candidate will have strong hands-on experience with enterprise IAM platforms, access governance, provisioning, authentication, and privileged access management.

Key Responsibilities

IAM Operations

• Lead day-to-day IAM operations across joiner, mover, and leaver (JML) processes.
• Ensure timely and accurate user provisioning, deprovisioning, access changes, and entitlement management.
• Monitor IAM operational queues, SLAs, incidents, service requests, and escalations.
• Establish and maintain operational procedures, runbooks, and knowledge articles.
• Identify opportunities to automate manual IAM processes and improve operational efficiency.
• Ensure high availability and reliable operation of IAM services and integrations.

Identity Governance & Access Management

• Manage and oversee role-based access control (RBAC), access certification, entitlement reviews, and segregation-of-duties (SoD) controls.
• Support periodic access reviews and ensure timely remediation of inappropriate or excessive access.
• Partner with application, infrastructure, HR, and security teams to ensure accurate identity and access lifecycle management.
• Maintain appropriate controls around privileged, service, shared, and non-human accounts.
• Support implementation and maintenance of least-privilege access principles.

Authentication & Access Technologies

• Provide operational oversight for SSO, MFA, federation, and authentication services.
• Manage and troubleshoot integrations using protocols such as SAML, OAuth/OIDC, LDAP, and SCIM.
• Support enterprise directory services and identity stores.
• Troubleshoot authentication, authorization, provisioning, and synchronization issues.
• Work with application teams to onboard applications into IAM platforms.

Security & Compliance

• Ensure IAM processes comply with organizational security policies, regulatory requirements, and audit controls.
• Support internal and external audits by providing evidence and operational documentation.
• Track and remediate IAM-related control gaps and audit findings.
• Monitor IAM risks and work with security teams to implement appropriate mitigation measures.
• Maintain accurate IAM documentation, inventories, and access records.

Leadership & Stakeholder Management

• Lead a team of IAM engineers/analysts and provide technical and operational direction.
• Define team priorities, allocate workloads, and monitor performance against SLAs and KPIs.
• Act as the escalation point for complex IAM incidents and operational issues.
• Work closely with Cybersecurity, IT Infrastructure, Application, HR, Compliance, and Service Management teams.
• Communicate operational risks, issues, trends, and improvement initiatives to senior stakeholders.
• Manage relationships with IAM technology vendors and service providers where applicable.

Continuous Improvement

• Define and track IAM operational KPIs, including provisioning accuracy, SLA adherence, incident trends, and automation metrics.
• Drive process standardization and continuous improvement across IAM operations.
• Identify opportunities to reduce manual effort through workflow automation and orchestration.
• Participate in IAM transformation, migration, and platform upgrade initiatives.
• Contribute to IAM architecture and roadmap discussions from an operational perspective.

Required Skills & Experience

• 8+ years of experience in Identity and Access Management, Cybersecurity, or IT operations, with significant experience in IAM operations.
• Experience leading IAM operations teams in a large enterprise environment.
• Strong understanding of Identity Governance and Administration (IGA), access lifecycle management, RBAC, access reviews, and SoD.
• Hands-on experience with one or more enterprise IAM platforms such as:
  • Microsoft Entra ID / Azure AD
  • Okta
  • SailPoint
  • Saviynt
  • CyberArk
  • Ping Identity
  • ForgeRock
• Strong understanding of SSO, MFA, federation, SAML, OAuth, OIDC, LDAP, and SCIM.
• Experience with Active Directory and/or enterprise directory services.
• Understanding of privileged access management and service/non-human accounts.
• Experience with IAM incident, problem, change, and request management.
• Strong troubleshooting and analytical skills.
• Experience working within ITIL-based operational environments.
• Strong stakeholder management and communication skills.
• Experience supporting security audits and compliance requirements.

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Cybersecurity, or a related discipline.
• Relevant certifications such as CISSP, CISM, Security+, ITIL, SailPoint, Okta, Microsoft, or CyberArk certifications.
• Experience with IAM automation and scripting using PowerShell, Python, REST APIs, or similar technologies.
• Experience with cloud and hybrid identity environments.
• Exposure to Zero Trust and modern identity security principles.
• Experience managing IAM transformation or platform migration programs.

Key Performance Indicators

• IAM service availability and operational stability.
• JML provisioning/deprovisioning SLA adherence.
• Access request and certification completion rates.
• Reduction in IAM-related incidents and recurring issues.
• Automation and process efficiency improvements.
• Audit and compliance performance.
• Timely remediation of access and control exceptions.
• Application onboarding and integration delivery.
• Team productivity and operational performance.

Core Competencies

• IAM & Cybersecurity Operations
• Identity Governance & Administration
• Access Lifecycle Management
• Authentication & Authorization
• RBAC & Least Privilege
• SSO & MFA
• Privileged Access Management
• Incident & Problem Management
• Automation & Process Improvement
• Risk & Compliance
• Team Leadership
• Stakeholder Management

Role: IAM Operations Lead
Experience: 8+ years
Employment Type: Full-time
Function: Identity & Access Management / Cybersecurity
Reporting To: IAM / Cybersecurity Head