Senior Specialist, Lead Zero Trust Identity Security Engineering

Key Responsibilities Identity Platform Engineering & Leadership - Serve as technical lead for workforce identity platforms, with Okta as the primary IdP and integrations to complementary platforms (e.g., Ping/Entra Identity). - Own end-to-end identity architecture, including authentication flows, federation, directory integrations, and token issuance. - Lead design reviews and decisions for IdP resiliency, failover, and supplier-risk mitigation strategies. - Document existing and new architecture and act as a hands-on engineer while also setting technical direction, patterns, and standards. - Strong communication, influence, and stakeholder-management skills, with the ability to distill complex identity and security architectures into clear and concise messaging Standards-Based Identity & Federation - Design and troubleshoot identity flows using OAuth 2.0 / OIDC SAML 2.0 SCIM JWT / token-based auth - Ensure token parity, claim consistency, and issuer abstraction across identity providers to minimize application impact. - Partner with application teams to enable modern authentication without app re-architecture.

Directory & Identity Data Architecture - Engineer and maintain directory integrations across Active Directory, Okta UD, and cloud directories (e.g., Ping Directory). - Design attribute models, lifecycle management, and group strategies at enterprise scale (thousands of groups, large population sizes). - Support directory deployments in cloud-native environments (AWS/GCP, containers, Kubernetes).

Cloud, Automation & Reliability - Build and operate identity infrastructure in AWS/GCP/Azure, using: Infrastructure & Policy as Code (Terraform / CloudFormation) Kubernetes & containerized identity services - Automate provisioning, deployment, monitoring, and drift detection for identity platforms. - Support SRE-style operational maturity: SLIs/SLOs, alerting, incident response, and runbooks for identity services.

Security, Risk & Compliance - Design identity controls aligned to Zero Trust principles and enterprise security policies. - Partner with CSOC, audit, and risk teams on: Control validation Incident response Regulatory and audit requirements (SOX, SOC, internal controls) - Contribute to risk assessments related to supplier dependency, SPOFs, and identity outages.

Collaboration & Influence - Work closely with security architecture, infrastructure, application engineering, IAM operations, and vendors. - Influence roadmap decisions through clear technical reasoning and executive-ready communication. - Mentor senior and mid-level engineers and raise overall identity engineering maturity.

Qualifications - Undergraduate degree in a related field or the equivalent combination of training and experience. - 12+ years of experience in Identity & Access Management engineering. - Skilled in using DevOps tools and experience in Policy as code. - Deep hands-on expertise with Okta (Workforce Identity, MFA, SSO, policies, lifecycle). - Strong working knowledge of Ping Identity products (PingFederate, PingOne, Ping Directory) or equivalent platforms. - Expert understanding of identity standards : OAuth 2.0, OIDC, SAML Federation and token-based security - Proven experience with directory services & LDAP (AD, cloud directories). - Experience building identity platforms in AWS/GCP , including containerized/Kubernetes deployments. - Strong troubleshooting skills for complex authentication and federation failures. - Ability to operate in high-visibility, high-impact environments .

Special Factors Sponsorship Vanguard is offering visa sponsorship for this position. About Vanguard At Vanguard, we don't just have a mission-we're on a mission. To work for the long-term financial wellbeing of our clients.

To lead through product and services that transform our clients' lives. To learn and develop our skills as individuals and as a team. From Malvern to Melbourne, our mission drives us forward and inspires us to be our best.

How We Work Vanguard has implemented a hybrid working model for the majority of our crew members, designed to capture the benefits of enhanced flexibility while enabling in-person learning, collaboration, and connection. We believe our mission-driven and highly collaborative culture is a critical enabler to support long-term client outcomes and enrich the employee experience.