Okta on Okta Identity Architect

About the role

This is not a traditional architect role. At Okta, an Okta on Okta Identity Architect is the premier technical execution tier above Principal Engineer—acting as the ultimate hands-on practitioner of our own cloud platform. While you won't be writing application code, you will get your hands dirty configuring, extending, and testing the boundaries of the platform. You are the builder who proves our platform works in the real world.

As organizations successfully adopt phishing-resistant MFA, attackers have shifted their tactics—increasingly deploying Adversary-in-the-Middle (AiTM) phishing kits and info-stealer malware to execute session hijacking via cookie theft. Furthermore, with the explosive rise of autonomous AI workloads, securing human identity is no longer enough; we must now protect and govern a fast-growing sprawl of non-human, agentic workflows.

We are looking for a highly mature, technical leader who is already a deeply experienced, hands-on Okta customer practitioner to drive the technical execution of our Identity Security & Agentic Identity portfolio. In this role, you will transition from being an external customer to becoming the technical cornerstone of the internal "Okta on Okta" team, acting as Customer Zero. Reporting directly to the VP of IAM, you will configure, deploy, and battle-test cutting-edge platform features from Alpha through Early Availability (EA)—giving you the unique leverage to directly shape, influence, and improve the core Okta platform before these solutions scale globally.

Why This Role is Different

If you stay at a traditional customer organization, you can only deploy what we build. In this role, you get to cross the table, become the elite practitioner of a world-class security platform, get early access to cutting-edge features, and directly influence the future of the platform. You will collaborate directly with other top-tier engineers across our customer base and partner with the absolute pioneers of the identity industry to shape the tools you've spent your career using.

Responsibilities

• The Ultimate "Customer Zero" Platform Practitioner (Alpha to EA): Bring your real-world customer deployment perspective directly into our tenant. Act as the lead hands-on architect configuring and deploying Alpha platform capabilities within Okta’s own corporate IAM tenant. You will serve as the bridge to our core platform product teams, providing the vital, practitioner-level feedback that shapes final platform design.
• AI Agent & Agentic Identity Security: Lead the hands-on architecture and configuration of how the Okta Platform governs non-human, autonomous AI workloads across O4AA (Okta for AI Agents), defining secure authentication, token exchange, and authorization patterns.
• Designing Anti-Session Hijacking Defenses: Build the internal technical deployment blueprints for how Okta DBSSO and Chrome DBSC complement one another, leveraging Okta Identity Engine (OIE) to create an ironclad, layered defense that protects corporate endpoints from token and cookie exfiltration.
• Platform-to-Platform Collaboration: Act as a technical peer and trusted advisor to fellow hands-on practitioners at our customer organizations. You will share your direct, real-world tenant deployment experiences, trade-offs, and lessons learned with the engineers actually building and securing their Okta platforms in the wild.
• Sharing the Playbook: Contribute to our technical content efforts (such as a deep-dive "how-to" video series, co-hosting internal podcasts, or presenting to fellow practitioners in highly focused, interactive roundtable breakout sessions at Oktane) to share the actual deployment architectures, tenant configurations, and technical playbooks we've built.

Requirements

• Proven Okta Platform Expertise: Extensive, practical experience managing, configuring, and troubleshooting Okta in complex enterprise production environments. You possess active, hands-on mastery of the Okta Identity Engine (OIE), Directory Integrations, Advanced Policies, Workflows, and Okta Platform APIs—whether you learned this on the job or proved it through certifications.
• Protocol & Threat Literacy: Deep, hands-on knowledge of core protocols: OAuth2/OIDC (especially Token Exchange), SAML, mTLS, JWT, and Model Context Protocol (MCP). Strong technical understanding of modern identity threat vectors (AiTM phishing, info-stealer malware, session hijacking).
• Technical Influence: Serve as an equal technical peer to product management and product engineering, collaborating on feasibility, platform architecture paths, and real-world system behaviors.
• Practitioner Empathy & Communication: Exceptional ability to connect with and speak the language of other hands-on platform engineers and security administrators. You excel at translating highly complex platform configurations into clear, peer-to-peer technical explanations, whether in documentation, video walkthroughs, or collaborative technical workshops.

Nice to Have

• Okta Certified Administrator or Okta Certified Consultant (These are a great plus, but are not required if you have equivalent, proven hands-on engineering experience).

Pay

The annual base salary range for this position for candidates located in the San Francisco Bay area is between $242,000 USD - $332,000 USD.

The annual base salary range for candidates located in California (excluding San Francisco Bay Area), Colorado, Illinois, New York, and Washington is between $216,000 USD - $297,000 USD.

Benefits

• Health, dental, and vision insurance
• 401(k) retirement plan
• Flexible spending account
• Paid leave (including PTO and parental leave)
• Equity (where applicable)
• Bonus opportunities

To learn more about our Total Rewards program, please visit: https://rewards.okta.com/us.

The Okta Experience

• Supporting Your Well-Being
• Driving Social Impact
• Developing Talent and Fostering Connection + Community

We are intentional about connection. Our global community, spanning over 20 offices worldwide, is united by a drive to innovate. Your journey begins with an immersive, in-person onboarding experience designed to accelerate your impact and connect you to our mission and team from day one.