Sr. Staff IAM Architect

About the role

UKG is seeking an experienced Identity & Access Management (IAM) Architect to help define, design, and evolve the identity security architecture supporting our global workforce, enterprise platforms, and cloud environments. As a key member of the Global Security Identity & Access Management team, you will serve as the technical authority for identity architecture, partnering closely with Security Engineering, Product Engineering, Infrastructure, Cloud, and Enterprise Technology teams to build scalable and secure identity solutions. This role combines deep technical expertise, strategic thinking, and strong collaboration skills to help secure one of the world's largest workforce technology platforms.

Responsibilities

• Define and maintain enterprise IAM reference architectures, standards, and design patterns.
• Develop scalable identity and access management solutions.
• Partner with business and technology stakeholders to align identity capabilities with strategic security objectives.
• Evaluate emerging identity technologies and recommend architectural improvements.
• Design and optimize identity lifecycle management processes including provisioning, deprovisioning, role management, and access certification.
• Develop scalable RBAC and ABAC models across enterprise applications and platforms.
• Ensure identity governance solutions align with security, compliance, and business requirements.
• Support implementation and enhancement of IGA platforms.
• Drive modernization of enterprise authentication services and identity providers.
• Develop secure access patterns for workforce, partner, and third-party access scenarios.
• Design secure privileged access architectures across cloud, infrastructure, and application environments.
• Enable just-in-time (JIT) access, credential vaulting, session management, and privileged account governance.
• Support expansion of PAM capabilities across both human and non-human identities.
• Partner with platform and engineering teams to reduce standing privilege and enforce least privilege principles.
• Improve security, scalability, and operational efficiency of core identity services.
• Perform security architecture reviews and threat modeling for identity-related initiatives.
• Support audit, compliance, and regulatory requirements including SOC, ISO 27001, PCI, and privacy frameworks.
• Identify and mitigate identity-related risks across the enterprise.
• Collaborate with Security Engineering, Platform Engineering, Infrastructure, Cloud Operations, and Enterprise Technology teams.
• Provide architectural guidance during projects, design reviews, and strategic initiatives.
• Create and maintain architecture documentation, standards, and implementation guidance.
• Mentor IAM engineers and contribute to the development of identity security best practices.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Cybersecurity, Information Systems, or equivalent experience.
• 8+ years of experience in Identity & Access Management, Security Architecture, or related security engineering roles.
• 3+ years designing and implementing enterprise IAM architectures.
• Deep expertise in:
  • Identity Governance & Administration (IGA)
  • Privileged Access Management (PAM)
  • Identity Lifecycle Management
  • Authentication and Authorization frameworks
• Strong understanding of:
  • SAML, OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect (OIDC), LDAP, SCIM
  • Zero Trust principles
  • RBAC and ABAC models
  • Cloud identity architecture
  • Service accounts and machine identity management
• Experience supporting cloud platforms such as Azure, AWS, or Google Cloud.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to communicate architectural concepts to technical and non-technical audiences.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with Saviynt, SailPoint, Okta, CyberArk, BeyondTrust, Ping Identity, or similar IAM technologies.
• Industry certifications such as: CISSP, CIAM, CISM, Microsoft Identity & Access Administrator, Certified Identity Management Professional (CIMP).
• Experience supporting SaaS or large-scale cloud-native environments.
• Familiarity with Infrastructure as Code (IaC), automation, and DevSecOps practices.

Skills

• Strategic and systems thinker.
• Strong security architecture and design skills.
• Ability to balance security, usability, and operational efficiency.
• Strong problem-solving and analytical capabilities.
• Excellent stakeholder management and collaboration skills.
• Ability to influence without direct authority.
• Passion for driving identity modernization and continuous improvement.

About UKG

UKG is the Workforce Operating Platform that puts workforce understanding to work. With the world's largest collection of workforce insights, and people-first AI, our ability to reveal unseen ways to build trust, amplify productivity, and empower talent, is unmatched. It's this expertise that equips our customers with the intelligence to solve any challenge in any industry — because great organizations know their workforce is their competitive edge.

Pay

The pay range for this position is $145,600 to $209,300. The actual base pay offered may vary depending on skills, experience, job-related knowledge, and work location. In addition to base pay, employees may be eligible to participate in a performance-based bonus plan and to receive restricted stock unit awards as part of total compensation.

Benefits

Learn more about UKG’s benefits and rewards at ukg.com/about-us/careers/benefits.