Senior Specialist, Lead Zero Trust Identity Security Engineering
Description
Key Responsibilities
Identity Platform Engineering & Leadership
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Serve as technical lead for workforce identity platforms, with Okta as the primary IdP and integrations to complementary platforms (e.g., Ping/Entra Identity).
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Own end‑to‑end identity architecture, including authentication flows, federation, directory integrations, and token issuance.
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Lead design reviews and decisions for IdP resiliency, failover, and supplier‑risk mitigation strategies.
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Document existing and new architecture and act as a hands‑on engineer while also setting technical direction, patterns, and standards.
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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
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Design and troubleshoot identity flows using OAuth 2.0 / OIDC SAML 2.0 SCIM JWT / token‑based auth
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Ensure token parity, claim consistency, and issuer abstraction across identity providers to minimize application impact.
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Partner with application teams to enable modern authentication without app re‑architecture.
Directory & Identity Data Architecture
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Engineer and maintain directory integrations across Active Directory, Okta UD, and cloud directories (e.g., Ping Directory).
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Design attribute models, lifecycle management, and group strategies at enterprise scale (thousands of groups, large population sizes).
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Support directory deployments in cloud‑native environments (AWS/GCP, containers, Kubernetes).
Cloud, Automation & Reliability
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Build and operate identity infrastructure in AWS/GCP/Azure, using: Infrastructure & Policy as Code (Terraform / CloudFormation) Kubernetes & containerized identity services
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Automate provisioning, deployment, monitoring, and drift detection for identity platforms.
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Support SRE‑style operational maturity: SLIs/SLOs, alerting, incident response, and runbooks for identity services.
Security, Risk & Compliance
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Design identity controls aligned to Zero Trust principles and enterprise security policies.
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Partner with CSOC, audit, and risk teams on: Control validation Incident response Regulatory and audit requirements (SOX, SOC, internal controls)
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Contribute to risk assessments related to supplier dependency, SPOFs, and identity outages.
Collaboration & Influence
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Work closely with security architecture, infrastructure, application engineering, IAM operations, and vendors.
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Influence roadmap decisions through clear technical reasoning and executive‑ready communication.
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Mentor senior and mid‑level engineers and raise overall identity engineering maturity.
Qualifications
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Undergraduate degree in a related field or the equivalent combination of training and experience.
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12+ years of experience in Identity & Access Management engineering.
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Skilled in using DevOps tools and experience in Policy as code.
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Deep hands‑on expertise with Okta (Workforce Identity, MFA, SSO, policies, lifecycle).
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Strong working knowledge of Ping Identity products (PingFederate, PingOne, Ping Directory) or equivalent platforms.
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Expert understanding of identity standards : OAuth 2.0, OIDC, SAML Federation and token‑based security
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Proven experience with directory services & LDAP (AD, cloud directories).
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Experience building identity platforms in AWS/GCP , including containerized/Kubernetes deployments.
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Strong troubleshooting skills for complex authentication and federation failures.
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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.