Key ResponsibilitiesIdentity 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 FactorsSponsorshipVanguard 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 WorkVanguard 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.
