Digital Identity Non-Human Identity, Machine Identity & Agentic Identity Associate Director

Protiviti • Chicago, IL

1d • Hybrid

About The Position

Protiviti is looking for a Technology Consulting Associate Director to join our growing Digital Identity team with a specialization in Non-Human Identity (NHI), Machine Identity, Workload Identity, and Emerging Agentic Identity. This leader will help clients address one of the fastest-growing challenges in cybersecurity: securing and governing identities used by applications, services, cloud workloads, APIs, automation platforms, DevOps pipelines, machines, bots, and AI agents. The ideal candidate combines executive-level client advisory skills, strong business development and market-facing capabilities, architect-level technical expertise, experience leading complex cybersecurity and identity programs, and passion for shaping emerging identity capabilities within the AI era. This individual will play a key role in expanding Protiviti's market presence, developing new service offerings, mentoring practitioners, supporting strategic pursuits, and leading transformative identity initiatives across Fortune 500 organizations.

Requirements

• Identity Strategy and Advisory Experience delivering strategic IAM, PAM, NHI, or Machine Identity advisory services, including assessments, maturity evaluations, strategy development, and roadmap creation.
• Experience designing enterprise operating models and governance frameworks for identity programs.
• Ability to communicate technical and business risks to executive stakeholders and boards.
• Experience developing identity security standards, policies, and control frameworks.
• Hands-on experience securing and governing non-human identities including service accounts, application accounts, service principals, API keys, workload identities, container identities, automation accounts, bot identities, and AI-powered agents.
• Experience addressing credential sprawl, secrets management, token lifecycle management, certificate lifecycle management, privileged service account governance, identity ownership and accountability, least privilege implementation, and identity discovery and inventory.
• Experience designing lifecycle processes for creation, ownership, approval, monitoring, certification, review, and retirement of machine identities.
• Hands-on experience in architecting and implementing NHI/Secrets management solutions aligning with leading NHI frameworks such as OWASP.
• Architect-level understanding of IAM capabilities including IGA, PAM, Access Management, authentication and authorization, and Identity Threat Detection & Response (ITDR).
• Experience designing secure identity architectures leveraging OAuth, OpenID Connect, SAML, SCIM, JWTs, service-to-service authentication, and federated workload identity.
• Experience designing or evaluating secrets management solutions, certificate lifecycle management solutions, key management architectures, cloud-native identity platforms, API authorization patterns, and Zero Trust architectures.
• Experience with one or more of the following: Microsoft Entra ID, Azure Managed Identities, AWS IAM, Google Cloud IAM, Kubernetes, container platforms, CI/CD platforms, Infrastructure-as-Code environments, and cloud-native workload identity solutions.
• While direct experience with Agentic Identity is not required, successful candidates will demonstrate experience applicable to AI-enabled identity use cases, including identity governance for autonomous systems, delegated authorization models, service-to-service authentication, automation and orchestration platforms, AI-enabled applications and workflows, human accountability models for non-human actors, secure access patterns for AI systems, and governance and lifecycle management of AI agents and autonomous workloads.
• Identifying client challenges and converting them into consulting opportunities.
• Developing executive presentations, proposals, points of view, and solution offerings.
• Building relationships with alliance partners and technology vendors.
• Contributing to sales pursuits and revenue growth.
• Speaking at industry events, webinars, client workshops, and executive briefings.
• Supporting practice development and market expansion initiatives.
• Leading cross-functional consulting teams.
• Coaching and mentoring professionals.
• Conducting performance feedback and career development discussions.
• Managing multiple complex engagements simultaneously.
• Operating effectively in a fast-paced, matrixed consulting environment.
• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant discipline (e.g., Information Systems, Computer Science, Engineering, Cybersecurity)
• 9+ years working in IAM, PAM, cybersecurity consulting, cloud security, or related fields.
• Experience within a consulting firm, systems integrator, software vendor, or large enterprise identity program is strongly preferred.
• Professional certifications are strongly preferred, including CISSP, CCSP, Microsoft security certifications, CyberArk certifications, SailPoint certifications, Saviynt certifications, AWS certifications, and vendor-specific IAM or PAM credentials.
• Experience building or leading a Machine Identity or Non-Human Identity program.
• Experience with service account governance initiatives.
• Experience with certificate lifecycle management programs.
• Experience implementing workload identity federation.
• Experience securing AI-enabled applications or autonomous systems.
• Experience developing NHI security offerings, thought leadership, or market strategies.
• Existing relationships with IAM, PAM, Cloud Security, DevOps, or AI Security leaders.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with the following technologies is Preferred: CyberArk (Conjur), SailPoint, Saviynt, Veza, Delinea, Okta, Ping Identity, Microsoft Entra, Venafi, HashiCorp Vault, AWS IAM, Kubernetes, BeyondTrust, Akeyless, Oasis Security, Token, Clutch, and other NHI, PAM, and Identity Security platforms.

Responsibilities

• Partner with clients and alliance partners to identify opportunities and develop technology-enabled solutions focused on identity security.
• Serve as a trusted advisor to CISOs, IAM leaders, cloud security leaders, enterprise architects, and platform engineering teams.
• Lead client engagements spanning strategy, assessments, architecture design, implementation oversight, operating model design, governance, and roadmap development.
• Develop lasting client relationships and expand Protiviti's presence in the market.
• Help define Protiviti's point of view related to Non-Human Identity, Machine Identity, Agentic Identity, and Identity Security for AI.
• Support proposal development, business development activities, alliance relationships, and thought leadership initiatives.
• Mentor and develop consulting teams while overseeing the successful execution of project work plans.
• Collaborate across Protiviti practices including Cybersecurity, Cloud Security, AI Security, Data Security, Infrastructure, and Application Security.

Benefits

• medical, dental, and vision coverages
• FSA and HSA healthcare accounts
• life and accident insurance
• adoption and fertility assistance
• paid parental leave up to 10 weeks
• short/long term disability
• company 401(k) savings and investment plan with an employer match of 50% on the first 6% of your contributions
• Choice Time Off (CTO) for vacation, personal needs, and sick time
• 11 paid holidays each calendar year

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director