Director, Global Identity & Access Management (IAM)

SAS•Cary, NC

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Cloud & Information Services (CIS) organization is looking for a Director, Global Identity & Access Management (IAM) to own and lead the strategy, execution, and continuous improvement of SAS’s enterprise and customer-facing identity services. This role is central to how SAS protects its people, platforms, and customers—and how securely and seamlessly users access SAS products worldwide. This is a hands-on leadership role for an experienced IAM leader who combines deep identity expertise with strong people leadership, operational discipline, and the ability to influence across business units. The Director will build trust-based partnerships with R&D, Product, Cloud Operations, HR, Legal, and other security leaders to ensure identity is designed in early, executed reliably, and continuously improved. This role is based in Cary, NC, and requires regular onsite presence to build relationships, lead effectively, and drive results across a highly collaborative organization.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or a related technical field. Equivalent experience may be considered.
15+ years of experience in Information Security or Information Systems, with significant depth in Identity & Access Management.
9+ years of leadership experience, including at least 5 years in formal people management roles, leading managers and senior technical staff.
Demonstrated success leading global, complex IAM programs in large organizations.
Proven ability to influence peers and executives, resolve competing priorities, and drive alignment across organizational boundaries.
Strong experience with IAM technologies and standards, including SAML, OAuth, OIDC, LDAP, Kerberos, RBAC, MFA, SSO, IGA, and PAM.
Excellent verbal, written, and interpersonal communication skills, with the ability to clearly explain complex concepts to technical and non-technical audiences.
Required leadership competencies:
Courage – Willingness to take decisive action, challenge the status quo, and address difficult issues directly while acting in the organization’s best interests.
Creating a Culture of Trust – Leads with integrity, transparency, and accountability; builds psychological safety and credibility across teams and stakeholders.
Strategic Planning – Translates long-term vision into executable strategies, aligns resources to priorities, and ensures measurable outcomes.

Nice To Haves

Experience operating IAM services in highly regulated environments (e.g., financial services, government, healthcare).
Demonstrated success operationalizing global teams, including clear intake models, service definitions, documentation, and effective use of tooling for transparency and prioritization.
Track record of developing leaders and subject matter experts, setting expectations, enabling ownership, and holding teams accountable for results—not just activity.
Relevant certifications such as CISSP, CISM, or CIAM.

Responsibilities

Own the global IAM strategy and execution for both enterprise and customer identity services, including directory services, federation, authentication, identity governance and administration, privileged access management, and hosted customer-managed identities.
Provide strategic and operational leadership for IAM services, ensuring reliability, scalability, security, and continuous improvement across platforms such as Active Directory, Entra AD, Okta/IDP, PAM, MFA, PKI, and CIAM solutions.
Act as a trusted advisor to executives and senior stakeholders, balancing security, usability, cost, and business outcomes.
Build and sustain strong cross-functional partnerships with R&D, Product, Marketing, Professional Services, HR, Legal, and Compliance to ensure modern authentication and authorization capabilities are prioritized early in design—not added as an afterthought.
Lead Identity Governance & Compliance, ensuring audit readiness and alignment with regulatory, contractual, and business requirements.
Establish and communicate clear service ownership, roles and responsibilities, and accountability models across global teams, including effective engagement with distributed and offshore partners.
Drive operational excellence by defining success metrics that go beyond volume—focusing on risk reduction, posture improvement, reliability, and customer outcomes.
Build, mentor, and hold accountable a high-performing global IAM leadership team, setting clear expectations, delegating effectively, and developing future leaders.
Lead and sustain organizational change, translating strategy into execution through clear roadmaps, transparent communication, and consistent follow-through.

Benefits

Comprehensive medical, prescription, dental and vision plans.
Medical plan options include:
PPO with low annual deductible and copays.
HDHP combined with a health savings account with a contribution from SAS (no access to on-site health care center).
Onsite Health Care Center (HQ) that’s free to employees and family members enrolled in the PPO plan. There's a pharmacy too! Not local to HQ? The pharmacy will ship prescriptions for no additional charge!
An industry-leading 401k plan.
Tuition Assistance Program and programs and resources to support your development
Generous time away including vacation time, a variety of paid holidays, and our much-loved U.S. Winter Wellness Break between December 25 and January 1.
Volunteer Time Off, parental leave and unlimited paid sick days.
Generous childcare benefits for all full-time employees.