Director of Identity Platform Enablement Engineering (Global Security)

Royal Bank of Canada•Toronto, ON

1d•Onsite

About The Position

The Director of Identity Platform Enablement Engineering (Automation + Incubation) Engineering leads the engineering strategy and delivery of shared automation, developer enablement, and new platform incubation across the Enterprise Identity and Access Management (EIAM) ecosystem. This role owns the horizontal engineering capabilities that accelerate how IAM teams onboard applications, operate their platforms, and bring new identity capabilities into production. It also serves as the launchpad for emerging IAM platforms — incubating them to operational maturity before handing them off to permanent owning teams. Platform enablement is the multiplier across IAM engineering. As the organization scales identity capabilities — authorization, passwordless authentication, machine identity, and beyond — the speed and quality of delivery depend on shared automation, consistent patterns, and a disciplined incubation model for new platforms. This leader will build the engineering foundation that lets every IAM team move faster, operate more reliably, and adopt new capabilities with confidence.

Requirements

10+ years software/platform engineering; 5+ years leading engineering teams in Identity and Access Management or adjacent security domains
Hands-on leadership with automation platforms, Infrastructure-as-Code (Terraform), GitOps, and CI/CD at enterprise scale
Demonstrated success building shared platforms, developer tooling, or internal engineering products consumed by multiple teams
Experience standing up new platforms and transitioning them to steady-state ownership
Strong understanding of authentication and authorization concepts, including modern and passwordless approaches
Ability to manage, grow, and develop engineering teams composed primarily of senior individual contributors
Knowledge of banking/financial services regulatory landscape (FRB, Part 30, OSFI); experience designing identity platforms meeting regulatory and audit requirements
Proven ability to lead cross-functional initiatives in complex, matrixed environments
Proven experience leading teams in AI-assisted environments (e.g., GitHub Copilot, AI Agents) with focus on developer velocity and architectural integrity

Nice To Haves

Background in cybersecurity, identity governance, or GRC
Experience with enterprise authorization platforms and policy engines
Experience with FIDO2, WebAuthn, or other passwordless / phishing-resistant authentication standards
Familiarity with Zero Trust Architecture and Just-In-Time Access models
Experience building and operating internal developer platforms (IDPs) and golden-path tooling
Experience leading platform handoffs between incubation and operational teams

Responsibilities

Own the engineering roadmap and delivery for shared IAM automation, developer enablement, and new IAM capabilities
Establish a platform roadmap with measurable milestones for capability uplift, performance, and consumer experience
Define engineering standards, architecture patterns, and operational practices for identity data, workflow, and API platforms
Drive engineering excellence through automation, observability, and SRE practices across all owned services
Ensure new projects/programs meet enterprise architectural and technology standards
Lead cross-IAM onboarding automation using GitOps and Terraform-based infrastructure
Drive operational automation for the IAM toolset (patching, certificate rotation, configuration management, support operations)
Build and maintain shared CI/CD, Infrastructure-as-Code, and DevOps tooling for all IAM engineering teams
Establish reference patterns, accelerators, and reusable components to reduce onboarding time and improve platform consistency
Champion developer experience across the IAM organization
Serve as incubation home for new IAM platforms—stand up, stabilize, operationalize, and transition emerging capabilities to permanent teams
Define maturity criteria (operability, automation coverage, documentation, observability, team readiness) governing handoffs
Establish a repeatable incubation playbook ensuring predictable quality and timing for new platform adoption
Partner with receiving directors on knowledge transfer and clean operating-state transitions
Supports IAM framework implementation with monitoring, reporting, escalation, trend identification, and security issue resolution
Provides project estimates and integration recommendations while ensuring consistency across business and technical functions
Recommends process improvements for build/deployment automation and identifies cost-saving and operational efficiency opportunities
Advises on agile delivery optimization and leads technical forums to foster team innovation
Partners with Architecture, Product, Support, and Operations to align strategy with engineering execution
Develops and maintains strong relationships with the IAM managers, quality assurance analysts, business analysts, project managers, architects, business sponsors and technical staff.
Excellent communications ability, both written and oral.
Able to effectively present as required to all levels of Technology and Operation management.
Lead a multi-disciplinary engineering team (senior managers, senior engineers, engineers); manage span of control, career growth, and technical depth
Recruit, mentor, and develop high-performing talent with growth opportunities and performance objectives
Establish a culture that attracts, retains, and motivates a diverse workforce; foster high engagement and deliver reliable, flexible, innovative solutions
Drive team efficiency, effectiveness, and performance to excellence standards through quarterly reviews and comparative feedback
Apply HR best practices and talent management to build capability and sustain a high-achievement environment
Model continuous self-development
Ensures that employees understand RBC vision; support and reinforce targeted behaviors that contribute to RBC goals.
Provides focus and clarity in establishing individual goals, driving performance management, supporting career development, and rewarding strong performance.
Leverages the value in unit, department, and enterprise-wide teams to develop better solutions and achieve a cross-enterprise mindset.
Accepts and successfully executes change while supporting employees through the process and keeping them focused on business priorities.
Monitors configuration and software delivery automation trends and best practices ensuring the unit’s strategies and execution are aligned appropriately.