Principal Security & IAM Architect

CDW

4d•$156,400 - $218,920

About The Position

The Principal Security & IAM Architect is responsible for designing and supporting the implementation of the security and identity architecture of the MyCDW platform — CDW Managed Services’ unified ServiceNow environment serving thousands of customers and coworkers. This role owns the future-state access management model, the consolidation of fragmented identity platforms (Entra, Okta, and native ServiceNow authentication), and the security controls that protect customer and coworker access across the Managed Services estate. It ensures the security and identity architecture aligns with the organization’s business strategy, regulatory obligations, and enterprise hardening standards, and drives the strategic planning, governance, and risk reduction required to operate MyCDW securely at scale.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Cybersecurity, or related field and 10 years’ experience in IT, including security architecture and identity & access management, OR 14 years’ experience in IT, security, and IAM.
Deep, hands-on expertise designing enterprise security and IAM architectures, including authentication, authorization, federation (SAML / OAuth / OIDC), SSO, MFA, and privileged access management.
Strong, demonstrated experience with Microsoft Entra ID and Entra ID Governance (IGA), and with identity governance platforms such as SailPoint, ideally including migrations between them.
Expertise in RBAC / ABAC design, access certification, and joiner / mover / leaver identity lifecycle automation.
Strong knowledge of regulatory and compliance frameworks, particularly PCI DSS v4.0.1, SOC 2, and corporate security and hardening standards, with the ability to map controls to architecture.
Experience securing SaaS and ITSM platforms (ServiceNow strongly preferred), including platform authentication models and integration security.
Experience/research in Artificial Intelligence principles as applied to security — identity analytics, anomaly and threat detection, and the access governance of AI agents and automated workflows.
Ability to develop and implement security and identity strategies that support organizational objectives while reducing risk and cost.
Experience leading project teams from an architecture perspective, collaborating with stakeholders across departments, and influencing decision-making at a strategic level.
Demonstrated ability to lead security transformation initiatives, drive risk reduction, and manage change effectively.
Extensive and demonstrated understanding of network architecture, security principles, infrastructure management, and cloud security.
Exceptional problem-solving skills and the ability to think strategically, anticipating threats and translating them into actionable, defensible plans aligned with enterprise-wide goals.
Strong communication and interpersonal skills, including collaboration, leadership, influencing, and conflict resolution.
Ability to work in a fast-paced, dynamic environment and manage multiple projects simultaneously.
Proven track record designing and implementing large-scale, complex security and identity solutions.
Extensive experience in multiple IT domains, such as applications, data, infrastructure, security, and cloud services.

Nice To Haves

Relevant certifications such as CISSP, CISM, SailPoint, or Microsoft Identity & Access Administrator (SC-300), a plus.
Master’s degree, a plus.

Responsibilities

Define and own the future-state security and access management architecture for the MyCDW ServiceNow platform, covering authentication, authorization, and identity lifecycle management for both customer and coworker users.
Lead the consolidation of fragmented identity platforms (Entra, Okta, and native ServiceNow authentication) toward a unified, future-state identity model that reduces attack surface, duplicative controls, and licensing cost.
Architect the SailPoint → Microsoft Entra ID Governance (IGA) migration and the RBAC and access-tier model for ServiceNow, aligning coworker identity to Entra IGA standards.
Design access request, approval, certification, and lifecycle (joiner / mover / leaver) workflows with clear ownership and auditable controls.
Ensure the platform and identity model meet security and compliance requirements, including PCI DSS v4.0.1 access-control requirements, SOC 2, and corporate security policies.
Establish identity and security governance — decision rights, ownership frameworks, and standards — across ITSM processes and the MyCDW platform.
Define a staged transition that decouples coworker identity (Entra IGA-aligned) from customer identity, minimizing customer disruption and avoiding repeated identity changes for the same customers.
Partner with the Principal Applications Architect and the Integration & Automation Architect to ensure identity and security designs align to the platform’s target-state architecture.
Evaluate identity, security, and IGA technologies and products to determine their suitability and cost-effectiveness, including benchmarking, proof-of-concept projects, and risk/cost trade-off analysis.
Implement security monitoring, threat detection, and identity analytics for predictive risk insights and platform health.
Conduct security and identity risk assessments, threat modeling, and design reviews, and provide remediation guidance for technical debt carried forward from legacy environments.
Lead, mentor, and set standards for the Managed Services security and IAM engineering team, including security engineers and IAM analysts.
Effectively communicate and collaborate with development, engineering, infrastructure, compliance, and product stakeholders to ensure the security and identity vision is understood and implemented.
Create and maintain documentation related to the security and identity architecture, roadmaps, design decisions, control mappings, and technical specifications.
Resolve complex security and identity issues that arise during design, migration, and operations, providing guidance and solutions to overcome obstacles.
Balance security requirements with budget and experience constraints to make cost-effective, risk-based decisions.
Interact with identity and security technology vendors, negotiate contracts, and manage relationships to ensure the organization gets the best value.
Anticipate and keep up with emerging security and identity threats, standards, and industry trends to recommend innovative, defensible solutions.