Security Specialist - Senior

American Electric Power•Columbus, OH

7d•$87,633 - $128,688

About The Position

The Security Specialist - Identity & Access Management (IAM) supports and delivers IAM capabilities across the enterprise. Serving as an IAM subject matter expert, the role participates in analysis, design, implementation, support, governance, and continuous improvement of IAM processes and solutions. It works with business partners, security teams, architects, developers, auditors, and technology teams to implement secure, compliant, and efficient access management throughout the identity lifecycle. The position gathers and documents requirements, evaluates solutions, assesses risks and controls, supports IAM operations, and contributes to IAM strategy and modernization initiatives. The role covers IAM strategy and solution delivery; identity governance and administration; privileged access and non-human identity governance; cloud and hybrid identity; analysis, documentation, and process improvement; automation and integration; security governance, risk, and compliance; IAM operations; and stakeholder collaboration. The specialist supports access provisioning and review, role engineering, least-privilege practices, privileged identity governance, service-account lifecycle management, cloud identity capabilities including Microsoft Entra ID, audits, troubleshooting, and operational improvement. The position also communicates IAM concepts to technical and non-technical audiences and mentors junior team members. The posting describes two potential qualification levels, SG7 and SG8. SG7 requires a bachelor's degree, or specified alternatives involving an associate degree, high school diploma/GED, relevant experience, an approved cybersecurity program, or demonstrated technical ability. Its experience requirement is at least two years of IT-related experience or at least one year of security-related experience. SG8 has similar education alternatives, with four years of relevant experience specified for the high-school/GED alternative, and requires at least four years of IT-related experience or at least two years of security-related experience. A CISSP or other security certification is helpful. Some travel and overtime may be required. The stated physical demand level is sedentary, involving sitting most of the time and occasional walking or standing, with force exertion up to 10 pounds occasionally.

Requirements

For SG7: bachelor's degree; or associate degree with two years of relevant system administration, help desk, or cyber/physical security experience; or high school diploma/GED with three years of relevant IT system administration, help desk, or cyber/physical security experience; or graduation from an approved Cybersecurity Program; alternatively, non-degree qualifications such as demonstrated technical ability in an interview or assessment.
For SG7: at least two years of IT-related experience, or at least one year of security-related experience; military or government experience may count toward the security-related experience.
For SG8: bachelor's degree; or associate degree with two years of relevant system administration, help desk, or cyber/physical security experience; or high school diploma/GED with four years of relevant IT system administration, help desk, or cyber/physical security experience; or graduation from an approved Cybersecurity Program; alternatively, non-degree qualifications such as demonstrated technical ability in an interview or assessment.
For SG8: at least four years of IT-related experience, or at least two years of security-related experience; military or government experience may count toward the security-related experience.
Strong communication, analytical, problem-solving, documentation, and relationship-management skills.
Ability to translate business requirements into technical solutions while balancing security, usability, compliance, and operational efficiency.
Some travel and overtime may be required.

Nice To Haves

Identity Governance Administration platforms such as Saviynt, SailPoint, or Entra ID Governance.
Privileged Access Management solutions such as CyberArk.
Microsoft Entra ID / Azure AD experience.
Identity Lifecycle Management experience.
RBAC and role engineering experience.
Service account and non-human identity governance experience.
Directory Services experience.
Access certifications and compliance programs experience.
Knowledge of security frameworks such as NIST CSF, NIST 800-53, and CIS Controls.
Process mapping and data analysis skills.
SQL, PowerShell, Python, or automation scripting skills.
Agile methodologies and DevSecOps practices.
Technical writing and executive-level communication skills.
CISSP or another security certification.

Responsibilities

Participate in the design, implementation, enhancement, and support of IAM technologies and processes.
Analyze business and technical requirements and recommend IAM solutions aligned with enterprise security objectives.
Evaluate functional and technical options, document recommendations, and support strategic decision-making.
Contribute to IAM modernization initiatives, including role-based access control, privileged access governance, identity hygiene, and non-human identity management.
Assist in developing IAM roadmaps, standards, and best practices.
Support access requests, approvals, provisioning, de-provisioning, and reconciliation processes.
Assist with access certifications, entitlement reviews, and attestation activities.
Support role engineering, role mining, and RBAC implementation efforts.
Validate access models and entitlement structures to maintain least-privilege principles.
Identify segregation-of-duties conflicts and access risks.
Support governance and lifecycle management of privileged accounts and privileged access.
Participate in onboarding, monitoring, and auditing privileged identities.
Partner with technology teams to improve privileged access controls and reduce standing privileges.
Support lifecycle management of service accounts, application accounts, APIs, and other non-human identities.
Assist in establishing accountability, ownership, certification, and governance requirements for non-human identities.
Evaluate orphaned or unmanaged identities and recommend remediation actions.
Support controls related to secrets, certificates, and machine credentials.
Assist in managing and supporting cloud identity capabilities, including Microsoft Entra ID.
Partner with infrastructure and application teams to integrate cloud and on-premises identity services.
Elicit, analyze, and document business, functional, technical, and security requirements.
Develop process flows, data mappings, architecture diagrams, use cases, and operational documentation.
Analyze business processes and identify opportunities for standardization, automation, and optimization.
Develop status reports, executive summaries, operational metrics, and project documentation.
Develop or assist with automation, reporting, scripting, and process improvements where appropriate.
Collaborate with development teams to incorporate IAM requirements into solution designs.
Support audits, assessments, regulatory reviews, and compliance initiatives.
Participate in developing and maintaining IAM policies, standards, procedures, and control documentation.
Evaluate IAM-related risks and recommend mitigation strategies.
Assist in gathering control evidence and supporting internal and external audits.
Assist in troubleshooting identity and access management issues.
Participate in incident, problem, and root-cause analysis activities.
Develop and maintain operational runbooks and support documentation.
Identify opportunities to improve IAM service quality, operational efficiency, and user experience.
Work closely with business partners, security teams, architects, developers, auditors, and vendors.
Communicate complex IAM concepts to technical and non-technical audiences.
Mentor junior team members and share IAM knowledge across teams.
Foster productive working relationships while advocating for secure, compliant, and scalable IAM solutions.