Principal Identity & Access Management (IAM) Engineer

At Early Warning, we’ve powered and protected the U.S. financial system for over thirty years with cutting-edge solutions like Zelle®, Paze®, and so much more. As a trusted name in payments, we partner with thousands of institutions to increase access to financial services and protect transactions for hundreds of millions of consumers and small businesses.

Early Warning follows a hybrid work model to allow for a more collaborative working environment.

Candidates responding to this posting must independently possess the eligibility to work in the United States, for any employer, at the date of hire. This position is ineligible for employment Visa sponsorship.

Overall Purpose

As a Principal Engineer in the Identity and Access Management (IAM) team, you will play a pivotal role in designing, implementing, and maintaining robust security solutions to safeguard organizational assets.  This position is a technical expert involved in developing the strategy and standards of Early Warning Services technology platforms and ensures excellence in quality of outputs across multiple teams. Leveraging your practical knowledge in Identity Governance Administration (IGA) platforms, identity and access governance platforms, privileged access management, active directory/Entra and Okta and network protocols, you will contribute to the development and execution of IAM strategies.  Responsible for partnering with cross functional teams and providing input to a broad range of initiatives. Ensures system health is optimized to support internal and external customers.

Essential Functions

• Collaborate with technology and business leaders to lead the development and implementation of IAM strategies aligned with organizational security objectives.
• Architect, design, and enhance IAM solutions, identity management, and privileged access management.
• Establishes vendor relationships to evaluate various technologies and associated costs to ensure technology meets business requirements and budget forecasts.
• Evaluate, select, and implement IAM platforms to ensure effective identity lifecycle management, authentication, and authorization.
• Design and implement IGA solutions (e.g. Saviynt, SailPoint) to safeguard critical systems and data.
• Establish and enforce policies for privileged account usage and monitor compliance with security standards.
• Ensure IAM solutions comply with relevant industry regulations and internal security policies.
• Contribute to the development of security governance frameworks and provide expertise in security audits.
• Mentors, trains, coaches, guides Systems Engineers. Applies direction/ feedback from management to continually improve performance and service levels.
• Designs, develops, documents, tests and debugs new and existing configuration management patterns and infrastructure as code. Performs systems engineering, installation, configuration, and maintenance of assigned technology responsibilities,
• Works collaboratively with other technology and business teams to gather requirements and develop technology standards. Engages vendor partners to evaluate, test and implement technology solutions that meet business requirements.  
• Implements and reviews systems monitoring to ensure platform availability and optimal performance. Analyzes systems health data and makes recommendations to improve performance, prevent service degradation and ensure high availability of technology platforms.
• Provides systems production support, reporting and monitoring of availability for IT Systems.
• Provides escalation support to resolve escalated and complex hardware/software related problems as tier III support, diagnose issues, performs root cause analysis and implements mitigating measures of assigned technology platforms.
• Implements defined changes to existing hardware and operating system infrastructure such as security patches, non-security patches and technology upgrades in support of vulnerability management, emerging threats and lifecycle management.
• Creates and/or edits technology policies, procedures and associated documentation.
• Interacts with internal customers and external vendors to provide quality customer service.
• Support existing technology infrastructure in an on-call capacity as part of a team rotation.
• A technical expert that is continuously learning and keeping abreast of new technologies and industry best practices and finding ways to bring those practices into the engineering organization.
• Completes work in a timely and accurate manner while providing exceptional customer service.
• Participates in and follow change management processes for change implementation.
• Support the company’s commitment to risk management and protecting the integrity and confidentiality of systems and data.
• The above job description is not intended to be an all-inclusive list of duties and standards of the position. Incumbents will follow instructions and perform other related duties as assigned by their supervisor.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Security or related field or equivalent work experience
• Typically, a minimum of 15 years of progressive experience, including 10 years proven experience as a senior engineer or architect in IAM, identity management, and privileged access management.
• Strong understanding of security compliance frameworks, governance, and risk management.
• In-depth knowledge of network protocols, Active Directory, and security best practices.
• Must be able to demonstrate practical knowledge and use of Birthright Applications, Role-Based-Access, and Least Privileged Access.
• Must demonstrate strong attention to detail.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to collect, organize, analyze and disseminate information with attention to detail and accuracy.
• This position requires excellent communication, interpersonal and customer service skills, including attentive and active listening to identify and address customer needs.
• Good communication, interpersonal and customer service skills, including attentive and active listening to identify and address customer needs. Customer service skills including the ability to manage and respond to different customer situations while maintaining a positive and friendly attitude is essential.
• Progressive experience managing professional relationships with vendors/ contractors is necessary. Proven ability to establish mutually beneficial relationships through negotiations, coordination, professionalism, courtesy and managing expectations is required.
• Collaboration, facilitation, and negotiation skills are required.
• The ability to work efficiently and accurately under pressure, meet deadlines, present a professional demeanor and work well independently is essential.
• Must possess strong organizational skills, including the ability to multi-task and manage multiple projects to meet various deadlines in a fast-paced environment.
• A working knowledge of Microsoft office, including skills with Word, Excel, and Outlook are necessary.
• Background and drug screen.

Preferred Qualifications

• Relevant certifications such as PCI, CIAM, CompTIA Security+, CISSP, CISM, or CISA are a plus.

The base pay scale for this position in:
Chicago, IL in USD per year is: $184,000 - $230,000.

Additionally, candidates are eligible for a discretionary incentive plan and benefits. This pay scale is subject to change and is not necessarily reflective of actual compensation that may be earned, nor a promise of any specific pay for any specific candidate, which is always dependent on legitimate factors considered at the time of job offer. Early Warning Services takes into consideration a variety of factors when determining a competitive salary offer, including, but not limited to, the job scope, market rates and geographic location of a position, candidate’s education, experience, training, and specialized skills or certification(s) in relation to the job requirements and compared with internal equity (peers). The business actively supports and reviews wage equity to ensure that pay decisions are not based on gender, race, national origin, or any other protected classes.

Physical Requirements

Working conditions consist of a normal office environment. Work is primarily sedentary and requires extensive use of a computer and involves sitting for periods of approximately four hours. Work may require occasional standing, walking, kneeling, and reaching. Must be able to lift 10 pounds occasionally and/or negligible amount of force frequently. Requires visual acuity and dexterity to view, prepare, and manipulate documents and office equipment including personal computers. Requires the ability to communicate with internal and/or external customers.

Employee must be able to perform essential functions and physical requirements of position with or without reasonable accommodation.

Some of the Ways We Prioritize Your Health and Happiness 

•  Healthcare Coverage – Competitive medical (PPO/HDHP), dental, and vision plans as well as company contributions to your Health Savings Account (HSA) or pre-tax savings through flexible spending accounts (FSA) for commuting, health & dependent care expenses.

• 401(k) Retirement Plan – Featuring a 100% Company Safe Harbor Match on your first 6% deferral immediately upon eligibility.

• Paid Time Off – Flexible Time Off for Exempt (salaried) employees, as well as generous PTO for Non-Exempt (hourly) employees, plus 11 paid company holidays and a paid volunteer day.

• 12 weeks of Paid Parental Leave

• Maven Family Planning – provides support through your Parenting journey including egg freezing, fertility, adoption, surrogacy, pregnancy, postpartum, early pediatrics, and returning to work.

And SO much more! We continue to enhance our program, so be sure to check our Benefits page here for the latest. Our team can share more during the interview process!

Early Warning Services, LLC (“Early Warning”) considers for employment, hires, retains and promotes qualified candidates on the basis of ability, potential, and valid qualifications without regard to race, religious creed, religion, color, sex, sexual orientation, genetic information, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, protected veteran or disability status or any factor prohibited by law, and as such affirms in policy and practice to support and promote equal employment opportunity and affirmative action, in accordance with all applicable federal, state, and municipal laws. The company also prohibits discrimination on other bases such as medical condition, marital status or any other factor that is irrelevant to the performance of our employees. 

Early Warning Services LLC is a proud participant in E-Verify, a federal program to help ensure a legal and authorized workforce. As part of our hiring process, we electronically verify the employment eligibility of all new hires through E-Verify. For more information on your rights and responsibilities under E-Verify please visit Home | E-Verify.