Head of IAM

Position Summary

Do you want to be part of a collaborative problem-solving cyber security team? Guardian is looking for a head of identity and access management that will demonstrate courage, boldness, strength, intelligence, honor, energy, adaptability, innovation, process oriented that will lead a team of talented individuals.  The Head of Identity and Access Management (IAM) is a strategic leadership role responsible for defining and executing Guardian’s enterprise-wide IAM vision. This leader will drive the modernization and operational excellence of IAM capabilities across workforce, agency, and customer identity domains, ensuring alignment with business objectives, regulatory requirements, and emerging threat landscapes.  This leader will execute strategy, business execution, operations, engineering of Guardians Identity and Access Management program.   A self-starter who is fueled by collaboration, process improvement, tech modernization, attention to detail, innovation to transform and develop talent that runs this critical function.  The right individual will partner across the Enterprise Cyber Security Organization & business counterparts to ensure Guardian’s identity assets are well protected and defended against cyber threats and reduce company risk and instill trust in all forms of identity.  The successful candidate must live by the Guardian principles, values, & success factors.  Some major operating principles include thinking big & growing, accelerating operational excellence and being able to lead through change.

The successful candidate will help to develop IAM strategy, collaborate with security architecture & operations while building security solutions that ensure proper alignment with Guardian’s Digital Technology strategy. The successful candidate will be mission focused, process orientated, strong engineering & business background, strategic thinker, ability to influence and communicate complex identity-based & technology solutions.  The innovative thought leader will harness their deep security & identity knowledge and technical expertise to develop talent and build & operate the security controls & defenses that protect Guardian. 

Key Responsibilities

Strategy & Governance

• Define and lead the multi-year IAM strategy, aligning with digital & technology, enterprise cybersecurity objectives, and digital transformation goals & objectives.
• Establish governance frameworks for identity lifecycle, access provisioning, privileged access, and authentication/authorization policies.
• Partner with business and IT stakeholders to ensure IAM capabilities support secure, seamless user experiences across platforms.

Business Process Leadership

• Bridge gaps between business, business IT and IAM.
• Drive business identity for customer related activities including but not limited to privacy, cross selling for customers services.
• Oversee the design and continuous improvement of IAM processes, including onboarding/offboarding, access reviews, and role-based access control (RBAC).
• Drive automation and self-service initiatives to reduce manual effort and improve operational efficiency.
• Ensure IAM processes are embedded into the Secure Technology Governance Lifecycle (SDLC) and enterprise risk management frameworks.
• Ensure access is appropriately managed throughout the user lifecycle

Technology & Architecture

• Lead the modernization of IAM platforms, including the transition to Microsoft Entra ID and Okta for workforce and customer identity, respectively.
• Oversee the integration and decommissioning of legacy systems (e.g., ISAM, ISIM, LDAP, RSA, Ping).
• Champion innovation in areas such as IAM tech modernization, password-less authentication, identity proofing, multi-factor, authentication to modern and legacy systems, and secrets management.

Modernization & Platform Strategy

• Collaborate with Architecture & execute a platform-based model for IAM that simplifies the technology stack, reduces redundancy, and enhances scalability.
• Lead the transformation of the Identity Governance platform, consolidating tools and capabilities into a unified, cloud-native architecture.
• Drive alignment between IAM platform services and enterprise architecture standards, ensuring modularity, reusability, and API-first design.
• Collaborate with engineering and product teams to embed IAM capabilities into digital experiences and developer workflows.

Collaboration & Stakeholder Engagement

• Serve as a trusted advisor to business units, technology leaders, and risk partners on identity-related matters.
• Collaborate with HR, Legal, Compliance, Governance and Enterprise Architecture to ensure IAM policies and practices align with organizational priorities.
• Partner with application owners and infrastructure teams to embed IAM controls into business processes and technology solutions.
• Represent IAM in enterprise governance forums and cross-functional initiatives, advocating for secure and user-centric identity solutions.

Team & Program Management

• Build and lead a high-performing IAM organization, including platform engineering, user management, and program delivery teams.
• Manage a global team structure with resources across the U.S. and Guardian India.
• Monitor KPIs/OKRs to ensure service level objectives are met or exceeded.

Risk & Compliance

• Ensure IAM controls meet internal audit, SOX, NYDFS, MAR and regulatory requirements.
• Collaborate with IT Risk, Internal Audit, and Compliance to maintain a strong control environment.
• Lead IAM-related incident response and remediation efforts as needed.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of progressive experience in IAM, cybersecurity, or IT risk management.
• Proven leadership in designing and executing enterprise IAM strategies.
• Proven track record of delivering large transformational IAM efforts
• Deep understanding of IAM technologies (e.g., Entra ID, Okta, ISAM, ISIM, LDAP).
• Strong grasp of regulatory frameworks (e.g., SOX, SOC2) and IAM control design.
• Experience managing global teams and vendor partnerships.
• Certifications such as CISSP, CISM, CRISC, IAM specialties preferred.

Salary Range:

The salary range reflected above is a good faith estimate of base pay for the primary location of the position. The salary for this position ultimately will be determined based on the education, experience, knowledge, and abilities of the successful candidate. In addition to salary, this role may also be eligible for annual, sales, or other incentive compensation.

Our Promise

At Guardian, you’ll have the support and flexibility to achieve your professional and personal goals.  Through skill-building, leadership development and philanthropic opportunities, we provide opportunities to build communities and grow your career, surrounded by diverse colleagues with high ethical standards.

Inspire Well-Being

As part of Guardian’s Purpose – to inspire well-being – we are committed to offering contemporary, supportive, flexible, and inclusive benefits and resources to our colleagues. Explore our company benefits at www.guardianlife.com/careers/corporate/benefits. Benefits apply to full-time eligible employees. Interns are not eligible for most Company benefits.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Guardian is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will be considered for employment without regard to age, race, color, creed, religion, sex, affectional or sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, marital status, disability, military or veteran status, or any other classification protected by applicable law.

Accommodations

Guardian is committed to providing access, equal opportunity and reasonable accommodation for individuals with disabilities in employment, its services, programs, and activities. Guardian also provides reasonable accommodations to qualified job applicants (and employees) to accommodate the individual's known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, unless doing so would create an undue hardship. If reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and/or to receive other benefits and privileges of employment, please contact applicant_accommodation@glic.com.

Current Guardian Colleagues: Please apply through the internal Jobs Hub in Workday.