Identity and Access Management Technical Expert

About the role

The IAM Technical Expert is a senior hands-on expert responsible for the architecture, detailed solution design, implementation and orchestration of KAUST's enterprise Identity and Access Management (IAM), Privileged Access Management (PAM) and Identity Governance and Administration (IGA) capabilities. The role leads secure identity integration across Microsoft Entra, Saviynt, a selected PAM technology and enterprise, cloud, academic and research systems, driving phased deployment, engineering quality, automation and operational readiness.

Key responsibilities

• Own the end-to-end IAM, PAM and IGA target architecture, reference designs, implementation principles and phased roadmap aligned with KAUST's security strategy and Zero Trust principles.
• Define trust boundaries, identity data flows, authoritative sources, integration patterns, identity stores and control ownership across on-premises, hybrid and multi-cloud environments.
• Lead Microsoft Entra architecture and engineering for workforce identities, hybrid synchronization, SSO, federation, MFA, Conditional Access and identity protection.
• Design secure authentication and authorization patterns using SAML 2.0, OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect, FIDO2/passkeys, SCIM, LDAP and API-based integrations.
• Lead PAM platform evaluation, design and implementation, including privileged discovery, credential vaulting, automated rotation, session brokering, recording and monitoring, and JIT/JEA administration.
• Lead Saviynt IGA rollout for identity aggregation, birthright access and joiner-mover-leaver automation, including access requests, approvals, entitlement catalogues, access reviews and segregation of duties.
• Integrate identity services with enterprise applications, cloud platforms, collaboration tools, research platforms and laboratory systems.
• Translate the target architecture into low-level designs, interface contracts, configuration baselines, delivery backlogs, test plans and deployment patterns, guiding engineers, application teams and implementation partners.