Job Description Summary

The Principal IAM Architect serves as the senior technical authority for Identity and Access Management (IAM) architecture across the enterprise. This role is responsible for defining the strategic direction, architecture standards, and technology roadmap for identity services that protect critical business assets while enabling secure and efficient workforce, partner, and customer access. The Principal IAM Architect partners with cybersecurity, infrastructure, application development, cloud engineering, and business leaders to design scalable identity solutions that support business growth, regulatory compliance, and Zero Trust security objectives. Operating with significant autonomy, this role drives enterprise-wide identity transformation initiatives, establishes architectural standards, and serves as the organization's subject matter expert for modern identity technologies and access governance.

Key Responsibilities

• Serves as the enterprise lead architect for Identity and Access Management (IAM), providing strategic and technical leadership for identity-related initiatives across the organization.
• Defines and maintains the enterprise IAM architecture roadmap, standards, reference designs, and implementation patterns supporting workforce, privileged, third-party, and customer identities.
• Designs scalable and secure identity solutions that align with business objectives, cybersecurity strategy, regulatory requirements, and operational needs.
• Leads architectural decisions related to Identity Governance and Administration (IGA), Privileged Access Management (PAM), Single Sign-On (SSO), Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), Passwordless Authentication, Identity Federation, and Access Governance.
• Establishes enterprise identity architecture standards supporting cloud, hybrid, and on-premises environments, including Microsoft Entra ID, Active Directory, SaaS platforms, and business-critical applications.
• Partners with application owners, infrastructure teams, cybersecurity leadership, and enterprise architects to integrate identity controls into technology initiatives and business processes.
• Evaluates and recommends IAM technologies, platforms, and vendors to improve security, operational efficiency, user experience, and scalability.
• Leads architecture reviews for major projects and strategic initiatives, ensuring solutions adhere to established identity standards and security requirements.
• Provides expert guidance on authentication protocols and standards, including OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect (OIDC), SAML, SCIM, Kerberos, and modern federation technologies.
• Supports the organization's Zero Trust strategy by designing identity-centric controls that enable secure access decisions based on risk, context, and continuous verification.
• Analyzes emerging cybersecurity threats, identity attack vectors, technology trends, and industry best practices to continuously improve the organization's IAM capabilities.
• Partners with risk management, audit, compliance, and governance teams to ensure identity architectures support regulatory and internal control requirements.
• Leads architecture governance processes, technical reviews, and design boards to ensure consistency across IAM implementations.
• Mentors IAM engineers, architects, and technical leaders while promoting best practices, knowledge sharing, and architectural excellence throughout the organization.
• Influences strategic investment decisions and provides senior leadership with technical recommendations regarding identity modernization and security transformation initiatives.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Information Security, Cybersecurity, Systems Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.
• 8+ years of experience in Identity and Access Management, Cybersecurity Architecture, Security Engineering, Infrastructure Architecture, or a related technical discipline.
• Demonstrated experience designing and implementing enterprise IAM solutions across cloud and hybrid environments.
• Deep expertise in identity technologies including:
  • Identity Governance and Administration (IGA)
  • Privileged Access Management (PAM)
  • Single Sign-On (SSO)
  • Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
  • Federation Services
  • Directory Services
  • Access Certification and Governance
• Strong knowledge of modern authentication and authorization standards, including OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect (OIDC), SAML, SCIM, JWT, and FIDO2.
• Experience developing enterprise architecture standards, reference architectures, and technical governance processes.
• Proven ability to influence senior stakeholders and drive cross-functional alignment on complex technology initiatives.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's degree in Cybersecurity, Information Technology, Computer Science, Systems Engineering, or a related field.
• Industry certifications such as:
  • CISSP
  • CCSP
  • SABSA
  • TOGAF
  • Microsoft Cybersecurity Architect Expert
  • SailPoint, Okta, CyberArk, or Microsoft Identity certifications
• Experience leading IAM modernization programs, cloud identity transformations, or Zero Trust initiatives.
• Experience within highly regulated industries such as healthcare, pharmaceutical, financial services, or critical infrastructure.
• Familiarity with DevSecOps, cloud security architecture, and API security frameworks.

Leadership Competencies

• Enterprise-wide strategic thinking.
• Strong architecture and systems design expertise.
• Executive-level communication and stakeholder management.
• Ability to influence without direct authority.
• Exceptional problem-solving and analytical skills.
• Mentorship and technical leadership capabilities.
• Strong understanding of balancing security, usability, compliance, and operational efficiency.

What Cencora offers

We provide compensation, benefits, and resources that enable a highly inclusive culture and support our team members’ ability to live with purpose every day. In addition to traditional offerings like medical, dental, and vision care, we also provide a comprehensive suite of benefits that focus on the physical, emotional, financial, and social aspects of wellness. This encompasses support for working families, which may include backup dependent care, adoption assistance, infertility coverage, family building support, behavioral health solutions, paid parental leave, and paid caregiver leave. To encourage your personal growth, we also offer a variety of training programs, professional development resources, and opportunities to participate in mentorship programs, employee resource groups, volunteer activities, and much more. For details, visit https://www.virtualfairhub.com/cencora

Equal Employment Opportunity

Cencora is committed to providing equal employment opportunity without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, national origin, age, disability, veteran status or membership in any other class protected by federal, state or local law.

The company’s continued success depends on the full and effective utilization of qualified individuals. Therefore, harassment is prohibited and all matters related to recruiting, training, compensation, benefits, promotions and transfers comply with equal opportunity principles and are non-discriminatory.

Cencora is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities during the employment process which are consistent with legal requirements. If you wish to request an accommodation while seeking employment, please call 888.692.2272 or email [email protected]. We will make accommodation determinations on a request-by-request basis. Messages and emails regarding anything other than accommodations requests will not be returned

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