Identity Program Lead

This role owns an enterprise identity governance and entitlement management program from strategy through go-live and transition to operations. As product owner and decision coordinator, the lead aligns Information Security, IT, HR, Compliance, application owners, a managed services partner, and implementation vendors across the Customer Identity and Access Management and Identity Governance Lifecycle implementations.Logistics: Remote, contract (US). Must be located within driving distance of CT for quarterly site visits.Here's what you'll be doing:Own the workstream vision, roadmap, delivery backlog, priorities, acceptance criteria, decisions, risks, and dependenciesLead recurring status, requirements, design, governance, and decision forums, and report progress, blockers, and recommendations to program and security leadershipCoordinate delivery across Information Security, IT, HR, Compliance, Legal/Privacy, business teams, application owners, technical SMEs, a managed identity services partner, and implementation partnersReview and formally approve deliverables with traceability from requirements through design, testing, deployment, and operational handoffSequence dependencies with Salesforce Financial Services Cloud and nCino role and profile design, the customer portal, CIAM and fine-grained authorization, integrations, and data initiativesDirect IGA platform selection and implementation against business, technical, integration, security, and operational requirementsEstablish governance for authoritative identity sources, joiner/mover/leaver lifecycle states, access requests, approvals, provisioning and deprovisioning, access certification, RBAC, separation of duties, reporting, and exception managementBuild entitlement models that support least privilege, need-to-know access, customer data protection, segregation of duties, and auditable approvalsOversee non-human identity and service account governance, including inventory, ownership, lifecycle policy, and accountable useDefine decision rights and ownership for identity policies, roles, entitlements, certifications, exceptions, and application onboardingOversee authoritative source integration and phased onboarding of prioritized business applicationsDirect business testing, including test planning, requirements traceability, defect remediation, integration validation, rollback planning, security validation, and go-live readinessCoordinate release and environment promotion for access control changes and verify reconciliation, monitoring, and operational supportDeliver hypercare, operational runbooks, application onboarding guides, configuration documentation, and knowledge transferPartner with GRC, Compliance, Legal/Privacy, and Internal Audit on control design, access reviews, separation of duties, evidence, reporting, and regulatory readinessEstablish KPIs and KRIs for access requests, lifecycle timeliness, certification completion, provisioning exceptions, reconciliation, policy violations, and application onboardingDrive corrective actions, escalate unresolved decisions, and mature identity governance based on audit results, incidents, stakeholder feedback, and evolving threatsAnd what you need to have:Bachelor's degree in Information Technology, Cybersecurity, Computer Science, or a related field (Master's or equivalent experience preferred)8+ years of progressive experience in IAM, IGA, cybersecurity, enterprise applications, or technology program delivery3+ years leading complex cross-functional identity initiatives or serving as an IAM/IGA product ownerWorking knowledge of SailPoint, Saviynt, Microsoft Entra ID Governance, Okta, or comparable IGA platformsIGA operating models and lifecycle governance, RBAC, ABAC, ReBAC, separation of duties, access certification, privileged and non-human identity governanceAPI and application integration conceptsNIST CSF, NIST SP 800-53, FFIEC, and sector regulator expectationsProven ability to manage vendors and hold service providers accountable for deliverables and operational readinessRegulated financial services experience and managed service provider coordination strongly preferredPreferred certifications: CISSP, CISM, CRISC, CISA, CGEIT, or an IGA/IAM platform certification; PMP, PMI-ACP, or Certified Scrum Product OwnerNo CTC or sponsorship at this time.