IAM Architect /Cybersecurity Architect

Atlantis IT group is seeking an IAM Architect / Cybersecurity Architect to help shape authorization architecture and governance for AI applications and agents. This hybrid role in Dallas, TX will support integrated identity and access management for both human users and non-human identities, with technical leadership across cybersecurity and adjacent engineering teams.

Role focus

In this position, you will design a governance model for authorization in Identity and Access Management, serving as a subject matter expert for identity governance tied to AI systems. You will also provide technical leadership to cybersecurity teams by translating IAM and AI security concepts into implementation-ready architecture decisions.

Key responsibilities

• Define the enterprise target-state architecture and governance model for identities, delegated authority, and authorization across AI applications, agents, tools, APIs, and human users.
• Establish reusable authorization patterns for user-to-agent, agent-to-tool, machine-to-machine, and agent-to-agent interactions.
• Design policy enforcement approaches supporting least privilege, Zero Standing Privilege (ZSP), separation of duties, context-aware access, runtime decisioning, and human-in-the-loop guardrails.
• Define lifecycle governance for AI agents and other non-human identities, including registration, sponsorship, ownership, credential issuance, rotation, recertification, suspension, deprovisioning, and evidence retention.
• Develop standards for OAuth 2.0, OIDC, token exchange, workload identity, delegated authorization, service accounts, and short-lived credentials.
• Evaluate vendor and native platform capabilities and document options, tradeoffs, integration impacts, risks, and recommendations for Southwest.
• Partner with teams including IAM, IGA, PAM, Enterprise Access Management, Cloud Security, Application Security, AI Engineering, AI Governance, Enterprise Architecture, and platform teams to align controls and operating responsibilities.
• Create reference architectures, design principles, control requirements, decision records, implementation roadmaps, and adoption guidance.
• Support solution reviews and threat-informed design decisions for AI use cases, MCP servers, agent tools, data access paths, and autonomous actions.
• Define logging, traceability, audit evidence, and monitoring requirements connecting an agent action to the agent identity, sponsoring owner, delegated user or system, authorization decision, and affected resource.
• Provide technical consultation to Cyber teams and translate complex IAM and AI security concepts for engineering, product teams, leaders, and governance forums.
• Track relevant market and technology developments and recommend updates to architecture standards and strategic roadmaps.
• Must be able to meet any physical ability requirements listed on this description.
• May perform other job duties as directed by Employee’s Leaders.

Minimum qualifications

• Minimum 3 years of experience solving complex problems and driving multiple stakeholders toward implementable solutions (prefer 5 years).
• Minimum 3 years working in a cross-functional environment within the technology domain (prefer 5 years).
• Ability to influence diverse customer groups to align on strategic goals and decisions.
• Prefer at least 1 year working in a Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) environment.
• Ability to assume high-level responsibility and provide direction in a cross-functional, team-oriented environment.
• Proficiency in Agile methodologies and collaborating effectively with cross-functional teams.
• Deep expertise in enterprise Identity and Access Management (IAM) architecture and integration patterns for AI systems and agent-based environments.
• Understanding of best practices for authorization enforcement across AI agents, tools, APIs, and human identities.
• Knowledge of core authorization principles including least privilege access, Zero Standing Privilege (ZSP), policy enforcement, auditability, and runtime governance.
• Experience designing OAuth 2.0 / OIDC flows for machine-to-machine and agent-to-agent communication.
• Understanding of AI agent lifecycle governance including registration, credential rotation, deprovisioning, and auditability of autonomous actions.
• Experience with secrets management and credential vaulting (e.g., CyberArk, HashiCorp Vault, AWS Secrets Manager).
• Familiarity with AI safety and governance frameworks (NIST AI RMF, OWASP Top 10 for LLMs) and regulatory or compliance considerations for autonomous systems.
• Strong communication and cross-team collaboration skills, including ability to translate complex IAM concepts for engineering and leadership audiences.
• Strong hands-on knowledge of Privileged Access Management (PAM).
• Strong hands-on knowledge of directory services (AD, eDirectory, LDAP).
• Strong hands-on knowledge of workforce or enterprise IAM.
• Strong hands-on knowledge of CIAM platforms and patterns.
• Experience with IAM tools such as CyberArk, BeyondTrust, Ping, Azure AD, SailPoint, or similar.
• Experience in cloud-based IAM (AWS, Azure, hybrid environments).
• Ensure IAM solutions align with Zero Trust, least privilege, and identity-first security principles.
• Exceptional attention to detail with strong documentation skills.
• Self-motivated and proactive, committed to driving tasks to completion.
• Ability to connect how programs integrate with company objectives.
• Experience solving complex business and technical problems and identifying solution options.
• Experience supporting (or leading) executive-level communication, such as project status updates and presentations requesting approval.
• Ability to digest detailed information and summarize for appropriate stakeholders (Managers, Directors, VPs, etc.).
• Experience with or thorough understanding of gathering business requirements for an implementation project.
• Understands how to translate business needs into releases that deliver business value.
• Ability to translate business processes into strategy and drive innovation to build capabilities.
• Understands how to read the market landscape and implement best practices to remain competitive.
• Ability to lead discussions with stakeholders from multiple backgrounds who have conflicting priorities, mediate when teams are not aligned, and drive toward a recommendation.
• Critical thinking to identify, analyze, and interpret trends in complex data sets and develop recommendations.
• Strong oral communication and executive-level presentation delivery skills.
• Skilled influencer, negotiator, consensus-builder, and change agent.
• Ability to recognize inefficiencies in processes and proactively suggest improvements.
• Ability to work flexibly in changing priorities across enterprise objectives.
• Must be able to comply with company attendance standards as described in established guidelines.
• Must maintain a well-groomed appearance per company appearance standards as described in established guidelines.

Relevant technologies

• OAuth 2.0, OIDC, MCP servers
• AWS AgentCore
• SailPoint Identity Security Cloud, SailPoint Entro Security
• Ping Identity Platform, Ping Agent IAM Core module
• CyberArk, CyberArk Idira
• Privileged Access Management (PAM)
• AD, eDirectory, LDAP
• Microsoft Foundry, Microsoft EntraID
• HashiCorp Vault, AWS Secrets Manager
• Zero Standing Privilege (ZSP), NIST AI RMF, OWASP Top 10 for LLMs
• ScAled Agile Framework (SAFe)
• AWS, Azure

Location and work model

• Dallas, TX (hybrid)
• Minimum experience: 3 years

Atlantis IT group is an Equal Opportunity Employer, and Southwest Airlines is referenced in the role details.