VP, Authentication Services

About this role

Role Summary/Purpose:

Synchrony Identity and Access Management (IAM) is seeking a seasoned   technical   leader to spearhead our modern   Authentication   edge. Powered by adaptive multi-factor authentication (MFA), continuous adaptive trust, and advanced Single Sign-On (SSO),   th e s e   services and platforms   serve   as the bedrock of our enterprise Zero Trust Architecture.  

As the VP of Authentication Services, you will   operate   as the Principal Platform Owner and Systems Architect for Synchrony’s workforce and B2B identity perimeters. In this role, you will direct an elite engineering organization tasked with architecting, scaling, and   operating   high   throughput, high   availability   SSO, MFA, and   passwordless   pipelines. Serving as a premier technical thought leader, you will design distributed, fault-tolerant authentication topologies and availability across all mission-critical enterprise applications.  

Essential Responsibilities:

• Product owner and thought leader that will own the workforce authentication strategy focused on security and user experience.     Communicate and get buy-in on strategy to key stakeholder groups.    

• Understand and implement leading authentication and authorization industry trends, proposing strategies to continually increase Synchrony’s authentication security and user experience.       

• Platform Ownership: Direct product management and technical roadmaps for core authentication technologies (Okta, YubiKeys, FIDO2/ WebAuthn , and   Might y ID   Authentication   Services ) using Jira to build epics, features, and stories that   optimize   engineering velocity.  

• Strategic Collaboration: Partner with the VP of Authentication   & Security   Services   to build data   driven business cases that justify, quantify, and prioritize high   value product initiatives.  

• Architecture & Design: Author secure production   grade authentication patterns, zero-trust reference architectures, and cryptographic policy playbooks.  

• Operational Leadership: Manage a 24/7 engineering and operations team ensuring high availability, system configuration management, incident response, and business continuity for mission-critical apps.  

• App Integration: Oversee   timely   application authentication and authorization integrations while   maintaining   hands-on technical knowledge of the underlying infrastructure.  

• Governance & Risk: Enhance and enforce authentication policies, compliance standards, and risk metrics while conducting cost/ROI analysis.  

• Relationship Management: Champion authentication services across the enterprise by advising cross-func tional business and technology teams on product capabilities.  

• Develop and   maintain   value driven   business relationships through effective needs analysis, program management, customer   service   and problem resolution .      

• Champion authentication services by advising other business and technology teams on product capabilities.  

• Understand and implement leading authentication and authorization industry trends, proposing strategies to continually increase Synchrony’s authentication security and user experience .    

• Perform other duties and/or special projects as assigned

Qualifications/Requirements:

• Education:   Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science , Computer Engineering, or   a technical   STEM discipline.  

• Alternative Education: High School Diploma / GED with 15+ years of enterprise IT engineering experience.  

• Experience: Minimum 10 years of total enterprise IT engineering experience.  

• Okta Specialization: Minimum   5   years of hands-on experience designing, scaling, and operating Okta Identity Cloud solutions (including Okta Advanced Server Access, API Access Management, and Workflows).  

• Leadership: Minimum 5 years of experience leading and scaling distributed, cross-functional engineering and infrastructure operations teams.  

• Protocol Mastery: Expert-level mastery of identity and cryptographic protocols including SAML 2.0, OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect (OIDC), WS-Fed, and SCIM provisioning.  

• Ability and flexibility to travel for business as required

Desired Characteristics:

• Infrastructure Expertise: Proven record of building and managing 24/7 enterprise-scale authentication services and customer-facing infrastructure.  

• Agile Delivery: Experience acting as a Scrum Product Owner within the Scaled Agile Framework ( SAFe ).  

• Regulatory Compliance: Working knowledge of NIST, FFIEC, and PCI authentication standards.  

• Project Execution: Track record of deploying complex, large-scale projects across multiple business units and control functions.  

• Tooling Knowledge: Familiarity with ServiceNow, SailPoint   IdentityIQ ,   OKTA, Entra ID, Active Directory .  

• Soft Skills: Superior written communication, analytical thinking,   strong sense   of urgency, and a commitment to outstanding user experiences.  

Grade/Level: 13

The salary range for this position is 155,000.00 - 260,000.00 USD Annual and is eligible for an annual bonus based on individual and company performance.

Actual compensation offered within the posted salary range will be based upon work experience, skill level or knowledge.

Salaries are adjusted according to market in CA, NY Metro and Seattle.

Our Way of Working : We’re proud to offer you flexibility. At Synchrony, our way of working allows you to have the option to work from home near one of our Hubs or come into one of our offices. You will be required to commute to your nearest Hub (either virtual or physical) for in-person engagement activities such as regular business or team meetings, training and culture events.    *Field Sales and some Commercial team roles may have varied location requirements based upon partner obligations or preferences.

Eligibility Requirements: • You must be 18 years or older

• You must have a high school diploma or equivalent

• You must be willing to take a drug test,

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