Director - Cyber Security / Agentic AI - IAM Engineering

Job ID: 26013692Posted: 2026-09-12Location: Phoenix, AZ, United States; New York, NY, United StatesSalary: $144250 - $256250 annually + bonus + equity (if applicable) + benefitsJob Function: CybersecuritySchedule: Full timeShift: DayWorkplace: HybridCareer Area: TechnologyCompany: American ExpressDescriptionJoining Amex Tech means discovering and shaping your contribution to something big. Here, you can work alongside talented tech teams and build a unique career with the Powerful Backing of American Express. With a range of opportunities to work with the latest technologies, and a commitment to back the broader engineering community through open source, our mission is to power your success. Because Amex Tech is powered by our technology, our culture, and our colleagues.The Technology organization enables and accelerates the company’s growth strategies, delivering global capabilities and services in support of Amex’s customers and colleagues, while maintaining 24/7 servicing and availability to ensure an uninterrupted, high-quality customer experience. Technology provides the foundation for everything we do in the company while driving differentiation through building and leveraging innovative technology and data insights.At American Express, our mission is to deliver the world’s best customer experience every day. At the heart of this mission is our Information Security organization, enabling exceptional experiences built on a foundation of trust, service, and security. We leverage advanced technologies and data-driven insights to stay ahead of an evolving threat landscape. We foster a culture of passion, curiosity, and courage—empowering you to innovate, grow, and help shape the future of a Fortune 100 company.Trust. Service. Security.Director, Cybersecurity IAM Engineering provides leadership and guidance to senior cybersecurity colleagues, leading high-performing teams in the strategic engineering of Identity and Access Management solutions for the enterprise.ResponsibilitiesThe Identity & Access Management (IAM) Engineering Leader is responsible for leading the strategy, architecture, delivery, and operation of enterprise IAM platforms and services. This role oversees a team of engineers responsible for identity governance and access lifecycle management. The leader partners closely with cybersecurity, infrastructure, application development, risk, compliance, and business teams to ensure secure, scalable, and user-friendly access solutions across the organization.Key Responsibilities:Leadership & Team DevelopmentLead, mentor, and develop a high-performing team of IAM engineers and technical specialists.Establish clear goals, performance expectations, and career development plans.Foster a culture of accountability, innovation, operational excellence, and continuous learning.Recruit, retain, and develop top IAM engineering talent.IAM Strategy & ArchitectureDefine and execute the enterprise IAM roadmap aligned with business and security objectives with a specific focus on transforming IAM controls and processes using Agentic AI.Drive modernization initiatives including Zero Trust, adaptive access controls, and cloud identity services.Establish IAM reference architectures and engineering best practices.Evaluate emerging technologies and industry trends to improve security posture and user experience.Engineering & DeliveryOversee design, implementation, and support of IAM platforms, specifically Identity Governance and Administration (IGA), Directory Services (Active Directory, Entra ID, LDAP), and API and agentic Identity management.Ensure solutions are scalable, resilient, secure, and compliant and leverage Agentic AI TechnologyDrive automation and Infrastructure-as-Code practices to improve efficiency and reduce risk.Security & Risk ManagementPartner with Cybersecurity teams to implement strong identity controls and access governance.Ensure compliance with regulatory requirements and internal security policies.Lead remediation efforts related to identity-related audit findings and security risks.Support incident response and investigations involving authentication or access control issues.Stakeholder EngagementCollaborate with executive leadership, security teams, application owners, and business stakeholders.Communicate IAM strategy, risks, metrics, and program progress to senior management.Influence enterprise-wide adoption of identity standards and best practices.QualificationsRequired QualificationsBachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Security, Engineering, or related field.8+ years of experience in Identity & Access Management, Cybersecurity, or Infrastructure Engineering.3+ years of people leadership experience managing technical teams.Deep understanding of IAM concepts including authentication, authorization, federation, identity governance, and privileged access management.Strong understanding of cloud security and identity services across AWS, Azure, and GCP, Active Directory, RACF as well as authorization structures used within applications.Experience leading large-scale IAM transformations and modernization initiatives.Preferred QualificationsExperience with DevSecOps, API security, and identity automation.CISSP, CISM, CIAM, CCSP, or equivalent certifications.Experience implementing Zero Trust security architectures.Knowledge of regulatory frameworks such as SOX, PCI-DSS, NIST, ISO 27001, and GDPR.Experience leading deployment of Agentic AI solutions for Information Security process and controls.Depending on factors such as business unit requirements, the nature of the position, cost and applicable laws, American Express may provide visa sponsorship for certain positions.