Associate Director, Identity & Access Management Architect

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Cambridge (MA); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in Cambridge, MA seeks an Associate Director, Identity & Access Management Architect to lead architecture, engineering, and delivery of enterprise identity services.

This role combines strategic direction with hands‑on technical execution across IGA, PAM, AD, Entra ID, and hybrid identity, partnering with multiple teams to secure access. Hybrid role with up to 25% travel, reporting to the Senior Director.

Qualifications

• 8+ years in IAM or identity engineering with architecture/engineering delivery
• Experience delivering enterprise IAM solutions across IGA, PAM, and hybrid/cloud identity
• Hands-on AD and Entra ID expertise with security hardening
• Experience with SSO, MFA, and modern authentication protocols

Responsibilities

• Define and own the enterprise IAM target architecture across IGA, PAM, and identity services
• Lead identity solution design from architecture review to implementation
• Own AD, Entra ID, and hybrid identity including synchronization and authentication
• Drive directory modernization and security, including Tier 0 protection
• Architect identity lifecycle and governance (joiner/mover/leaver, provisioning, access reviews)
• Define PAM architecture and secure privileged access controls
• Establish access management standards for SSO, MFA, and passwordless auth
• Partner with cybersecurity and enterprise teams to embed Zero Trust principles

Skills

IAM architecture

Executive communication

Stakeholder influence

Cross-functional collaboration

Regulatory compliance

Education

Bachelor's degree in computer science or related field

Tools

SailPoint

BeyondTrust

CyberArk

Active Directory

Entra ID

LDAP/LDAPS

Kerberos

REST APIs

PowerShell

Job description

Overview

Alnylam is seeking an Associate Director, Identity & Access Management Architect to lead the architecture, engineering, and delivery of identity services across the enterprise. The role brings together identity governance and admiration (IGA), privileged access management (PAM), authentication, directory services, cloud identity, and non-human identities to support secure access for our people, applications, and technology.

Reporting to the Senior Director, Head of Identity and Access Management, this leader will own IAM architecture and engineering and provide technical ownership of IGA, PAM, Active Directory, Microsoft Entra ID, and hybrid identity. The role combines strategic direction with hands‑on technical execution, working with engineering. infrastructure and business teams to design, modernize, troubleshoot, and operate resilient identity capabilities.

This is a hybrid role primarily based in Cambridge, MA, with up to 25% local and international travel.

Key Responsibilities

• Define and own the enterprise IAM target architecture, technical standards, integration patterns, roadmap across IGA, PAM, access management, directory services, cloud, and non-human identity.
• Lead identity solution design and engineering execution from architecture review and proof of concept through implementation, testing, operational handoff, and ongoing improvement.
• Own the technical direction of Active Directory, Entra ID, and hybrid identity, including tenant and directory architecture, synchronization, authentication, groups, privileged administration, and service resilience.
• Drive directory modernization and security, including legacy authentication reduction, Tier 0 protection, hardening, recovery, and complex migration or incident support.
• Architect, design, implement and rollout identity lifecycle and governance capabilities, including joiner, mover, and leaver processes; automated provisioning; birthright access; role models; access reviews; and application onboarding through SailPoint and related integrations.
• Define PAM architecture for privileged account discovery, credential vaulting and rotation, session controls, just‑in‑time access, emergency access, and integration with directory and governance platforms.
• Establish access management standards for SSO, MFA, phishing‑resistant and passwordless authentication, federation, and Conditional Access using appropriate modern protocols.
• Define secure identity patterns for cloud workloads, service accounts, service principals, secrets, certificates, APIs, and AI agents, including ownership, least privilege, and lifecycle controls.
• Partner with Cybersecurity, Infrastructure, Cloud, Applications, Data and AI, and Enterprise Architecture to address identity risk, strengthen detection and response, and embed Zero Trust principles.
• Drive automation and reusable engineering practices; mentor IAM and directory engineers and serve as a technical escalation point for complex identity issues.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, cybersecurity, engineering, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
• 8+ years of progressive experience in IAM, identity engineering, Directory Services, or related technology disciplines, including 5+ years in architecture, engineering, or technical delivery roles with demonstrated responsibility for designing and implementing complex identity solutions.
• Experience delivering enterprise IAM solutions across IGA, PAM, access management, Active Directory, Entra ID, and hybrid or cloud identity.
• Deep hands‑on AD and Entra ID expertise, including directory architecture, synchronization, authentication, Conditional Access, privileged roles, security hardening, and troubleshooting.
• Experience with SailPoint and BeyondTrust or CyberArk, and with SAML, OAuth 2.0, OIDC, SCIM, Kerberos, LDAP/LDAPS, REST APIs, and certificates.
• Ability to script, automate, and review technical solutions using PowerShell, Microsoft Graph, REST APIs, and at least one of Python, JavaScript, or infrastructure as code tools.
• Proven ability to turn architecture into working solutions, lead technical reviews, guide engineers, and communicate decisions to business and technology leaders.
• Experience in a regulated environment and certifications such as CISSP, Microsoft identity, SailPoint, BeyondTrust, or CyberArk are preferred.
• Strong familiarity with cybersecurity frameworks and standards (e.g., NIST CSF, NIST 800‑53, Zero Trust Architecture concepts).
• Demonstrated ability to influence senior stakeholders and drive the adoption of modernized IAM concepts, processes and technology decisions across complex, regulated environments.
• Excellent communication skills, translating complex technical concepts into clear business impact.

About Alnylam

We are the leader in RNAi therapeutics - a revolutionary approach with the potential to transform the lives of people with rare and common diseases. Built on Nobel Prize-winning science, Aln