Chief Authentication Architect & Platform Lead

Synchrony; Chicago (IL); Hybrid; USD 155,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

Synchrony Identity and Access Management (IAM) is seeking a seasoned technical leader to spearhead our authentication edge. As VP of Authentication Services, you will act as Principal Platform Owner and Systems Architect for workforce and B2B identity perimeters, directing an elite team to architect, scale, and operate high-throughput SSO, MFA, and passwordless pipelines in a zero-trust environment.

You’ll design distributed, fault-tolerant authentication topologies, govern security and user

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or STEM discipline.
• Alternative: High School Diploma / GED with 15+ years enterprise IT engineering experience.
• Minimum 10 years total enterprise IT engineering experience.
• Minimum 5 years hands-on experience with Okta Identity Cloud (including related products).
• Minimum 5 years leading and scaling distributed engineering teams.
• Expert-level mastery of identity and cryptographic protocols (SAML 2.0, OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect, WS-Fed, SCIM).

Responsibilities

• Own workforce authentication strategy and communicate buy-in to stakeholders.
• Implement leading authentication trends to improve security and UX.
• Direct roadmaps for core authentication tech (Okta, YubiKeys, FIDO2/WebAuthn) using Jira.
• Partner with leadership to build data-driven business cases for initiatives.
• Author secure production-grade authentication patterns and zero-trust architectures.
• Lead 24/7 engineering and operations for high availability and incident response.
• Oversee app authentication/authorization integrations with hands-on knowledge.
• Enforce authentication policies, compliance standards, and risk metrics.
• Advise cross-functional teams on product capabilities.
• Develop value-driven business relationships through needs analysis and service.

Skills

Leadership

Security strategy

Communication

Strategic thinking

Travel flexibility

Problem solving

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or STEM

Alternative Education: High School Diploma / GED + 15+ years IT experience

Tools

Okta Identity Cloud

Jira

YubiKeys

FIDO2/WebAuthn

Mighty ID Authentication Services

Job description

Synchrony Identity and Access Management (IAM) is seeking a seasoned technical leader to spearhead our authentication edge. As VP of Authentication Services, you will act as Principal Platform Owner and Systems Architect for workforce and B2B identity perimeters, directing an elite team to architect, scale, and operate high-throughput SSO, MFA, and passwordless pipelines in a zero-trust environment.

You’ll design distributed, fault-tolerant authentication topologies, govern security and user