Director - Identity Operations Service

Eli Lilly and Company; Indianapolis (IN); Hybrid; USD 162,000 - 293,000; Full time

Job summary

Eli Lilly and Company in Indianapolis seeks an Identity Operations Service Lead to guide the 24/7 IAM platform team. You will shape the identity operations roadmap, align with global security strategy, and elevate monitoring, automation, and incident response.

You will manage US-based engineers, recruit talent, and drive governance, risk management, and cross-functional collaboration across cybersecurity and IT. Remote with travel options in the US.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Cybersecurity, Engineering, or a related technical field.
• At least 8 years of demonstrated ability in Identity and Access Management.
• 5+ years of people management experience leading technical teams, ideally in a 24/7 operations environment.
• 3+ years of demonstrated ability defining and driving operations governance, technology strategy, and roadmap planning.

Responsibilities

• Lead the US Identity Operations team, including hiring, coaching and performance management.
• Own the strategic vision and multi-year roadmap for Identity Operations and related tooling/architecture.
• Define technology strategy for the Operations toolset (monitoring, alerting, patching, automation, orchestration).
• Champion automation, agentic AI, and CI/CD practices within Operations.
• Propose improvements to incident management and governance, driving long-term process and technology enhancements.

Skills

IAM expertise

People management

Security leadership

Cross-functional leadership

Strategic planning

Education

Bachelor’s degree in CS/Cybersecurity/Engineering

Tools

SailPoint

CyberArk

Microsoft Entra ID

Okta

PKI

Job description

At Lilly, the work is demanding because patients are waiting. We unite caring with discovery to help make life better for people around the world, knowing that every decision, every detail, and every day matters. Headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, our over 50,000 employees around the globe take on complex challenges to discover and deliver life-changing medicines, strengthen how health is understood and managed, and support the communities we serve. This is hard, urgent, selfless work—but it’s work worth doing. If you’re driven by purpose and ready to bring your best to work that truly matters for patients, we invite you to join us.

Ready to put your mark on the world of cybersecurity? We’re looking for an Identity Operations Service Lead to bring fresh perspectives and bold solutions to our team. In this role, you’ll be instrumental in shaping how our organization provides secure, appropriate, and timely access to enterprise resources and as well as be a catalyst to drive our Identity and Access Management strategy.

What You’ll Be Doing

The Identity Operations Service Lead is a leadership role responsible for the strategic direction and technology roadmap of the team that operates the company’s 24/7 identity platforms and services. This role will focus on the vision, tooling and processes that shape how Identity operations run today and evolve tomorrow. This role will work closely with the Associate Director of Identity Operations who leads the day-to-day execution of operations, to deliver operation excellence across our Identity ecosystem. This role will lead the US portion of our distributed team and be a senior escalation point when incidents demand it.

Team Leadership & Management (US Operations Team)

• Directly lead and develop the US-based Identity Operations team, including hiring, coaching, career development, and performance management.
• Partner with the Associate Director of Identity Operations to ensure the US team operates as part of an aligned global operations organization.
• Foster a culture focused on security, innovation, automation, continuous learning, and operational rigor.
• Identify critical skill gaps on the US team and develop strategies to attract, retain, and upskill talent.
• Cultivate a diverse and inclusive team that fosters different perspectives and backgrounds.

Operations Strategy And Technology

• Own the strategic vision and multi-year roadmap for Identity Operations helping to drive processes and technology to meet business and security needs.
• Establish and maintain the framework for operational tooling and architecture.
• Define technology strategy for the Operations toolset (monitoring, alerting, patching, automation, and orchestration platforms), including lifecycle management, vulnerability management, and vendor strategy for tools supporting Operations.
• Champion the adoption of automation, agentic AI, and CI/CD practices within Operations to reduce manual toil and drive continuous operational improvement.
• Propose design improvements to organizational change and problem management processes ensuring rigor and continuous improvement across the operations organization.
• Influence and provide support for mechanisms to translate incident and problem trends into strategic backlog items and long-term process or technology improvements.

Major Incident Management

• Serve as a senior escalation point in support of the Associate Director of Identity Operations for identity service incidents.
• Provide decision making support during high priority incidents and executive level communication.
• Partner on post-incident reviews, with a focus on identifying systemic gaps in operations processes, tooling, and governance, and driving those takeaways into the strategic roadmap.

Collaborator Engagement

• Partner with the Identity Service leads, Architects, and other Cybersecurity leaders to ensure Operations strategy align with the broader identity services strategy.
• Represent Operations strategy and priorities in cross-functional and leadership forums.
• Engage with vendors on strategic partnerships supporting Operations platforms and tooling.

Compliance & Risk Management

• Ensure Operations governance processes and controls support compliance with regulatory and industry requirements.
• Own coordination of audit response for the Operations governance domain, partnering with the Associate Director of Identity Operations on execution.

Your Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Cybersecurity, Engineering, or a related technical field.
• At least 8 years of demonstrated ability in Identity and Access Management.
• At least 8 years of demonstrated ability in an enterprise IT operational support organization.
• 5+ years of people management experience leading technical teams, ideally in a 24/7 operations environment.
• 3+ years of demonstrated ability defining and driving operations governance, technology strategy, and roadmap planning.

Additional Preferences

• Experience with IT service management (ITIL); ITIL certification preferred.
• Strong knowledge of Identity and Access Management capabilities and technologies (e.g., SailPoint, CyberArk, Microsoft Entra ID, Okta, PKI).
• Proven ability to lead high-performing teams within a global, distributed organization.
• Relevant certifications such as CISSP, CISM, or equivalent preferred.
• Strong eye for business combined with technical depth to influence and drive outcomes.
• Excellent collaborator management, communication, and leadership skills.

Location and Work Flexibility

• Remote with travel to Indianapolis -10-25%.
• Local candidates will work a flexible hybrid work model, with three days onsite and two days working remotely each week, supporting both collaboration and work‑life balance.

Lilly is dedicated to helping individuals with disabilities to actively engage in the workforce, ensuring equal opportunities when vying for positions. If you require accommodation to submit a resume for a position at Lilly, please complete the accommodation request form (https://careers.lilly.com/us/en/workplace-accommodation) for further assistance. Please note this is for individuals to request an accommodation as part of the application process and any other correspondence will not receive a response.

Lilly is proud to be an EEO Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of age, race, color, religion, gender identity, sex, gender expression, sexual orientation, genetic information, ancestry, national origin, protected veteran status, disability, or any other legally protected status.

Our employee resource groups (ERGs) offer strong support networks for their members and are open to all employees. Our current groups include: Africa, Middle East, Central Asia (AMECA), Black Employees at Lilly (BE@Lilly), Chinese Culture Network (CCN), EnAble, Evolve, Lilly Indian Network (LIN), Organization of Latinx at Lilly (OLA), Pride (LGBTQ+ Allies), Veterans Leadership Network (VLN) and Women’s Initiative for Leading at Lilly (WILL).

Actual compensation will depend on a candidate’s education, experience, skills, and geographic location. The anticipated wage for this position is $162,000 - $292,600.

Full-time equivalent employees also will be eligible for a company bonus (depending, in part, on company and individual performance). In addition, Lilly offers a comprehensive benefit program to eligible employees, including eligibility to participate in a company-sponsored 401(k); pension; vacation benefits; eligibility for medical, dental, vision and prescription drug benefits; flexible benefits (e.g., healthcare and/or dependent day care flexible spending accounts); life insurance and death benefits; certain time off and leave of absence benefits; and well-being benefits (e.g., employee assistance program, fitness benefits, and employee clubs and activities). Lilly reserves the right to amend, modify, or terminate its compensation and benefit programs in its sole discretion and Lilly’s compensation practices and guidelines will apply regarding the details of any promotion or transfer of Lilly employees.

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