Head of Identity Access Governance

Head of Identity & Access Governance (IAG)
Location: London - Hybrid - 3 days on site
Department: BISO Office
Reports to: BISO
Type: Full‑Time,Permanent
SPONSORSHIP UNAVAILABLE

Role Summary:

The Head of Identity& Access Governance is a senior strategic leader responsible for definingand executing the global Identity Security and Zero Trust roadmap across acomplex international organisation. This role leads enterprise-wide governanceof digital identities, access models, controls, and technologies, ensuringsecure-by-design access for employees, partners, and systems across multipleregions.
The ideal candidatecombines deep expertise in Identity Governance, Zero Trust architectures,Active Directory / Entra ID, and identity transformation with strongleadership, stakeholder influence, and operating-model experience.

Key Responsibilities

1. Strategic Leadership & Roadmap Ownership
   
   Develop and own the global Identity & Access Governance strategy, aligned to business objectives and the enterprise cyber roadmap.
   Lead the design, implementation, and continuous improvement of the organisation's Zero Trust security model, including identity as the new perimeter.
   Define the multi‑year roadmap covering identity governance, PAM, role engineering, directory services, automation, and identity analytics.2. Identity Governance Oversight
   
   Set enterprise-wide policies, standards, and controls governing user access, privileged access, and system entitlements.
   Ensure consistent governance across all regions and business units, including federated environments and third‑party access.
   Oversee Joiner-Mover-Leaver (JML) lifecycle automation and risk‑based access models.3. Technology Leadership (AD, Entra ID & IAMPlatforms)
   
   Own the strategy and governance model for Active Directory (AD), Entra ID (Azure AD), and domain services across the enterprise.
   Lead or advise on major technical initiatives such as consolidations, domain modernisation, AD hardening, conditional access, and authentication standards.
   Oversee selection, architecture, and operation of IAG and PAM tools - OKTA4. Zero Trust & Access Transformation
   
   Champion a holistic Zero Trust vision covering identity, device, network, application, and data security.
   Define principles such as least privilege, continuous validation, segmentation, and risk‑adaptive access.
   Drive adoption across business functions, technology teams, and geographic regions.5. Governance, Compliance & Risk Management
   
   Ensure identity processes comply with global standards and regulations (ISO 27001, NIST, SOX, GDPR, industry‑specific controls).
   Lead IAG risk assessments, audit readiness, control testing, and remediation activities.
   Provide executive reporting on identity risk posture, programme maturity, and KPIs.6. People Leadership & Operating Model
   
   Lead and grow a global Identity Governance team responsible for strategy, governance, engineering, and operations.
   Build effective partnership models with IT Operations, Cloud Engineering, Security Architecture, HR, and Global Business Units.
   Establish a federated identity operating model with clear accountability and measurement.7. Innovation & Continuous Improvement
   
   Evaluate emerging technologies
   Drive automation to streamline access provisioning, certifications, and privileged access processes.
   Promote a culture of secure digital identity and user‑centric access experience.
   Skills, Experience & Qualifications
   Essential
   
   10+ years' experience in Identity & Access Management, with at least 5 years in strategic or leadership roles.
   Proven experience managing identity services across global, multi-region, multi-forest environments.
   Deep understanding of Active Directory, Entra ID, authentication protocols, and directory security.
   Demonstrable ownership of Zero Trust strategy implementation at enterprise scale.
   Strong background in IAG technologies.
   Experience with Privileged Access Management (CyberArk, BeyondTrust, etc.).
   Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills across senior business and technical audiences.Key Competencies
   
   Strategic vision with the ability to execute at scale.
   Strong leadership and cross‑functional influence.
   Technical authority in identity and directory services.
   Risk‑driven decision-making.
   Excellent communication and executive presentation skills.
   Ability to operate within a complex, global matrix organisation.Hays Specialist Recruitment Limited acts as an employment agency for permanent recruitment and employment business for the supply of temporary workers. By applying for this job you accept the T&C's, Privacy Policy and Disclaimers which can be found at (url removed)