Sr Principal Solution Architect, IT Identity Services

Intro

Are you ready to explore a world of possibilities, both at work and during your time off? Join our American Airlines family, and you’ll travel the world, grow your expertise, and become the best version of you. As you embark on a new journey, you’ll tackle challenges with flexibility and grace, learning new skills and advancing your career while having the time of your life. Feel free to enrich both your personal and work life and hop onboard!

Why you'll love this job

As part of the Identity Services team, you’ll help deliver secure digital products that support a reliable and profitable airline. You will design, implement, and care for cybersecurity solutions that protect users, systems, operations, and data, by ensuring strong identity controls such as role‑based access, authentication, authorization, and governance.

This role requires attention to detail, strong problem‑solving, and high ethical responsibility. The fast‑paced global airline environment offers opportunities for professional development, continuous growth, and meaningful impact.

In the Identity Services domain, you will be responsible for the architecture, design, standards, and patterns for delivering strong identity and access programs. You will be expected to balance technical oversight, and business alignment to secure organization’s digital assets while ensuring the team is empowered, the systems are resilient, and the entire operation runs smoothly, effectively, and proactively. Additional information about the skills needed for this position is listed in the Skills, Licenses & Certifications section below.

What you'll do

As noted above, this list is intended to reflect the current job but there may be additional essential functions (and certainly non-essential job functions) that are not referenced. Management will modify the job or require other tasks be performed whenever it is deemed appropriate to do so, observing, of course, any legal obligations including any collective bargaining obligations.

• Identity and Access Management (IAM) Architecture: Design and oversee the architecture and deployment of IAM solutions to manage user identities, roles, and access privileges across the organization’s systems and applications.

• User Provisioning and De-provisioning Framework: Architect and optimize the processes for automating the creation, modification, and removal of user accounts and access rights based on organizational policies and user roles.

• Security and Governance: Establishing policies for user access, role-based access control (RBAC), and ensuring audit compliance.

• Designing Secure Architectures: Develop and design secure IT architectures that protect the organization's data, applications, and infrastructure from cyber threats.

• Collaboration with Stakeholders: Work closely with other IT teams, business units, and external partners to ensure security requirements are understood and implemented effectively.

• Security Standards and Best Practices: Establish and enforce security standards, guidelines, and best practices across the organization.

• Leadership: Provide technical guidance and oversight to the engineering team, system owners and customers.

• Incident Response Planning: Develop and maintain comprehensive incident response plans and procedures to ensure swift and effective handling of security incidents.

• Monitoring and Auditing Systems: Design and direct the continuous monitoring of IAM systems for suspicious activities, perform regular audits to ensure compliance with security policies, and generate comprehensive reports on access controls and user activities.

• Communication: Clearly convey project risks and strategies to senior management and stakeholders, ensuring transparency and informed decision-making.

• Operational Management and Monitoring: Design monitoring strategies to ensure the continuous availability, performance, and reliability of identity services.

• Compliance and Risk Management Framework: Design frameworks to ensure compliance with data protection laws and standards (e.g., GDPR, CCPA). Conduct risk assessments and audits to identify and address vulnerabilities.

All you'll need for success

Minimum Qualifications- Education & Prior Job Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Technology, Information Systems (CIS/MIS), Engineering, or a related technical discipline, or equivalent experience/training. Extensive job experience in cybersecurity architecture or a related field is required, with a proven track record of designing and implementing secure IT architecture and frameworks. Demonstrated expertise in leading architectural design and strategic oversight in cybersecurity initiatives.

• 12+ years experience in Cybersecurity Architecture

Preferred Qualifications- Education & Prior Job Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Cybersecurity, or a related field; advanced degree preferred.

• 5+ years’ experience in cybersecurity architecture or related roles.

• Experience designing and implementing comprehensive security architectures and frameworks.

• Familiarity with cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, Azure, Google Cloud) and their security features.

• Experience with regulatory compliance and industry standards (e.g., GDPR, PCI-DSS, ISO 27001).

Skills, Licenses & Certifications

• Relevant certifications including but not limited to Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP); Certified Information Security Manager (CISM); Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA); Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control (CRISC); Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP); Certified Information Systems Security Professional - Architecture (CISSP-ISSAP)

• Proficiency in identity and access management (IAM) tools and technologies

• Expertise in developing and implementing cybersecurity IAM policies and procedures

• Knowledge of IAM principles and methodologies

• Understanding of regulatory requirements and standards related to IAM (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA, SOX)

• Familiarity with cybersecurity frameworks and standards (e.g., NIST, ISO 27001)

• Ability to conduct assessments and audits of IAM practices to identify vulnerabilities and gaps

• Strong problem-solving skills to address IAM management challenges

• Ability to collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams

• Experience in managing IAM projects, including planning, execution, and monitoring

• Proficiency in identity and access management (IAM) solutions (e.g., Saviynt, Okta, Ping Identity, Microsoft Azure AD)

• Knowledge of authentication protocols (e.g., SAML, OAuth, OpenID Connect, Kerberos)

• Familiarity with cloud security and cloud IAM (e.g., AWS IAM, Azure AD)

• Ability to analyze complex security requirements and design effective access management solutions

• Strong problem-solving skills to address security challenges and incidents

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills to articulate security concepts and solutions to technical and non-technical stakeholders

What you'll get

Feel free to take advantage of all that American Airlines has to offer:

• Travel Perks: Ready to explore the world? You, your family and your friends can reach 365 destinations on more than 6,800 daily flights across our global network.

• Health Benefits: On day one, you’ll have access to your health, dental, prescription and vision benefits to help you stay well. And that’s just the start, we also offer virtual doctor visits, flexible spending accounts and more.

• Wellness Programs: We want you to be the best version of yourself – that’s why our wellness programs provide you with all the right tools, resources and support you need.

• 401(k) Program: Available upon hire and, depending on the workgroup, employer contributions to your 401(k) program are available after one year.

• Additional Benefits: Other great benefits include our Employee Assistance Program, pet insurance and discounts on hotels, cars, cruises and more

Feel free to be yourself at American

From the team members we hire to the customers we serve, inclusion and diversity are the foundation of the dynamic workforce at American Airlines. Our 20+ Team Member Business Resource Groups are focused on connecting our team members to our customers, suppliers, communities and shareholders, helping team members reach their full potential and creating an inclusive work environment to meet and exceed the needs of our diverse world.

Are you ready to feel a tremendous sense of pride and satisfaction as you do your part to keep the largest airline in the world running smoothly as we care for people on life’s journey? Feel free to be yourself at American.

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY/ AFFIRMATIVE ACTION POLICY

American Airlines maintains a continuing policy of nondiscrimination in employment. It is our policy to provide equal opportunity and access for all persons, without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, or status as a disabled veteran or other protected veteran, in all phases of the employment process and in compliance with applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations. This policy of nondiscrimination shall include, but not be limited to, the following employment decisions and practices: hiring; upgrading; promotions; demotions or transfers; layoffs; recalls; terminations; rates of pay or other forms of compensation; selection for training, including apprenticeship; and recruitment or recruitment advertising.