Fast Facts

Handshake is looking for a Senior IAM Automation Engineer to architect, implement, and manage identity automation solutions within their enterprise identity ecosystem.

Responsibilities: Own automated onboarding, offboarding, and access-change workflows; engineer integration layers using Python and REST APIs; modernize provisioning logic and develop IAM automation tooling.

Skills: Strong scripting and automation skills in Python; experience with IAM platforms like Okta and Google Workspace; deep understanding of identity protocols and DevOps practices.

Qualifications: 4–7+ years of hands-on IAM engineering experience; certifications like Okta Architect or Azure Identity Engineer are a plus; prior experience in high-growth environments.

Location: San Francisco, California, United States

Compensation: $176000 - $220000 / Annually

About Handshake

Handshake is building the career network for the AI economy, backed by the largest and most trusted job network on the internet. As the only three-sided job marketplace connecting 18 million knowledge workers, 1,500 educational institutions, and 1 million employers, Handshake powers career discovery, hiring, and upskilling—from first internships to full-time roles, freelance work to gig work, and beyond.

Founded in 2014, we’ve built the most trusted platform for early talent—owning the college-to-career market and powering nearly every career center. Today we’re building on that foundation to help students and early professionals upskill or reskill for the future.

Now’s a great time to join Handshake. Here’s why:

Category Leader: Over 92% coverage across US universities & 77% of total US university student population.

Proven Market Demand: Deep employer partnerships across Fortune 500s and the world’s leading AI research labs.

World-Class Team: Leadership from Scale AI, OpenAI, xAI, Notion, Coinbase, and Palantir, just to name a few.

Capitalized & Scaling: $434M raised with a $175M+ run rate.

About the Role

Handshake is seeking a Senior IAM Automation Engineer to own the architecture, design, and implementation of our enterprise identity automation and governance ecosystem. You’ll define the long-term IAM automation strategy, build resilient and scalable lifecycle workflows, and enable secure-by-default identity operations across SaaS, cloud, and internal platforms.

You’ll partner closely with Security, IT Engineering, People Operations, and Product/Platform Engineering to deliver highly automated, auditable, and reliable identity solutions.

In this role, you will:

• Architect, build, and own automated onboarding, offboarding, and access-change workflows across Okta, Workday, SCIM, and event-driven systems.
• Engineer integration layers between identity platforms and internal applications using Python, REST APIs, Webhooks, and Terraform.
• Implement error-handling, reconciliation logic, telemetry, and monitoring to ensure reliability and determinism in identity lifecycle events.
• Modernize existing provisioning logic and replace manual processes with scalable automation frameworks.
• Develop tooling and pipelines enabling version-controlled, testable, observable IAM automation.
• Act as a technical owner for Handshake’s IAM ecosystem, including Okta, Google Workspace, GCP, AWS IAM, and internal access systems.
• Engineer and optimize authentication & authorization protocols (OIDC, OAuth2, SAML, JWT), fine-grained access policies, and scalable RBAC/ABAC models.
• Build custom automation using Okta Workflows or API-driven orchestration.
• Design SOC2-compliant access controls, approvals, attestations, and auditability mechanisms.
• Build automated access certification systems with full data lineage.
• Conduct identity-related incident forensics and implement preventative automation.
• Provide cross-functional leadership, setting standards, best practices, and reference architectures for identity automation.
• Serve as service owner for IAM automation platforms with accountability for uptime, consistency, and continuous improvement.

Desired Capabilities

• 4–7+ years of hands-on IAM engineering, identity automation, or identity governance experience.
• Strong scripting/automation skills in Python, Node.js, and REST-based integrations.
• Experience with IAM platforms such as Okta, Google Workspace/GCP, Azure AD, or similar.
• Deep understanding of identity protocols, token flows, SCIM, and distributed lifecycle orchestration.
• Experience with Terraform or other infrastructure-as-code frameworks.
• Ability to diagnose complex identity issues across SaaS, cloud, and distributed systems.
• Strong understanding of DevOps practices, observability, and secure engineering principles.
• Demonstrated ownership mindset across architecture, implementation, monitoring, and iterative improvement.

Extra Credit

• Advanced experience with GCP IAM, Google Workspace IAM, AWS IAM, cross-account access patterns, and policy automation.
• Experience with Okta Workflows, SailPoint/IGA, or Privileged Access Management (PAM) solutions.
• Experience designing scalable authorization models for high-growth or distributed organizations.
• Certifications such as Okta Architect, Azure Identity Engineer, CISSP.
• Prior experience in SaaS, high-growth, or distributed engineering environments.

Perks

Handshake delivers benefits that help you feel supported—and thrive at work and in life.

The below benefits are for full-time US employees.

🎯 Ownership: Equity in a fast-growing company

💰 Financial Wellness: 401(k) match, competitive compensation, financial coaching

🍼 Family Support: Paid parental leave, fertility benefits, parental coaching

💝 Wellbeing: Medical, dental, and vision, mental health support, wellness stipend

📚 Growth: Learning stipend, ongoing development

💻 Remote & Office: Internet, commuting, and free lunch/gym in our SF office

🏝 Time Off: Flexible PTO, 15 holidays + 2 flex days

🤝 Connection: Team outings & referral bonuses

Explore our mission, values, and comprehensive US benefits at joinhandshake.com/careers.