Senior IBM (ISAM/ISVA) Engineer

Remote
Contracted
RSYU01
Experienced

We are seeking a senior-level IBM Security Access Manager (ISAM) / IBM Security Verify Access (ISVA) Engineer with deep expertise in designing, deploying, and operationalizing secure access management platforms from the ground up.

This role requires hands-on experience standing up the full ISAM/ISVA infrastructure, configuring clustering and high availability, implementing disaster recovery, and integrating the platform into complex enterprise environments. This is not a support-only or configuration-only role — the ideal candidate has built resilient ISAM/ISVA environments end-to-end and understands the infrastructure, networking, security, and performance considerations required to run the platform at enterprise scale.


Key Responsibilities

Architecture & Platform Deployment

  • Design and implement enterprise-grade ISAM / ISVA architecture

  • Install and configure:

    • ISVA Virtual Appliances (Access Control, Federation, Advanced Access Control)

    • Web Reverse Proxy (WRP)

    • Policy Server

    • Runtime components

  • Configure clustered deployments for scalability and redundancy

  • Design and implement multi-tier environments (DEV, QA, PROD)

  • Implement secure baseline configurations aligned with enterprise standards

High Availability & Disaster Recovery

  • Design and configure:

    • Appliance clustering

    • Runtime high availability

    • Session failover and replication

    • Load balancing strategies (F5, Netscaler, etc.)

  • Implement multi-data center deployments where required

  • Develop and test disaster recovery procedures

  • Configure database replication (if applicable)

  • Perform failover and resiliency testing

Integration & Security Implementation

  • Integrate ISAM/ISVA with:

    • Active Directory / LDAP

    • SAML 2.0 / OIDC / OAuth providers

    • Enterprise applications (on-prem and cloud)

    • MFA providers

    • API gateways

  • Implement:

    • Reverse proxy junctions

    • Access control policies

    • Federation trust relationships

    • Adaptive authentication and step-up authentication

  • Configure advanced access control policies and contextual risk-based access

Performance & Optimization

  • Tune reverse proxy performance and connection handling

  • Optimize authentication flows and federation transactions

  • Conduct performance testing and capacity planning

  • Troubleshoot latency, session issues, and authentication failures

Automation & DevOps

  • Automate appliance configuration using REST APIs and scripting

  • Develop deployment automation (Shell, Python, Ansible, etc.)

  • Support CI/CD integration for configuration promotion

  • Implement configuration backup and version control processes

Documentation & Knowledge Transfer

  • Produce detailed architecture and topology diagrams

  • Document build procedures and operational runbooks

  • Provide structured handoff to operations/support teams


Required Qualifications

  • 5+ years of hands-on experience with IBM ISAM / ISVA

  • Proven experience deploying ISAM/ISVA from scratch in enterprise environments

  • Strong experience with:

    • ISVA virtual appliances

    • Web Reverse Proxy configuration

    • Federation (SAML, OIDC, OAuth)

    • LDAP and Active Directory integration

    • Load balancers and networking fundamentals

  • Demonstrated experience designing and implementing high availability and disaster recovery solutions

  • Strong understanding of authentication protocols and identity federation

  • Experience with Linux systems and networking (DNS, TLS, certificates)

  • Strong scripting and automation skills


Preferred Qualifications

  • Experience migrating from ISAM to ISVA

  • Experience with containerized ISVA deployments

  • Experience integrating ISVA with API security platforms

  • Knowledge of zero trust architecture principles

  • Experience in financial services, healthcare, or other regulated industries

  • Security certifications (CISSP, CISM) or IAM-specific certifications


Key Competencies

  • Infrastructure-level expertise (not just policy configuration)

  • Strong troubleshooting and root cause analysis skills

  • Ability to design scalable, resilient, and secure access architectures

  • Strong documentation and communication skills

  • Ability to independently own platform build and lifecycle


What Success Looks Like

  • Fully operational ISAM/ISVA environment built and hardened from the ground up

  • High availability architecture successfully implemented and tested

  • Federation and access policies securely integrated across enterprise systems

  • Clean documentation and operational handoff

  • Stable, scalable access management platform ready for production

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