Senior Access Governance Specialist

Job Title: Senior Access Governance Specialist

Location: United Arab Emirates (Remote)

Employment Type: Full-Time

Work Arrangement: 100% Remote — Work From Home

Level: Senior

About the Role

We are seeking an experienced Senior Access Governance Specialist to oversee identity and access governance processes, strengthen access controls, and ensure that user permissions remain aligned with organizational policies and security requirements. The role focuses on access reviews, identity lifecycle governance, privileged access oversight, segregation of duties, policy compliance, and audit readiness. The successful candidate will collaborate with IT, cybersecurity, risk, compliance, and business teams to improve access governance practices in a fully remote environment.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop, maintain, and improve identity and access governance policies, standards, procedures, and control frameworks.
• Oversee periodic user access reviews and certification campaigns across business applications, infrastructure platforms, and enterprise systems.
• Analyze user entitlements, role assignments, privileged permissions, and access exceptions to identify excessive or inappropriate access.
• Monitor joiner, mover, and leaver processes to ensure access changes are documented and completed through approved workflows.
• Review role-based access control (RBAC) structures and recommend improvements to role definitions and permission assignments.
• Assess segregation of duties (SoD) conflicts and coordinate remediation plans with relevant application owners and control stakeholders.
• Support governance of privileged accounts, service accounts, emergency access, and elevated permissions.
• Coordinate access recertification activities with system owners, business managers, and application administrators.
• Review access requests and supporting justifications against established policies and approval matrices.
• Monitor access governance exceptions, overdue certifications, policy violations, and unresolved control findings.
• Maintain accurate access governance records, approval evidence, exception registers, and remediation documentation.
• Support integration and optimization of identity governance and administration (IGA) platforms.
• Collaborate with identity and access management teams on workflow automation, access provisioning controls, and governance reporting.
• Develop key performance and risk indicators to measure access review completion, exception trends, and control effectiveness.
• Prepare management reports and audit evidence covering access governance activities and remediation progress.
• Assist with internal and external audits, regulatory assessments, and information security control reviews.
• Identify opportunities to improve access governance processes, reduce manual activities, and strengthen accountability.
• Provide guidance to business and technical stakeholders on access governance requirements and control responsibilities.

Qualifications and Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Information Technology, Cybersecurity, Computer Science, Information Systems, or a related discipline.
• Typically 5–8 years of experience in identity and access management, access governance, information security, or IT risk management.
• Strong understanding of identity lifecycle management, user access reviews, role-based access control, and privileged access governance.
• Practical experience with segregation of duties analysis and access risk assessment.
• Familiarity with identity governance platforms such as SailPoint, Saviynt, Microsoft Entra ID Governance, or equivalent solutions.
• Understanding of access provisioning, authentication, authorization, and directory services.
• Knowledge of privileged access management concepts and tools.
• Experience reviewing access controls across ERP systems, cloud platforms, enterprise applications, and infrastructure environments.
• Familiarity with information security frameworks and standards such as ISO 27001, NIST, COBIT, and relevant access control principles.
• Understanding of audit requirements, evidence management, risk assessment, and control remediation.
• Strong analytical skills and the ability to interpret access data, identify anomalies, and recommend practical improvements.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Excel, reporting tools, and access governance dashboards.
• Excellent documentation, communication, and stakeholder coordination skills.
• Ability to handle confidential access information responsibly and maintain accurate governance records.
• Relevant certifications such as CISA, CISM, CISSP, CRISC, or identity and access management certifications are advantageous.

What We Offer

• 100% remote working arrangement from within the United Arab Emirates, subject to applicable employment and work authorization requirements.
• Competitive compensation aligned with qualifications and professional experience.
• Opportunities to contribute to enterprise cybersecurity and identity governance initiatives.
• Collaborative working environment with IT, risk, compliance, and business stakeholders.
• Professional development and opportunities for career advancement.

How to Apply

Interested candidates should submit an updated CV highlighting their access governance experience, identity management platforms, audit and compliance exposure, and relevant professional certifications.

Application Subject: Application – Senior Access Governance Specialist (UAE Remote)

Candidates should confirm applicable employment arrangements, residency requirements, and work authorization before accepting an offer.

• Remote-work scope and authorization: This is a fully remote governance and advisory role involving access reviews, policy oversight, entitlement analysis, control monitoring, and documentation. Physical infrastructure operations and hands-on administration requiring local access must be performed by appropriately qualified personnel. Production access provisioning, privileged account administration, emergency access activation, security exception acceptance, and formal risk or compliance approvals must follow approved authorization procedures and be performed by designated personnel with the required delegated authority.