Entra Id COE Lead

Making a difference and driving positive change is what we do every day at Rapid Circle. Our Cloud Pioneers help our clients in their digital transformation. Are you someone who goes for constant, positive change? Then this vacancy is for you!
As a Cloud Pioneer at Rapid Circle, you will work with our customers on different projects. For example, making impact in the healthcare sector, by making research data safely available. But also, awesome projects in the manufacturing or energy market make this job very challenging. At Rapid Circle we are curious and are constantly improving our expertise to help customers find their way in a rapidly changing world. We share our knowledge and discover new ways to learn.
Rapid Circle is growing rapidly and are therefore looking for the right person for the role. You will be given lots of freedom to develop personally. We also have a lot of in-house knowledge (MVPs) within the Netherlands, Australia, and India. By working closely with your (international) colleagues, you can continue to challenge yourself and create your own growth path. Freedom, entrepreneurship, and development are key at Rapid Circle, so also in the role of an Entra Id COE Lead.
Role Overview We are looking for a highly experienced professional to lead initiatives within the Federation and Authentication Center of Excellence (CoE) . The ideal candidate will have strong expertise in Microsoft Azure , Entra ID (Azure AD) , identity and access management, tenant governance, authentication technologies, and cloud security. The role requires a blend of technical leadership, architecture, platform governance, and AI adoption capabilities. Key Responsibilities
- Lead and drive the Federation & Authentication CoE strategy and roadmap.
- Design, implement, and manage enterprise-scale identity and access management solutions using Microsoft Entra ID .
- Manage and govern multiple Azure tenants , including security, compliance, and access controls.
- Define authentication, authorization, federation, Single Sign-On (SSO), and identity governance standards.
- Collaborate with security, infrastructure, and application teams to deliver secure identity solutions.
- Drive modernization initiatives involving cloud-native identity and authentication services.
- Leverage AI-powered tools and automation to improve operational efficiency and security monitoring.
- Provide technical leadership, mentoring, and best practices across authentication and identity platforms.
Required Skills
- 10–12 years of overall IT experience with strong exposure to Identity & Access Management (IAM).
- Deep expertise in Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD) .
- Strong hands-on experience with Azure Cloud services and tenant administration.
- Experience with Federation protocols such as SAML, OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect, and WS-Federation.
- Expertise in SSO, MFA, Conditional Access, Identity Governance, and Privileged Identity Management (PIM).
- Experience with Azure tenant lifecycle management, governance, and security controls.
- Knowledge of Zero Trust security principles.
- Strong troubleshooting and stakeholder management skills.
- Experience leading technical teams and CoE initiatives.
Preferred Skills
- Exposure to AI technologies such as Microsoft Copilot , Azure AI Services, AI Foundry, or automation solutions.
- Experience with security and compliance frameworks.
- Relevant Microsoft certifications in Azure and Identity technologies.
- Exposure to hybrid identity environments and enterprise-scale authentication architectures.
What Success Looks Like
- Secure and scalable identity platform architecture.
- Improved authentication governance and tenant security posture.
- Standardized federation patterns across applications.
- Increased automation and AI-driven efficiencies within identity operations.