Snr. Principal Operations Engineer IGA Tech lead

At Lilly, we unite caring with discovery to make life better for people around the world. We are a global healthcare leader headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. Our employees around the world work to discover and bring life-changing medicines to those who need them, improve the understanding and management of disease, and give back to our communities through philanthropy and volunteerism. We give our best effort to our work, and we put people first. We’re looking for people who are determined to make life better for people around the world.

Eli Lilly is a global healthcare leader dedicated to discovering and delivering life-changing medicines. Our Cork site is home to over 2,000 employees across 60+ nationalities, offering hybrid working, competitive benefits, and a strong commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.

 We are seeking a Senior Principal Operations Engineer to lead and direct the IGA Cork team in the day-to-day management and resolution of identity incidents, ensuring secure and timely access to enterprise resources.  

This role includes participation in a structured on-call rotation covering the weekends and country holidays, to support our ‘follow the sun’ model across Kuala Lumpur, Cork and the U.S. IAM teams. The on-call responsibilities are designed to support critical operations and ensure timely resolution of issues outside standard working hours supporting 24/7 operational resilience.  

Team members will work two weekend shifts (Saturday & Sunday,) every 4–6 weeks on a rotating schedule for time on call and receive a fixed on-call allowance per day paid monthly in arrears. In addition to the on-call allowance, additional premiums for hours worked during the on-call period will apply at an hourly rate for each hour worked, paid monthly in arrears. 

Why this role matters:  

The This technical leadership role is responsible for the delivery and 24/7 support of Lilly’s Identity Governance platforms and services. You will own day-to-day IAM operations — covering incident, change, and problem management — while collaborating with the Operations Manager, Service Leads, and other technical leads to drive compliance, risk reduction, and operational excellence.   

How you’ll make an impact: 

Team and Technical Leadership:   

• Manage and develop high-performing identity operations engineers.     

• Provide coaching, career development, performance management and professional growth opportunities. 

• Foster a culture focused on innovation, continuous learning, and operational discipline.   

• Cultivate a diverse and inclusive team fostering different perspectives and backgrounds.      

• Keep abreast of the latest developments in IAM technologies, security threats, and regulatory changes.  

• Drive the adoption of innovative and creative solutions to address complex, global IAM problems.  

• Serve as technical lead and an escalation point for team members.  

Operational Excellence:   

• Provide technical leadership in the execution and processes for escalations, incident management, change management, problem resolution and continuous improvement that enable the support of 24/7 services.  

• Continuously monitor IAM identity governance systems performance and health to ensure optimal operation. Perform regular maintenance tasks to prevent issues. 

• Respond promptly to system alerts and incidents, troubleshoot issues, and implement solutions to restore services as quickly as possible. 

• Manage and maintain all components of IAM identity governance systems. Ensure that all systems are up-to-date with the latest patches and security updates. 

• Analyze system performance metrics and make recommendations for improvements. Implement changes to enhance system efficiency and reduce downtime. 

• Maintain detailed documentation of system configurations, procedures, and incident reports. Provide regular status updates and reports to management. 

• Work closely with other IT teams, developers, and stakeholders to ensure seamless operation of services. Communicate effectively to resolve issues and implement changes. 

• Assess current system capacity and plan for future growth. Ensure that resources are allocated efficiently to meet demand. 

• Provide technical support to users as it pertains to issues and requests on Identity services. 

• Support response to audit and compliance requests pertaining to Identity services. 

• Develop and implement solutions to resolve identified problems. Ensure that solutions are tested and validated before deployment. 

• Perform detailed root cause analysis and document findings. Develop and implement corrective actions to prevent recurrence. 

• Proactively identify opportunities for process improvements and implement best practices to enhance problem management processes.  

Experience required:  

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering or related technical field.   

• 5+ years of proven experience in supporting, delivering and securing Identity and Access Management services. 

• 5+ years of experience in Identity and Access Management with deep expertise in areas like identity provisioning, access management, identity governance and administration. 

Additional Preferences:  

• Experience in Microsoft Identity Manager, Entra ID, and SailPoint IIQ. 
• Experience with IT service management (ITIL).   

• Effective collaboration with other technical counterparts, Leaders and Stakeholders, to deliver and support IAM solutions.  

• Ability to work with a distributed and virtual team.  

• Critical thinking, analytical skills, and thought leadership.  

• Excellent communication and presentation skills, and ability to adapt messaging for diverse audiences.   

• An understanding of common services used in cloud-based architecture, with experience in AWS and/or Azure, and awareness of cloud platform security and controls.  

• Relevant certifications such as CISSP, CISM, or similar.  

Lilly is dedicated to helping individuals with disabilities to actively engage in the workforce, ensuring equal opportunities when vying for positions. If you require accommodation to submit a resume for a position at Lilly, please complete the accommodation request form (https://careers.lilly.com/us/en/workplace-accommodation) for further assistance. Please note this is for individuals to request an accommodation as part of the application process and any other correspondence will not receive a response.

Lilly does not discriminate on the basis of age, race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, protected veteran status, disability or any other legally protected status.