Job Description

The Role:

We are seeking an Associate Director to lead the design, selection, and implementation of enterprise cybersecurity solutions spanning non-human identity (NHI) and credential management — including agentic AI identities — and endpoint software execution and configuration controls across Windows and macOS. This is a hands-on technical leadership role: the Associate Director will grow and then lead a small team of senior security engineers covering NHI governance, endpoint execution control, and AI agentic discovery, and remains directly engaged in architecture decisions, vendor evaluations, and complex technical problem-solving alongside the team.

A core focus is building the AI security control plane — the identities, enforcement points, telemetry, and governance that make agentic AI and automation safe to operate at enterprise scale. The role defines reference architectures, selects and integrates security tooling, establishes credential and execution control lifecycle processes, and partners across Security, IT, and Engineering to deliver outcomes through direct reports, contingent workers, and professional services partners.

Here’s What You’ll Do

• Own the technical strategy, architecture, and roadmap for NHI and credential security, agentic AI identity governance, and endpoint execution and configuration control across Windows and macOS.

• Lead and develop a team of senior security engineers, direct contingent workers and professional services engagements to deliver program outcomes.

• Evaluate, select, and deploy enterprise platforms for secrets management, agentic identity governance, and endpoint application allow-listing — leading vendor selection, proof of value (POV) exercises, and integration into the broader security stack.

• Design and operationalize the full credential lifecycle for non-human identities — vaulting, brokered access, short-lived credentials, workload identity, rotation, attestation, and decommissioning — for services, automation, CI/CD, and AI agents.

• Build the AI security control plane: enforcement points, approval and exception workflows, audit telemetry, and policy guardrails governing how agents and programmatic identities access tools, data, and endpoints.

• Partner with AI platform owners and engineering teams to make secure credential use and policy-compliant tool access the default in developer workflows.

• Lead endpoint execution control and configuration hardening — allow-listing, code-signing trust, script and installer controls, policy authoring, staged rollouts, exception handling, and continuous compliance.

• Build detection and reporting for credential misuse and execution-control bypass; partner with SecOps and Cyber Incident Response on playbooks and response.

• Author standards, reference architectures, and technical documentation; serve as a principal-level reviewer and mentor across identity and endpoint security initiatives.

Here’s What You’ll Need (Minimum Qualifications)

• 8+ years of experience in security engineering, identity engineering, platform engineering, or a closely related domain, with demonstrated principal-level technical leadership.

• Demonstrated ability to drive complex initiatives across multiple teams, balancing risk reduction, delivery timelines, and stakeholder alignment.

• Ability to navigate ambiguous and sometimes conflicting requirements and priorities, cut through noise to make decisions and take action, incorporate feedback constructively, and maintain strong judgment when sustained direction is needed—delivering short-term progress while building toward long-term solutions.

• Experience leading and scaling delivery through a mix of direct reports, contingent workers, and/or professional services partners.

• Deep understanding of non-human identity patterns and programmatic credential use in modern systems (microservices, CI/CD, IaC, automation, and APIs).

• Hands-on experience implementing credential security controls such as secrets management/vaulting, PKI/cert lifecycle, token issuance/exchange, short-lived credentials, and automated rotation.

• Strong knowledge of authentication and authorization concepts (OAuth 2.0, OIDC, SAML, JWT, mTLS, key management, least privilege, scoped permissions).

• Experience designing operational processes for credential inventory, ownership, attestation, and lifecycle governance at scale.

• Endpoint platform familiarity across Windows and macOS, including OS security primitives, software distribution, and device management concepts.

• Experience implementing endpoint execution controls and configuration baselines across Windows and macOS, including policy rollout, exception management, and measurable enforcement outcomes.

• Familiarity and hands-on experience with modern AI platforms and developer assistants (e.g., OpenAI, Anthropic, GitHub Copilot), including how they are integrated and governed in enterprise environments.

• Strong cybersecurity fundamentals and experience designing preventive/detective controls and control-plane architectures (policy, enforcement, monitoring) that scale across platforms and teams.

• Ability to translate risk into pragmatic designs and to influence across Security, IT, and Product/Engineering stakeholders.

• Strong written communication and documentation skills; ability to define standards and drive adoption.

Here’s What You’ll Bring to the Table (Preferred Qualifications)

• Experience with enterprise secrets/token platforms (e.g., HashiCorp Vault, Conjur, Azure Key Vault, AWS Secrets Manager, GCP Secret Manager) and integrating them into developer platforms.

• Experience with GxP regulated environments

• Experience with workload identity and federation patterns (e.g., SPIFFE/SPIRE, cloud workload identity, Kubernetes service account federation).

• Familiarity with endpoint management ecosystems (e.g., Microsoft Intune, Jamf, MDM configuration profiles, Group Policy) and security telemetry pipelines.

• Experience with Windows Defender Application Control (WDAC) and code-signing strategies; macOS notarization and signing enforcement at scale.

• Background building security guardrails for AI/automation systems (e.g., agent tool permissioning, policy-as-code, approval workflows, and audit logging for autonomous actions).

• Experience with threat modeling, red-team/blue-team collaboration, and defining measurable security outcomes.

Pay & Benefits

At Moderna, we believe that when you feel your best, you can do your best work. That’s why our benefits and well-being resources are designed to support you—at work, at home, and everywhere in between.

• Competitive healthcare, plus voluntary benefit programs to support your unique needs
• A holistic approach to well-being, with access to fitness, mindfulness, and mental health support
• Family planning benefits, including fertility, adoption, and surrogacy support
• Generous paid time off, including vacation, volunteer days, sabbatical, global recharge days, and a discretionary year-end shutdown
• Savings and investments to help you plan for the future
• Location-specific perks and extras

The salary range for this role is $158,600.00 - $285,500.00(for positions that may be performed in California, the expected salary range is $0.00 - $0.00, which reflects the range permitted under California Labor Code requirements) . This is the lowest to highest salary we in good faith believe we would pay for this role at the time of this posting. An individual’s position within the salary range will be based on several factors including, but not limited to, specific competencies, relevant education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, performance, and business or organizational needs.
The successful candidate may be eligible for an annual discretionary bonus, other incentive compensation, or equity award, subject to company plan eligibility criteria and individual performance.

About Moderna

Since our founding in 2010, we have aspired to build the leading mRNA technology platform, the infrastructure to reimagine how medicines are created and delivered, and a world-class team. We believe in giving our people a platform to change medicine and an opportunity to change the world.

By living our mission, values, and mindsets every day, our people are the driving force behind our scientific progress and our culture. Together, we are creating a culture of belonging and building an organization that cares deeply for our patients, our employees, the environment, and our communities.

We are proud to have been recognized as a Science Magazine Top Biopharma Employer, a Fast Company Best Workplace for Innovators, and a Great Place to Work in the U.S.

If you want to make a difference and join a team that is changing the future of medicine, we invite you to visit modernatx.com/careers to learn more about our current opportunities.

Our Working Model 

As we build our company, we have always believed an in-person culture is critical to our success. Moderna champions the significant benefits of in-office collaboration by embracing a 70/30 work model. This 70% in-office structure helps to foster a culture rich in innovation, teamwork, and direct mentorship. Join us in shaping a world where every interaction is an opportunity to learn, contribute, and make a meaningful impact.

Moderna is a smoke-free, alcohol-free, and drug-free work environment.

Equal Opportunities

Moderna is committed to equal employment opportunity and non-discrimination for all employees and qualified applicants without regard to a person's race, color, sex, gender identity or expression, age, religion, national origin, ancestry or citizenship, ethnicity, disability, military or protected veteran status, genetic information, sexual orientation, marital or familial status, or any other personal characteristic protected under applicable law. Moderna is a place where everyone can grow. If you meet the Basic Qualifications for the role and you would be excited to contribute to our mission every day, please apply!

Moderna is an E-Verify Employer in the United States. We consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements.

Accommodations

We’re focused on attracting, retaining, developing, and advancing our employees. By cultivating a workplace that values diverse experiences, backgrounds, and ideas, we create an environment where every employee can contribute their best.

Moderna is committed to offering reasonable accommodations to qualified job applicants with disabilities. Any applicant requiring an accommodation in connection with the hiring process and/or to perform the essential functions of the position for which the applicant has applied should contact the Accommodations team at leavesandaccommodations@modernatx.com 

Export Control Notice
This position may involve access to technology or data that is subject to U.S. export control laws, including the Export Administration Regulations (EAR). As such, employment is contingent upon the applicant’s ability to access export-controlled information in accordance with U.S. law. Due to the nature of the work and regulatory requirements, only individuals who qualify as U.S. persons (citizens, permanent residents, asylees, or refugees) are eligible for this position. For this role Moderna is unable to sponsor non-U.S. persons to apply for an export control license.
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