Identity & Access Management; IAM) Senior Manager

Role purpose

Avanade UK Security is scaling fast, requiring a Director-level Identity & Access Management (IAM) Lead to build a Microsoft-first IAM growth engine across advisory, implementation, and managed services, with a strong bias toward repeatable offers, accelerated conversion, and delivery excellence. This role is also accountable for positioning Identity as the control plane for AI-erasecurity, including Microsoft Agent 365, Copilot-driven workflows, and emerging agent-based architectures, ensuring UK Security is future proofed for the next generation of identity-centric security demand.

This role reports to the UK Security Practice Lead and leads presales/solutioning with a technical Solution Architect and Presales Lead. Furthermore, this role owns IAM GTM, delivery quality, capability/IP build while feeding into the Identity MSS module as part of the broader MSS portfolio (separate accountability, tight interlock).

Travel expected for key clients, Microsoft, and Practice leadership commitments.

This role influences revenue and will carry a soft target aligned to the UK Security all-up plan:

• Year 1: $1-2m influenced growth

• Year 2: $2-3m influenced growth

Success is measured through supporting the sales team to generate pipeline, conversion of pipeline, expansion/attach of existing accounts, and repeatable delivery.

• Reports to: UK Security Practice Lead

• Key peers: UK MSS Lead, UK Security Presales Lead, UK Security Solution Architectsx2 (UK Solution Architects from other practices5 practices - Infrastructure, Software Engineering, Modern Workplace, Data & AI, and Business Applications)

• People leadership: No formal line management initially. Expected to act as Career Advisor/People Lead for a small number of individuals (mentorship, development, high-performance standards).

• Matrix influence: The Identity Solution Architect will soft-report into the IAM Lead for practice-level IAM direction, consistency, and capability build while Security leadership team members continue to report to the Practice Lead.

• A clear IAM spine for the practice: what we sell, how we sell it, how we deliver it, and what becomes servicedelivered across UK onshore, nearshore delivery centres, and offshore delivery centres.

• A repeatable presales motion for Entra-led IAM (workshops/assessments/pilots - scaled rollouts) that improves speed and win rate.

• Delivery governance and QA standards that reduce programme variability and escalations.

• A scaled, Microsoft-first IAM pipeline with a predictable conversion pattern.

• Demonstrable asset reuse (templates, reference architectures, automation patterns, delivery playbooks).

• A clear project-to-service pathway into Identity MSS (handover criteria, onboarding artefacts, operational KPI setc).

• UK recognised as a credible IAM leader in regulated industries, with external presence (clients/Microsoft/events) supporting sustained growth.

• Own the UK IAM narrative and differentiation:
  Microsoft Entra-first (Entra , Entra Suite/E7 positioning, Identity Protection, governance and lifecycle foundations etc.).

• Own the UK Security narrative and capability for identity-centric AI security, including Microsoft Agent 365, Copilot, and agent-based workloads, where identity, permissions, and trust boundaries are the primary control mechanisms.

• Define how agent identities, agent permissions, human-to-agent and agent-to-agent trust, and data access are governed, monitored, and secured using Microsoft Entra and the broader Microsoft Security stack.

• Ensure IAM offerings explicitly address AI-driven risk scenarios, including delegated agent access, over-privileged identities, lateral agent movement, and non-human identity sprawl.

• Position Identity as the foundational security layer for AI adoption, pulling through Entra, E7, Purview, Defender, and AI Security conversations as a single, coherent value proposition.

• Build IAM-led GTM plays where AI security, Copilot adoption, and Agent 365 are anchored in identity governance, access control, and trust, positioning IAM as the entry point rather than an implementation afterthought.

• Build practical seller enablement: talk tracks, qualification prompts, value proof, commercial guardrails, what good looks like etc.

• Create repeatable plays by industry and account segment where identity is the control plane for transformation and AI…