Security Architect Jobs in Illinois
Security Architect jobs in Illinois are in strong demand, concentrated in financial services, healthcare, government contracting, and enterprise technology, with openings at every level from analyst-track associates through principal and staff architects. Chicago anchors the market, with secondary hiring activity in Naperville and Schaumburg, where companies like Allstate, United Airlines, and Discover Financial maintain large technology and risk teams. The most sought-after specialties in Illinois are cloud security architecture, zero-trust frameworks, and identity and access management. Find a role that fits below and apply directly.
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Date: Sep 16, 2026
Location: LAKE FOREST, IL, US, 60045-5201
Company: Grainger Businesses
Work Location Type: Remote
Req Number 334336
About Grainger
W.W. Grainger, Inc. is a leading broad line distributor with operations primarily in North America and Japan. At Grainger, We Keep the World Working® by serving more than 4.6 million customers worldwide with maintenance, repair and operating (MRO) products and value-added solutions delivered through innovative technology and deep customer expertise. Known for its commitment to service and purpose-driven culture, the Company reported 2025 revenue of $17.9 billion. For more information, visit www.grainger.com.
Compensation
The anticipated base pay compensation range for this position is $135,400.00 – $225,600.00. This role is eligible for an incentive target of up to 20% or $, based on the achievement of individual and company performance objectives in accordance with the current terms of the incentive program which are subject to change.
This position is not eligible for any form of sponsorship now or in the future. Individuals requiring sponsorship (e.g. OPT or H1B visa status) should not apply. Only individuals authorized to work in the United States now and for the foreseeable future will be considered for this position.
Rewards and Benefits
With benefits starting on day one, our programs provide choice and flexibility to meet team members' individual needs, including:
- Medical, dental, vision, and life insurance plans with coverage starting on day one of employment and 6 free sessions each year with a licensed therapist to support your emotional wellbeing.
- 18 paid time off (PTO) days annually for full-time employees (accrual prorated based on employment start date) and 6 company holidays per year.
- 6% company contribution to a 401(k) Retirement Savings Plan each pay period, no employee contribution required.
- Employee discounts, tuition reimbursement, student loan refinancing and free access to financial counseling, education, and tools.
- Maternity support programs, nursing benefits, and up to 14 weeks paid leave for birth parents and up to 4 weeks paid leave for non-birth parents.
For additional information and details regarding Grainger’s benefits, please click on the link below:
https://experience100.ehr.com/grainger/Home/Tools-Resources/Key-Resources/New-Hire
Grainger Benefits
The pay range provided above is not a guarantee of compensation. The range reflects the potential base pay for this role at the time of this posting based on the job grade for this position. Individual base pay compensation will depend, in part, on factors such as geographic work location and relevant experience and skills.
The anticipated compensation range described above is subject to change and the compensation ultimately paid may be higher or lower than the range described above.
Grainger reserves the right to amend, modify, or terminate its compensation and benefit programs in its sole discretion at any time, consistent with applicable law.
Position Details
The Information Security team protects all of Grainger, from our systems to our data across the global company. Our infrastructure is powered by cloud, on-premises, and SaaS platforms that keep Grainger, and our customers, working. We use modern tools and practices to stay ahead of evolving security challenges.
The mission of the Security Architecture team is to be the strategic security design partner for Grainger’s technology systems. As the security architect responsible for Grainger’s identity ecosystem, you will be responsible for architecting, advising on, and governing how every human, machine, workload, and AI agent authenticates and is authorized across our cloud, SaaS, on-premises, and operational technology environments. This role owns the architecture spanning workforce identity, customer identity, privileged access, non-human and machine identity, secrets, and certificate lifecycle management.
Grainger’s identity landscape is broad: hybrid workforce directory and federation services, a distinct customer identity estate supporting global eCommerce, a rapidly expanding population of workload and machine identities across cloud and SaaS, an emerging portfolio of AI and agentic platforms, and a substantial operational technology footprint.
You will support the progressive needs of the business and provide timely, secure and cost-efficient solutions that elevate the company’s identity security strategy. You will identity security architect will set multi-year identity strategy and reference architecture, rationalize a broad and overlapping portfolio of identity technologies into a defensible target state, and build the stakeholder alignment required to execute it. Success here depends as much on understanding why the business operates the way it does as on the depth of the technical design. You will be expected to translate business context into identity requirements and identity risk into business impact.
In this individual contributor role, you will report to the Director of Cybersecurity Architecture and may be based remotely or at our offices in the Chicago area.
This position is not eligible for any form of sponsorship now or in the future. Individuals requiring sponsorship (e.g. OPT or H1B visa status) should not apply. Only individuals authorized to work in the United States now and for the foreseeable future will be considered for this position.
You will
Own the enterprise identity security architecture and multi-year strategy across workforce, customer, third-party, privileged, machine, workload, and AI agent identities, spanning cloud, SaaS, on-premises, and OT
Translate business context into identity requirements, sequencing, and investment priorities in partnership with various business leaders
Lead identity technology rationalization: capability mapping, target-state platform selection, consolidation and retirement options, and proof-of-value evaluations
Serve as the identity design authority in Grainger’s architecture governance process, engaging early enough to shape design decisions
Produce reference architectures and reusable authentication, authorization, federation, and entitlement patterns, and threat model identity designs with delivery teams
Architect non-human identity at scale across issuance, attestation, rotation, and decommissioning
Define authentication and authorization for AI and agentic systems, including OAuth 2.0/2.1 flows, token exchange, delegated authority, short-lived credentials, and identity enforcement at MCP and AI gateways
Partner with machine learning and platform engineering on agent identity, agent-to-agent authorization, and downstream data access as AI moves into production
Set the target architecture for OT/ICS identity, including IT/OT identity separation and vendor remote access under known OT/ICS constraints
Advance customer identity architecture for digital commerce, including federation, authorization models, token security, and migration off legacy identity solutions
Define privileged access and cryptographic identity architecture, advancing just-in-time and zero standing privilege, certificate lifecycle automation, mTLS, and secrets management
Develop and enforce identity security standards and baselines aligned to NIST SP 800-63, NIST SP 800-207, NIST CSF, CIS Benchmarks, and IEC 62443
Partner with detection and response teams on identity threat detection coverage, attack path mapping, and identity telemetry into the SIEM/SOAR platform
Communicate identity posture and program progress to leadership through relevant metrics and KPIs
Mentor peers and junior architects through design reviews, pattern development, and knowledge sharing
You have
Deep expertise designing enterprise identity architectures for large, complex organizations, with ownership of the strategy and target state rather than platform administration or technology engineering
10+ years in information security or identity engineering, including 8+ years in security architecture with at least 6 years focused on identity
Bachelor’s degree preferred; equivalent professional experience accepted
Preferred certifications: CISSP, CCSP, SABSA, IDPro CIDPRO, or vendor identity certifications
Proven ability to align senior technology and business stakeholders behind multi-year identity direction amid competing priorities
Experience rationalizing overlapping identity portfolios: capability mapping, build/buy/consolidate analysis, and migration strategy
Expert understanding of OAuth 2.0/2.1, OIDC, SAML, SCIM, JWT, mTLS, token exchange, PKCE, and FIDO2/WebAuthn, including their common implementation failure modes
Deep experience with workforce and customer identity platforms in hybrid environments (e.g., Okta, Microsoft Entra ID, Auth0, etc), Active Directory, conditional access, and passwordless authentication
Strong cloud identity skills in AWS-primary environments: IAM policy and SCP design, permission boundaries, role assumption, and entitlements at scale
Specialized expertise in non-human and machine identity: workload identity, secrets management, certificate lifecycle and PKI (e.g., Venafi, AWS Certificate Manager), and service mesh identity (e.g., Istio, SPIFFE)
Working knowledge of AI and agentic identity: agent authentication patterns, delegated authority, scope minimization, MCP and AI gateway security, and frameworks such as the OWASP Top 10 for LLM Applications, MITRE ATLAS, and the NIST AI RMF
Experience with IGA and PAM platforms (e.g., SailPoint, Saviynt, CyberArk): entitlement modeling, access certification, credential vaulting, and just-in-time cloud access
Substantive understanding of OT/ICS identity, including shared operator accounts, vendor remote access, IT/OT identity separation, and IEC 62443 zone and conduit concepts
Familiarity with identity threat detection and response , attack path analysis, and identity enforcement at edge and API layers
Strong communication skills, including the ability to translate technical concepts for executives and defend architectural positions with evidence
We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or expression, protected veteran status or any other protected characteristic under federal, state, or local law. We are proud to be an equal opportunity workplace.
We are committed to fostering an inclusive, accessible work environment that includes both providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities during the application and hiring process as well as throughout the course of one’s employment, should you need a reasonable accommodation during the application and selection process, including, but not limited to use of our website, any part of the application, interview or hiring process, please advise us so that we can provide appropriate assistance.
Date: Sep 16, 2026
Location: LAKE FOREST, IL, US, 60045-5201
Company: Grainger Businesses
Work Location Type: Remote
Req Number 334336
About Grainger
W.W. Grainger, Inc. is a leading broad line distributor with operations primarily in North America and Japan. At Grainger, We Keep the World Working® by serving more than 4.6 million customers worldwide with maintenance, repair and operating (MRO) products and value-added solutions delivered through innovative technology and deep customer expertise. Known for its commitment to service and purpose-driven culture, the Company reported 2025 revenue of $17.9 billion. For more information, visit www.grainger.com.
Compensation
The anticipated base pay compensation range for this position is $135,400.00 – $225,600.00. This role is eligible for an incentive target of up to 20% or $, based on the achievement of individual and company performance objectives in accordance with the current terms of the incentive program which are subject to change.
This position is not eligible for any form of sponsorship now or in the future. Individuals requiring sponsorship (e.g. OPT or H1B visa status) should not apply. Only individuals authorized to work in the United States now and for the foreseeable future will be considered for this position.
Rewards and Benefits
With benefits starting on day one, our programs provide choice and flexibility to meet team members' individual needs, including:
- Medical, dental, vision, and life insurance plans with coverage starting on day one of employment and 6 free sessions each year with a licensed therapist to support your emotional wellbeing.
- 18 paid time off (PTO) days annually for full-time employees (accrual prorated based on employment start date) and 6 company holidays per year.
- 6% company contribution to a 401(k) Retirement Savings Plan each pay period, no employee contribution required.
- Employee discounts, tuition reimbursement, student loan refinancing and free access to financial counseling, education, and tools.
- Maternity support programs, nursing benefits, and up to 14 weeks paid leave for birth parents and up to 4 weeks paid leave for non-birth parents.
For additional information and details regarding Grainger’s benefits, please click on the link below:
https://experience100.ehr.com/grainger/Home/Tools-Resources/Key-Resources/New-Hire
Grainger Benefits
The pay range provided above is not a guarantee of compensation. The range reflects the potential base pay for this role at the time of this posting based on the job grade for this position. Individual base pay compensation will depend, in part, on factors such as geographic work location and relevant experience and skills.
The anticipated compensation range described above is subject to change and the compensation ultimately paid may be higher or lower than the range described above.
Grainger reserves the right to amend, modify, or terminate its compensation and benefit programs in its sole discretion at any time, consistent with applicable law.
Position Details
The Information Security team protects all of Grainger, from our systems to our data across the global company. Our infrastructure is powered by cloud, on-premises, and SaaS platforms that keep Grainger, and our customers, working. We use modern tools and practices to stay ahead of evolving security challenges.
The mission of the Security Architecture team is to be the strategic security design partner for Grainger’s technology systems. As the security architect responsible for Grainger’s identity ecosystem, you will be responsible for architecting, advising on, and governing how every human, machine, workload, and AI agent authenticates and is authorized across our cloud, SaaS, on-premises, and operational technology environments. This role owns the architecture spanning workforce identity, customer identity, privileged access, non-human and machine identity, secrets, and certificate lifecycle management.
Grainger’s identity landscape is broad: hybrid workforce directory and federation services, a distinct customer identity estate supporting global eCommerce, a rapidly expanding population of workload and machine identities across cloud and SaaS, an emerging portfolio of AI and agentic platforms, and a substantial operational technology footprint.
You will support the progressive needs of the business and provide timely, secure and cost-efficient solutions that elevate the company’s identity security strategy. You will identity security architect will set multi-year identity strategy and reference architecture, rationalize a broad and overlapping portfolio of identity technologies into a defensible target state, and build the stakeholder alignment required to execute it. Success here depends as much on understanding why the business operates the way it does as on the depth of the technical design. You will be expected to translate business context into identity requirements and identity risk into business impact.
In this individual contributor role, you will report to the Director of Cybersecurity Architecture and may be based remotely or at our offices in the Chicago area.
This position is not eligible for any form of sponsorship now or in the future. Individuals requiring sponsorship (e.g. OPT or H1B visa status) should not apply. Only individuals authorized to work in the United States now and for the foreseeable future will be considered for this position.
You will
Own the enterprise identity security architecture and multi-year strategy across workforce, customer, third-party, privileged, machine, workload, and AI agent identities, spanning cloud, SaaS, on-premises, and OT
Translate business context into identity requirements, sequencing, and investment priorities in partnership with various business leaders
Lead identity technology rationalization: capability mapping, target-state platform selection, consolidation and retirement options, and proof-of-value evaluations
Serve as the identity design authority in Grainger’s architecture governance process, engaging early enough to shape design decisions
Produce reference architectures and reusable authentication, authorization, federation, and entitlement patterns, and threat model identity designs with delivery teams
Architect non-human identity at scale across issuance, attestation, rotation, and decommissioning
Define authentication and authorization for AI and agentic systems, including OAuth 2.0/2.1 flows, token exchange, delegated authority, short-lived credentials, and identity enforcement at MCP and AI gateways
Partner with machine learning and platform engineering on agent identity, agent-to-agent authorization, and downstream data access as AI moves into production
Set the target architecture for OT/ICS identity, including IT/OT identity separation and vendor remote access under known OT/ICS constraints
Advance customer identity architecture for digital commerce, including federation, authorization models, token security, and migration off legacy identity solutions
Define privileged access and cryptographic identity architecture, advancing just-in-time and zero standing privilege, certificate lifecycle automation, mTLS, and secrets management
Develop and enforce identity security standards and baselines aligned to NIST SP 800-63, NIST SP 800-207, NIST CSF, CIS Benchmarks, and IEC 62443
Partner with detection and response teams on identity threat detection coverage, attack path mapping, and identity telemetry into the SIEM/SOAR platform
Communicate identity posture and program progress to leadership through relevant metrics and KPIs
Mentor peers and junior architects through design reviews, pattern development, and knowledge sharing
You have
Deep expertise designing enterprise identity architectures for large, complex organizations, with ownership of the strategy and target state rather than platform administration or technology engineering
10+ years in information security or identity engineering, including 8+ years in security architecture with at least 6 years focused on identity
Bachelor’s degree preferred; equivalent professional experience accepted
Preferred certifications: CISSP, CCSP, SABSA, IDPro CIDPRO, or vendor identity certifications
Proven ability to align senior technology and business stakeholders behind multi-year identity direction amid competing priorities
Experience rationalizing overlapping identity portfolios: capability mapping, build/buy/consolidate analysis, and migration strategy
Expert understanding of OAuth 2.0/2.1, OIDC, SAML, SCIM, JWT, mTLS, token exchange, PKCE, and FIDO2/WebAuthn, including their common implementation failure modes
Deep experience with workforce and customer identity platforms in hybrid environments (e.g., Okta, Microsoft Entra ID, Auth0, etc), Active Directory, conditional access, and passwordless authentication
Strong cloud identity skills in AWS-primary environments: IAM policy and SCP design, permission boundaries, role assumption, and entitlements at scale
Specialized expertise in non-human and machine identity: workload identity, secrets management, certificate lifecycle and PKI (e.g., Venafi, AWS Certificate Manager), and service mesh identity (e.g., Istio, SPIFFE)
Working knowledge of AI and agentic identity: agent authentication patterns, delegated authority, scope minimization, MCP and AI gateway security, and frameworks such as the OWASP Top 10 for LLM Applications, MITRE ATLAS, and the NIST AI RMF
Experience with IGA and PAM platforms (e.g., SailPoint, Saviynt, CyberArk): entitlement modeling, access certification, credential vaulting, and just-in-time cloud access
Substantive understanding of OT/ICS identity, including shared operator accounts, vendor remote access, IT/OT identity separation, and IEC 62443 zone and conduit concepts
Familiarity with identity threat detection and response , attack path analysis, and identity enforcement at edge and API layers
Strong communication skills, including the ability to translate technical concepts for executives and defend architectural positions with evidence
We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or expression, protected veteran status or any other protected characteristic under federal, state, or local law. We are proud to be an equal opportunity workplace.
We are committed to fostering an inclusive, accessible work environment that includes both providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities during the application and hiring process as well as throughout the course of one’s employment, should you need a reasonable accommodation during the application and selection process, including, but not limited to use of our website, any part of the application, interview or hiring process, please advise us so that we can provide appropriate assistance.
See All 16 Security Architect Jobs in Illinois
Find roles in Illinois that match your experience and apply in just a few clicks.
Find Security Architect JobsSecurity Architect Jobs by City in Illinois
Where Illinois roles are concentrated, by current openings.
Security Architect Job Market in Illinois
A snapshot from current Illinois openings, updated as new roles post.
Who's Hiring
Top Industries Hiring
- Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals
- Consulting & Professional Services
What Illinois Employers Look For
The qualifications that appear most often in security architect jobs across Illinois.
- Industry certifications such as CISSP or CCSP recognized by Illinois enterprise and government employers
- Seven or more years of progressive experience in information security or network infrastructure roles
- Demonstrated experience designing security architectures for cloud environments such as AWS, Azure, or GCP
- Deep knowledge of zero-trust principles, identity and access management, and endpoint security frameworks
- Experience translating regulatory requirements including HIPAA, PCI-DSS, or NIST into technical controls
- Strong communication skills to present security risk assessments to executive and non-technical stakeholders
Security Architect Jobs in Illinois: Frequently Asked Questions
How do you become a security architect in Illinois?
The most direct path is building several years of hands-on experience in network, systems, or application security before stepping into an architecture role. Illinois employers consistently expect a bachelor's degree in computer science, information security, or a related field, plus a professional certification such as CISSP or SABSA. There is no state-issued license for security architects in Illinois, so credentials and a demonstrable portfolio of architecture work carry the most weight with local hiring managers.
How much do security architects make in Illinois?
Security architects in Illinois earn a median of about $124,180 a year, based on May 2025 Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data, ranging from around $78,760 for the lowest 10% to over $172,830 for the top 10%. Pay rises with experience, specialty, and employer.
Which companies hire security architects in Illinois?
Employers hiring security architects in Illinois right now include West Monroe, Blue Cross Blue Shield, and CDW, based on current listings on Migrate Mate as of September 2026. Illinois's concentration of Fortune 500 headquarters, major financial institutions, and large healthcare systems means steady, year-round demand rather than seasonal hiring spikes.
Which Illinois cities have the most security architect jobs?
Chicago, Lake Forest, and Skokie account for the largest share of security architect openings in Illinois. Chicago drives the bulk of demand through its dense cluster of financial services firms, insurance companies, and consulting practices headquartered downtown, while Naperville and Schaumburg attract openings from the large corporate campuses and regional technology centers located in the western and northwestern suburbs.
Are there remote security architect jobs in Illinois?
Yes, and more than most fields. Security architecture is primarily an analytical and design discipline, making it well suited to remote and hybrid arrangements. About 67% of security architect openings tied to Illinois are remote or hybrid as of September 2026, reflecting the white-collar nature of the work. The activities most commonly done remotely are threat modeling, policy development, and security reviews, while on-site presence is sometimes required for data center assessments or regulated-environment engagements.
How can I get hired as a security architect in Illinois with little or no experience?
The most realistic entry path is moving into architecture from a security analyst or systems administrator role at a large Illinois employer. Companies such as Allstate, Discover Financial, and major Chicago-area health systems regularly bring on junior security engineers through rotational and associate programs, then develop them toward architecture work. Earning a cloud security certification such as AWS Security Specialty or the CompTIA Security Plus and building a portfolio of documented design projects gives early-career candidates a concrete edge when applying for those feeder positions.
Where can I find and apply to security architect jobs in Illinois?
You can find and apply to security architect jobs in Illinois on Migrate Mate, which lists current Illinois openings in one place. Search the available roles, find the ones that fit your experience and preferred location, and apply directly to the employer through the listing.
See All 16 Security Architect Jobs in Illinois
Find roles in Illinois that match your experience and apply in just a few clicks.
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