Summary
Skills
Work History
Education
Timeline
Overview
Courses
Generic

Justin W. Watts

Information, Risk, & Cybersecurity Architect
Sussex,WI

Summary

Technology leader with 15+ years in IT, blending strategic insight, technical precision, and business process expertise to deliver resilient, standards-driven solutions that drive organizational success. Known for solving complex challenges through clear communication and collaborative leadership.

Skills

Regulatory Standards (eg, ITAR, GDPR)

Work History

Principal Architect

Northwestern Mutual
06.2020 - Current
  • Leader for 140-member team, aligning delivery with business strategy.
  • Co-creating department vision and technical goals for long-term impact.
  • Boosting program productivity 109% with reduced budgets and staff.
  • Coaching leaders, strengthening team performance and strategic focus.
  • Baselining organizational security standards to align with NIST.
  • Ensuring risk acceptance for deviations from best practices and regulations.
  • Delivering user-focused solutions bridging business and technology.
  • Modernizing systems for performance, scale, and future readiness.
  • Working with Internal Auditors to shape Audit effectiveness.
  • Developing Management Action Plans to remediate audit findings.
  • Perform detailed security architecture reviews for high-risk systems.
  • Escalation point for the most complex security issues.

Managing Architect

Concurrency, Inc.
06.2019 - 06.2020
  • Built strong customer relationships, consistently exceeding expectations.
  • Developed creative strategies to maximize results with limited resources.
  • Led teams across time, schedule, and performance to meet objectives.
  • Primary escalation point ensuring project delivery success.
  • Defined roles and responsibilities to enhance operational effectiveness.
  • Created intellectual property to support sales and go-to-market efforts.
  • Developed and managed proposals and Statements of Work (SOWs).
  • Partnered with Microsoft product groups to influence adoption and roadmap.

Technical Architect

Concurrency, Inc.
06.2018 - 06.2019
  • Technology Strategy Lead for Cross-Functional Infrastructure integrations.
  • Deployed Microsoft Identity & Endpoint tools to support customer initiatives.
  • Architecture & design for federally regulated company divestiture.
  • Designed core infrastructure to support complex enterprise migrations.
  • Developed proprietary model for system dependency discovery.
  • Delivering integrations for Third-Party and Business to Business Collaboration.
  • Development of maturity assessment framework based on NIST.
  • Created frameworks, guides, and checklists to standardize project delivery.
  • Presented at technical roadshows at Microsoft Technology Centers.
  • Developed and managed proposals and Statements of Work (SOWs).

Identity & Access Management Architect

AbbVie, Inc.
03.2018 - 06.2018
  • Evaluation of organizational Identity & Access Management practices.
  • Development of organizational Identity Management requirements.
  • Development of Identity Management strategy.
  • Evaluation and baseline of Identity Management maturity.
  • Provided migration architecture guidance for company acquisition.
  • Participated in vendor selection process for Enterprise technology.

Identity & Access Management Architect

Johnson Controls International, PLC
12.2016 - 03.2018
  • Infrastructure architect for federally regulated manufacturing subsidiary.
  • Architect for enterprise infrastructure migrations supporting acquisition.
  • Strategic planning aligned with Technology & Business goals.
  • Liaison to translate complex technical issues for non-technical stakeholders.
  • Developed maturity models, strategies, and multi-year roadmaps.
  • Developed NIST-aligned policies, standards, and governance frameworks.
  • Technology implementation to streamline regulatory compliance (e.g., SOX).
  • Coached and mentored talent strengthening team performance.
  • Defined and evaluated enterprise services and capabilities.
  • Translated customer needs into clear, actionable technical requirements.
  • Tailored communications to diverse audiences and stakeholders.
  • Reviewed project portfolios to identify demand and drive engagement.

Identity & Access Management Engineer

Johnson Controls Inc.
03.2010 - 11.2016
  • Authored technical architecture and operations guides.
  • Design and implementation of Identity & Access Management solutions.
  • Co-contributor to Merger, Acquisition, and Divestiture (MAD) planning.
  • Implementation of Productivity & Collaboration services
  • Implementation and migration of global conferencing solution.
  • Development of Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Plans.
  • Implementation and support of proprietary telephone provisioning solution.
  • Design for datacenter port mapping.
  • Management of North American telephony projects.
  • Tier 3 support for IAM & Voice-over IP Solutions.
  • Network Device Configuration and Administration.

Field Artillery Fire Direction Controlman

United States Marine Corps
10.2005 - 10.2009
  • Interim Operations Chief for Echo Btry, 2nd Bn, 11th Marines.
  • Management of physical and digital classified information.
  • Collaboration in Multinational Military Operations.
  • Provided Strategic Analysis and Reporting on Combat Readiness.
  • Contributor to Regimental Combat Standard Operating Procedures (SOP).
  • Technician for artillery IT systems and communications equipment.
  • Regimental Training & Operations Manager.
  • Safety Officer for Echo Btry, 2nd Bn, 11th Marines.

Education

Bachelor of Science - Information System Cyber Security

ITT Technical Institute
12.2014

Timeline

Principal Architect

Northwestern Mutual
06.2020 - Current

Managing Architect

Concurrency, Inc.
06.2019 - 06.2020

Technical Architect

Concurrency, Inc.
06.2018 - 06.2019

Identity & Access Management Architect

AbbVie, Inc.
03.2018 - 06.2018

Identity & Access Management Architect

Johnson Controls International, PLC
12.2016 - 03.2018

Identity & Access Management Engineer

Johnson Controls Inc.
03.2010 - 11.2016

Field Artillery Fire Direction Controlman

United States Marine Corps
10.2005 - 10.2009

Bachelor of Science - Information System Cyber Security

ITT Technical Institute

Overview

20
20
years of professional experience

Courses

Johnson Controls - Innovation Catalyst

AfterBurner - Flawless Execution University (FlexU)

FISMA 101: Understanding FISMA Compliance (FISMA 101)

Justin W. WattsInformation, Risk, & Cybersecurity Architect