Suneetha Manam
Novi
Summary
Identity and Access Management engineer with extensive experience in enterprise program delivery and user access management. Achievements include reducing account takeover incidents by 91% and increasing access certification completion rates to 99.2%. Expertise in designing inclusive authentication solutions for diverse user populations.
Overview
23
23
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Senior IAM Engineer
Mercedes Benz Financial Services
Farmington Hills
05.2014 - Current
- PingFederate SSO & MFA Implementation
- Architected and deployed PingFederate as the enterprise SSO federation hub, integrating 120+ SAML 2.0 and OIDC-connected applications across cloud and on-premises environments.
- Implemented adaptive MFA policies using PingFederate with risk-based authentication triggers, reducing account takeover incidents by 91% year-over-year.
- Designed multi-channel MFA options to ensure universal user access across diverse workforce segments — see inclusive authentication strategy below.
- Led UAT, load testing, and phased production rollout for 2,000 concurrent users with zero unplanned downtime.
- User Access Management Rollout & RBAC Implementation
- Led end-to-end rollout of a new enterprise User Access Management (UAM) platform serving 2,000+ users across 5 business units, delivering on time and 10% under budget.
- Designed and implemented a comprehensive Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) framework, reducing over-provisioned accounts by 73% and eliminating orphaned access rights within the first quarter post-launch.
- Developed role mining methodology to identify and consolidate 350+ ad-hoc permissions into 85 standardized role definitions aligned with job functions and least-privilege principles.
- Partnered with HR, IT, and business stakeholders to establish a joiner-mover-leaver (JML) workflow, reducing user provisioning time from 3 days to under 4 hours.
- Developed executive-level reporting dashboards to track access certifications, orphaned accounts, SoD conflicts, and role utilization rates, enhancing visibility for leadership decision-making.
- Alice UAM Platform Migration & Global Rollout
- Led the enterprise-wide rollout of Alice, the new global User Access Management (UAM) platform, serving as the program lead responsible for strategy, planning, execution, and stakeholder coordination across the full project lifecycle.
- Managed the full migration from the legacy local UAM tool to the Alice global platform, including data migration planning, identity record validation, entitlement mapping, and cutover sequencing to ensure continuity of user access with zero business disruption.
- Developed and executed a structured approach to implement the full catalog of business roles available within Alice, conducting role mapping workshops to translate existing entitlements and local role definitions into Alice’s global role model — ensuring completeness, accuracy, and an intuitive user experience for access requesters.
- Prioritized user experience throughout the role implementation design, ensuring business roles in Alice were logically named, clearly described, and organized to allow users to self-serve access requests efficiently without requiring specialist knowledge of underlying entitlements.
- Coordinated onboarding of application systems into Alice, managing integration requirements, access connector configurations, and entitlement data feeds to ensure accurate role content and streamline user access.
- Collaborated with business teams to gather role requirements, validate access definitions, secure sign-off on role ownership, and promote adoption of Alice as the central system for user access requests and certifications.
- Delivered phased rollout communications to IT leadership, business management, and end users, providing status updates, training materials, and go-live readiness confirmations to ensure all stakeholders were prepared and informed throughout the transition from the local UAM tool to Alice.
- Inclusive Authentication — Users Without Dedicated PC, Mobile, or Email
- Identified that 18% of the workforce (frontline, field, and shared-device workers) lacked personal devices or corporate email. Designed and delivered the following alternative authentication pathways:
- Shared Workstation Kiosks: Deployed browser-based SSO sessions with PingFederate on shared terminals, scoped to session-limited tokens with auto-logout policies — no personal device required.
- Hardware FIDO2 / YubiKey Tokens: Issued physical security keys to deskless workers as a passwordless, device-agnostic MFA method registered directly to the user identity in the directory.
- TOTP via Printed QR Seed Cards: Provisioned offline TOTP seed cards (printed, laminated, and securely distributed) for users without smartphones, compatible with any standard authenticator app on shared devices.
- SMS / Voice OTP via Shared Phone Lines: Configured PingFederate to deliver OTPs to department landline numbers with supervised delivery protocols managed by team leads.
- In-Person Identity Proofing with Supervisor Approval: Established a workflow where users without any digital channel could be authenticated via an in-person identity verification process, with a manager-approved access grant logged in the UAM platform.
- Collaborated with colleagues across global regions to align IAM strategies, share best practices, and ensure consistent identity governance standards across international business units and regulatory environments.
- Contributed to the development and execution of global IAM roadmap initiatives, working across time zones with international teams to harmonize identity policies, tooling, and access governance frameworks.
- Communicated IAM program status, risks, and strategic initiatives to IT leadership, business management, and senior executives — translating complex technical concepts into clear, business-aligned messaging for non-technical audiences.
- Prepared and delivered executive briefings, steering committee updates, and status reports covering IAM program milestones, KPI performance, risk posture, and upcoming roadmap deliverables.
- Acted as an IAM subject matter expert (SME) and trusted advisor to application development and platform engineering teams, providing consultation on IAM integration patterns, authentication best practices, and identity-aware architectural design.
- Consulted application teams on SSO onboarding, SAML/OIDC federation setup, MFA integration, RBAC entitlement design, and API security using OAuth 2.0 — reducing integration timelines and ensuring adherence to enterprise IAM standards from the ground up.
- Cross-Functional Project Support & Budget Management
- Provided IAM support and subject matter expertise for a mainframe decommissioning (sundown) initiative, collaborating with infrastructure and application teams to migrate mainframe-bound identities, retire legacy access controls, and ensure no orphaned accounts or residual entitlements remained post-sunset.
- Played a key IAM role in company separation projects, managing the complex identity disentanglement process including user account splitting, access re-provisioning, SSO federation reconfiguration, and directory partitioning to support clean organizational boundaries between separated entities.
- Coordinated IAM workstreams across multiple concurrent strategic projects, aligning identity deliverables with broader program timelines and ensuring minimal disruption to user access and business operations during transitions.
- Managed the budget for IAM-related services and vendor engagements, tracking expenditures and purchase orders (POs) while aligning spending with approved budgets and procurement policies.
- Managed vendor relationships and coordinated PO lifecycle activities including requisition, approval, and reconciliation for IAM tooling, professional services, and support contracts — ensuring timely processing and accurate cost attribution to the IAM program budget.
- IAM KPI Achievement & Operations
- Defined and tracked 14 IAM KPIs spanning provisioning speed, access certification completion rate, MFA adoption, SoD violation rate, privileged account audit coverage, and mean time to revoke (MTTR).
- Achieved 99.2% access certification completion rate (vs. 61% baseline) within two quarterly cycles through automated reminder workflows and manager escalation paths.
- Drove MFA enrollment to 97.8% of all active user accounts, exceeding the organizational target of 95% and satisfying external audit requirements.
- Reduced privileged account sprawl by 68%, bringing the ratio of privileged accounts to total accounts within industry benchmark thresholds.
- Maintained SLA compliance at 98.5% for access provisioning requests, with an average fulfillment time of 3.2 hours against a 24-hour SLA.
- Produced monthly IAM health reports delivered to CISO and IT leadership, including trend analysis and risk-scored remediation recommendations.
Systems Specialist (HR/Business Controls Domain IT Lead)
Mercedes Benz Financial Services
07.2013 - 05.2014
- Led implementation of Compass and Teammate projects, successfully replacing legacy audit systems and enhancing process efficiency.
- Managed release activities and coordinated with MBUSA and DW teams for seamless data integrations, improving data accuracy and accessibility.
- Collaborated with HR, EWD, and Corpdir teams on identity data resolution and SSO implementations.
- Provided operational support for HR and Business Controls applications, ensuring system reliability and user satisfaction.
Systems Specialist (Business Intelligence Lead)
Mercedes Benz Financial Services
01.2003 - 07.2013
- Led Cognos administration and 10 migrations, managed BI team and system architecture, and coordinated vendor selection and licensing.
- Managed finance applications across Americas, developed reporting apps, ensured data integrity, and provided continuous support.
- Designed and maintained Essbase databases, automated data processes, and developed reports to enhance end-user training.
Education
Master of Business Administration -
Tirupati, IndiaBachelor of Business Management -
Bapatla, IndiaSkills
- Identity management
- PingFederate SSO & MFA
- Privileged Access Management
- NIST compliance
- SailPoint / Okta
- SailPoint IdentityNow
- Azure AD management
- PingFederate
- PingOne
- Zero Trust
- SAML 20
- OAuth 20
- OIDC
- SCIM
- FIDO2/WebAuthn
- TOTP
- CyberArk PAM
- AWS IAM
- Active Directory
- Entra ID
- LDAP
- OpenLDAP
- Kerberos
- PowerShell
- Terraform
- IAM reporting
- Security compliance
- NIST compliance
- SOX
- ISO compliance
- GDPR
- HIPAA compliance
Certification
- ISO certification (Mercedes Benz)
- RSA IGL Certification
Timeline
Senior IAM Engineer
Mercedes Benz Financial Services
05.2014 - Current
Systems Specialist (HR/Business Controls Domain IT Lead)
Mercedes Benz Financial Services
07.2013 - 05.2014
Systems Specialist (Business Intelligence Lead)
Mercedes Benz Financial Services
01.2003 - 07.2013