Egov Select - Application Manager IAM

By developing secure, reliable, and innovative network infrastructures and associated services, together with and for our communities, Belnet contributes to the education, research, and public services of tomorrow as a national research network.

Belnet's mission is to manage a high-performance network for universities, colleges, research centers, and government services. The Belnet network also functions as a gateway to international research networks, thus acting as an engine for (inter)national cooperation within education and research.

Additionally, their network is a crucial building block for the digital services of the federal government. As an IT partner, they contribute to an efficient use of available resources by maximizing synergies and economies of scale.

The Managed Services department develops, manages, and maintains a wide range of services that Belnet offers on and above its network for research, education, and public institutions. These include, among others, DNS/Dnssec, certificates, SSO/Federation Services, Eduroam, Antispam, cloud solutions, Filesender, identity & access solutions, and more. To strengthen its services around identity and access management, Belnet is looking for an Application Engineer with an interest in and knowledge of IAM and federation technologies.

Job Description

As an Application Engineer - IAM & Federation, you contribute to the management, operation, and further development of Belnet services regarding authentication, authorization, and identity federation.

You will work closely with senior engineers and application managers and gradually grow towards more autonomy in handling incidents, operational tasks, and smaller technical improvements. Your focus lies primarily on SAML, OpenID Connect, Microsoft Entra ID, IAM platforms, and other authentication-related service components, while also providing support to other Belnet services if necessary.

This position is ideal for someone with a strong technical foundation who wants to further develop into an IAM expert.

• IAM & federation support and operations:

• Collaborating on the daily operational management of identity and access services (federated login, SAML/SP integrations, OpenID Connect providers)
• Supporting user onboarding, configuration updates, and troubleshooting of IAM services
• Assisting with integrations between Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD), Shibboleth, SAML, and OIDC components

• application management:

• Supporting the full application lifecycle: configuration, testing, updates, and documentation
• Helping colleagues maintain functional and technical knowledge of the services
• Handling second-line technical requests within your expertise

• technical troubleshooting & analysis:

• Investigating technical issues regarding authentication flows, metadata, certificates, and service configurations
• Working with logs, monitoring tools, and debugging techniques (with guidance where necessary)
• Supporting root-cause analyses and contributing to the prevention of recurring problems

• collaboration & coordination:

• Working closely with the Managed Services team to ensure high service quality
• Collaborating with colleagues from Services & Security, product management, communication, and external vendors
• Participating in technical meetings and contributing to documentation and knowledge sharing

• learning & continuous development:

• Further developing your skills in IAM,...

...

• Required education & experience: Master's degree or bachelor's in IT, or equivalent through experience 1 to 3 years of experience in a technical IT role (System Engineer, application owner, ...) with exposure to IAM-intensive environments
• Technical skills:

• Good knowledge of federated IAM solutions, with a focus on:
• Authentication and authorization protocols (OAuth2, OpenID Connect)
• Interoperability between Active Directory / Entra ID, Shibboleth, Simplesaml, PHP, and other federation systems:

- Insight into modern development methodologies (CI/CD, DevOps) - Basic knowledge of networks (TCP/IP, web access Firewalls, routing, network security) - Knowledge of or experience with Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD) and IAM principles - Familiarity with Linux environments (Ubuntu/RedHat) and basic system administration (incl. security hardening and log analysis) - Ability to read and analyze logs during troubleshooting - Basic scripting knowledge (Bash or Python) is a plus Understanding of network fundamentals (TCP/IP, DNS, HTTPS) - Interest in automation, DevOps, and open standards

• Soft skills:

• Strong eagerness to learn and motivation to grow into a specialist role
• Ability to translate customer needs (incl. identity & access issues) into concrete improvements
• Team player who collaborates smoothly and can follow instructions from senior engineers
• Analytical thinking skills and a sense of responsibility
• Able to explain technical IAM concepts clearly and understandably
• Good knowledge of cloud environments (preferably open cloud)
• Basic programming knowledge (Java, PHP, or Python)

• Plus points:

• Strong interest in open-source technologies and Open Science ecosystems Experience with identity federation (Shibboleth, ADFS, OAuth, OIDC)
• Experience with Azure, cloud identity, or authentication flows
• Knowledge of open-source tools and interest in IAM communities
• Basic knowledge of ITIL or service management
• Dutch-speaking or French-speaking, with good knowledge of English and basic knowledge of the other national language Experience with automation tools (Ansible, Puppet)
• Affinity with the research, education, or government sector is a plus