Daniel Opara

Right access, right person, right time.

Identity and Access Management Engineer

I’m Daniel Opara. I build and run identity systems across Okta, Microsoft Entra ID, Active Directory, and Delinea, automating the user lifecycle and turning access policy into controls that hold up in an audit.

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Evaluating access for Daniel Opara → your IAM team
Platforms
Okta, Entra ID, Active Directory, Delinea
Protocols
SAML 2.0, OIDC, OAuth 2.0, SCIM
Controls
Conditional Access, MFA, JIT privileged access
Credentials
CISSP, Okta Certified Administrator
Access grantedAll conditions met

About

I work on the part of security that decides who gets access to what, on which device, from where, and for how long. Most of my day goes to joiner, mover, and leaver automation, Conditional Access and MFA, SSO and SCIM integrations, and access reviews that satisfy PCI DSS and NIST SP 800-53.

I care about least privilege and about explaining access decisions clearly enough that the people they affect understand why. Outside of client work, I build enterprise-style identity labs to practice and document what I learn.

Experience

  1. IAM Analyst

    PCtronics Managed IT Services, Riverside, CA · Nov 2025 – Present

    • Automate joiner, mover, and leaver lifecycles across Microsoft Entra ID and Active Directory to enforce least privilege.
    • Maintain hybrid identity with Entra Connect and SCIM, scripting directory tasks and group standards in PowerShell.
    • Enforce Conditional Access and MFA to NIST SP 800-53 guidelines, and run PCI DSS access reviews with RBAC that prevents segregation-of-duties conflicts.

  2. Cybersecurity Engineer (IAM/PAM)

    GuidePoint Security, Herndon, VA · Jan 2025 – Mar 2025

    • Administered Delinea PAM for privileged accounts, just-in-time access, and session recording.
    • Built SSO integrations between Active Directory, Microsoft Azure, and Google Workspace using SAML 2.0, OAuth 2.0, and OIDC.
    • Detected and remediated compromised accounts with Okta Identity Threat Protection.

  3. IT Implementation Engineer

    Acorn Technology Services, Riverside, CA · Dec 2023 – Jul 2024

    • Audited role assignments across Active Directory and Entra ID, removed orphaned accounts, and refined ABAC rules.
    • Automated bulk user updates and group membership management with PowerShell.

  4. Cybersecurity Assistant

    Riverside City College, Riverside, CA · Feb 2022 – Jul 2023

    • Managed the Active Directory account lifecycle and ran regular access reviews.
    • Trained staff on IAM best practices and security protocols.

Projects

DanotechInc Entra IAM Program

An enterprise IAM program built on Microsoft Entra ID for a fictional company.

  • Entra ID
  • Python
View on GitHub

Active Directory Lifecycle Management Lab

Joiner, mover, and leaver automation with compliance-mapped access control.

  • Active Directory
  • PowerShell
  • RBAC
View on GitHub

Okta Org2Org Federation Across Regions

Federated two Okta tenants with Org2Org SAML for a company that keeps US and European tenants separate for data sovereignty. Configured the spoke app, exchanged metadata, established trust in the hub, and tested SSO and attribute flows.

  • Okta
  • Org2Org
  • SAML 2.0
  • Hub and spoke
Read on Medium

Okta and Salesforce SAML SSO

Integrated Salesforce with Okta using SAML 2.0 so users sign in to Salesforce through Okta.

  • Okta
  • Salesforce
  • SAML 2.0
  • SSO
Read on Medium

Okta Lab Environment

Built a full Okta lab environment while preparing for the Okta Certified Professional exam, and documented it step by step.

  • Okta
  • Lifecycle management
  • Policies
Read on Medium

Continuous Authentication in a Zero Trust Environment

GuidePoint Security capstone project implementing continuous authentication in a zero trust environment using Zscaler and Okta.

  • Okta
  • Zscaler
  • Zero Trust
  • Continuous authentication
Watch the capstone presentation

Writing

Skills

Identity platforms
Okta, Microsoft Entra ID, Active Directory, Entra Connect, Delinea Secret Server
Protocols
SAML 2.0, OIDC, OAuth 2.0, SCIM, LDAP
Access models
RBAC, ABAC, privileged access management, just-in-time access, zero trust
Automation
PowerShell, Microsoft Graph, Python, KQL
Governance
Access reviews, entitlement audits, PCI DSS, NIST SP 800-53

Certifications and education

  • Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP)ISC2
  • Okta Certified AdministratorOkta
  • Delinea Secret Server AssociateDelinea
  • Security Operations Analyst (SC-200)Microsoft
  • Splunk Core Certified Power UserSplunk
  • CompTIA Security+CompTIA
  • A.S. in Cyber Defense, Riverside City College2023
  • B.S. in Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Mines and Technology2019

Contact

I’m open to IAM engineering roles and always glad to talk identity. Email is the fastest way to reach me.

Email me LinkedIn GitHub Medium