I applied for the position and was contacted by a recruiter who suggested scheduling a chat to discuss the role. During the call, I was surprised to find the hiring manager also present. While we had a productive conversation, it quickly became apparent that I might not be the right fit, as I wasn't willing to relocate to Spokane, WA, and the base salary was significantly lower than my current compensation. Two months later, they reached out again, inviting me to Spokane for a panel review with the team. During the initial discussions, I found it unusual that the IAM Architect role was part of the operations team rather than the security team. Adding to the complexity, much of the actual work was being handled by their managed service provider (MSP). The conversation primarily focused on the organization's challenges with the MSP, including concerns about the value provided, the speed of project completion, and the perceived lack of expertise. Despite these concerns, they seemed heavily reliant on the MSP for both operations and some of the planning and execution of security efforts. After further research, I realized that the bulk of their security operations were outsourced to the MSP. Additionally, it became clear that many of the major decisions and architectural work had already been completed. This made it unclear why they were looking for an architect, as the role seemed more aligned with administrative duties and operational management tasks. It was also apparent that the current hiring manager had recently been promoted and had previously been responsible for all IAM tasks. It seemed like he simply wanted to delegate those efforts into a new role but didn’t want to give it a VP title. Because there was no in-house security team (which also explained why no one from security was part of the interview loop), there didn’t seem to be any clear career path for someone with a long background in security and identity management. It became clear at the end of the interview loop—when it was just me and the hiring manager left and he dropped some of the facade—that this wasn’t the company or the job for me. I was polite, but it was obvious they were looking for someone with less experience, as I was clearly overqualified for the role. They also didn’t pay for my travel upfront, so I had to wait to be reimbursed. As a result, I held off on removing myself from consideration to avoid any backlash or delays. I will say the recruiter was excellent, and I would recommend her to any company looking for a truly professional individual. However, I would never work for this company—they are obviously set in their ways and operate on a rather small scale, considering their portfolio.