The Senior Engineer – Modern Work is the senior technical individual contributor within the Global Data Systems Cloud Services practice. The position owns the full delivery lifecycle of Microsoft 365 and Modern Work engagements across the GDS customer base, including discovery and assessment, solution design, planning, implementation, migration, security remediation, automation, documentation, operational handoff, support, escalation, and continuous improvement. The role operates with limited supervision and is accountable for the technical quality and reliability of the work it delivers.

This is a senior technical position rather than a people-management position. The Senior Engineer provides technical leadership by establishing and upholding engineering standards, leading technical workstreams, training and mentoring other engineers, and serving as a senior escalation point for complex Microsoft 365, identity, endpoint, security, and cloud issues. The position has no formal direct reports and no supervisory or disciplinary authority.

Business Purpose and Expected Outcomes

Cloud Services is the Microsoft-first delivery and operations practice within GDS, turning Microsoft 365, Secure Plus, endpoint management, and AI readiness into repeatable managed outcomes for customers. As GDS continues its evolution from a traditional managed services provider toward a Microsoft-focused managed intelligence and innovation model, the practice requires senior engineering depth that can carry complex customer work end to end without day-to-day direction.

This position exists to provide that depth. It serves as the senior technical counterpart to the Director of Cloud Services for day-to-day delivery, allowing practice leadership to concentrate on service strategy, organizational leadership, partner relationships, product development, financial performance, customer growth, and practice development. Expected outcomes include:

· Consistent, high-quality technical delivery across all Cloud Services engagement tiers.

· Reduced key-person dependency and greater continuity of engineering leadership.

· Faster, better-documented resolution of complex customer escalations.

· Increased standardization, automation, and reuse across the delivery pipeline.

· Measurable growth in the technical capability of other Cloud Services engineers.

Microsoft 365 and Modern Work

· Design, implement, administer, and optimize Microsoft 365 tenants, including tenant architecture, directory and domain configuration, service configuration, and baseline standards.

· Deliver and support Exchange Online and hybrid Exchange environments, including mail flow design, coexistence, troubleshooting, and remediation.

· Design, deploy, and support Microsoft Teams, Teams Phone, SharePoint Online, and OneDrive, including collaboration and information architecture.

· Lead cross-tenant and tenant-to-tenant projects, including consolidations, acquisitions, and divestitures.

· Plan and execute migrations to Microsoft 365 from Google Workspace, on-premises Exchange, and legacy file platforms with minimal customer disruption.

· Apply collaboration governance, adoption, and lifecycle management practices that keep customer environments supportable at scale.

· Align technical designs with Microsoft 365 licensing entitlements and documented customer requirements.

Security, Identity, and Compliance

· Design and administer Microsoft Entra ID, including hybrid identity and Microsoft Entra Connect.

· Implement Conditional Access, multifactor authentication, password less authentication, and access controls aligned to Zero Trust and least privilege.

· Configure Privileged Identity Management, Identity Protection, access reviews, and identity governance.

· Integrate enterprise applications using single sign-on, SAML, OAuth, and related application integration methods.

· Investigate and remediate identity incidents, including compromised accounts, risky sign-ins, and privilege misuse.

· Deploy and tune Microsoft Defender XDR, including Defender for Office 365, Defender for Endpoint, Defender for Identity, and Defender for Cloud Apps, and support Microsoft Sentinel where it applies to the GDS service portfolio.

· Configure Microsoft Purview capabilities, including information protection, sensitivity labeling, retention, data loss prevention, and eDiscovery.

· Deliver Microsoft Intune and Windows Autopilot engagements covering endpoint configuration, compliance policy, application deployment, patching, security baselines, and mobile device and mobile application management.

· Lead Windows modernization and endpoint lifecycle projects across managed customer environments.

· Perform security assessments, build remediation plans, participate in incident response, and lead security-hardening initiatives.

· Own Secure Plus onboarding, delivery, ongoing improvement, and escalation for assigned customers.

Azure and Cloud Services

· Administer and govern the Azure subscriptions that support customer environments, including compute, networking, storage, backup, monitoring, and identity integration.

· Support hybrid-cloud and cloud-migration projects, particularly where they intersect with Microsoft 365, identity, and endpoint services.

· Recommend and implement improvements to Azure cost, security, resiliency, and operational posture.

· Troubleshoot issues that span Microsoft 365, Azure, identity, endpoints, applications, and customer infrastructure.

Azure competency is expected at the level required to deliver and support Cloud Services engagements. The primary emphasis of this position is Microsoft 365 and Modern Work; it is not an Azure infrastructure architect role.

Copilot, AI Readiness, and Automation

· Conduct Microsoft 365 Copilot readiness assessments covering identity, endpoint, security, and data governance prerequisites.

· Remediate SharePoint and Microsoft 365 permission hygiene, oversharing, and information architecture issues ahead of AI adoption.

· Apply Microsoft Purview and information-governance controls to prepare customer data estates for responsible AI use.

· Support Copilot deployment, enablement, adoption, and customer guidance.

· Apply responsible AI, security, privacy, and data-protection considerations to customer recommendations.

· Identify and implement automation and AI-assisted operational opportunities that improve delivery consistency and speed.

· Develop advanced PowerShell and Microsoft Graph automation for provisioning, configuration, reporting, and remediation.

· Build supporting automation with Power Automate, Azure Automation, or Azure Functions where those tools are supported in the GDS environment.

· Produce repeatable deployment methods, scripts, standards, templates, and runbooks that reduce custom effort across engagements.

· Apply source control, peer review, testing, error handling, credential security, and maintainable technical documentation to all automation work.

Project Delivery, Support, and Escalation

· Independently own complex technical projects and workstreams from discovery through acceptance, with limited supervision.

· Perform technical discovery, solution design, task planning, implementation, testing, and acceptance activities.

· Lead customer onboarding and service transition into managed operations.

· Serve as a Tier 3 engineering support resource and own assigned escalations through resolution.

· Perform advanced troubleshooting across multiple systems, platforms, and vendors.

· Conduct root-cause analysis and support problem management, change management, and post-incident documentation.

· Participate in, and where appropriate lead, major-incident response for customer environments.

· Communicate clearly with customers during projects, escalations, and service-impacting events.

· Maintain accurate time, status, risk, issue, and project documentation.

· Coordinate with the Service Desk, NOC, SOC, Infrastructure, Network, PMO, Sales, Solutions Architects, and Customer Experience teams.

· Support presales discovery, scoping, technical validation, effort estimation, and solution design as requested.

· Develop standard operating procedures, knowledge articles, architectural diagrams, implementation plans, and operational runbooks.

· Complete a documented support handoff before a project is considered complete, transferring completed work into managed operations.

· Participate in the GDS on-call engineer escalation process in accordance with department schedules and company policy.

Technical Leadership, Training, and Mentoring

· Train, coach, and mentor junior and mid-level engineers on Microsoft 365, identity, endpoint, security, and cloud technologies.

· Lead technical and design reviews and promote consistent engineering standards and peer review.

· Delegate and coordinate technical tasks when assigned as a workstream or project technical lead.

· Improve documentation quality and knowledge transfer across the Cloud Services team.

· Assist other engineers with unfamiliar, high-risk, or high-impact troubleshooting.

· Model accountability, sound technical judgment, customer ownership, and professional communication.

· Identify delivery risks and escalate business or customer concerns appropriately.

· Work productively with limited supervision while keeping leadership informed of progress, risks, and decisions.

· Make responsible technical decisions within established authority and change-control boundaries.

· Other duties as assigned.

  Required Technical Competencies

· Advanced Microsoft 365 administration across Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive, and Microsoft Teams, including Teams Phone.

· Advanced Microsoft Entra ID and hybrid identity, including Conditional Access, multifactor authentication, and identity governance.

· Advanced Microsoft Intune and Windows Autopilot endpoint management, including compliance, application deployment, and security baselines.

· Working proficiency with Microsoft Defender XDR and Microsoft Purview information protection and compliance capabilities.

· Working proficiency with Azure administration, governance, and core infrastructure services in support of customer environments.

· Advanced PowerShell scripting and practical use of Microsoft Graph and related Microsoft APIs.

· Microsoft 365 licensing knowledge sufficient to align technical designs with customer entitlements and requirements.

· Microsoft 365 Copilot readiness concepts, including permission hygiene, data governance, and responsible AI considerations.

· Structured troubleshooting and root-cause analysis across cloud, identity, endpoint, application, and network boundaries.

· Technical writing sufficient to produce designs, runbooks, diagrams, and customer-facing documentation.

Minimum Education and Experience

· Bachelor's degree in a technology-related field, or an equivalent combination of education and directly related professional experience.

· Seven or more years of hands-on engineering experience across Microsoft 365 and cloud technologies.

· Two or more years in a senior, lead, or equivalent capacity within a managed services provider, consulting firm, or enterprise IT organization.

· Demonstrated experience supporting multiple concurrent customers in a managed services or multi-tenant consulting environment.

· Demonstrated experience leading complex migrations and security-remediation engagements.

· Demonstrated advanced troubleshooting ability on escalated, multi-system issues.

· Demonstrated automation experience using PowerShell, Microsoft Graph, or comparable tooling.

· Demonstrated documentation and customer-communication skills, including written designs and status reporting.

· Demonstrated project leadership and mentoring experience in a technical delivery setting.

Required Certifications and Certification Baseline

Certification expectations follow the GDS Microsoft certification framework for service delivery and professional services engineers, which builds a cloud, identity, and security baseline before advanced or AI-specific credentials. The following credentials are required, either held at hire or earned in the role on a schedule agreed with the Director of Cloud Services and Human Resources:

· Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900).

· Microsoft Certified: Security, Compliance, and Identity Fundamentals (SC-900).

· At least one associate-level specialization relevant to the role: Microsoft Certified: Endpoint Administrator Associate (MD-102) or Microsoft Certified: Identity and Access Administrator Associate (SC-300).

Preferred Qualifications and Certifications: 

· Microsoft 365 Certified: Administrator Expert (MS-102).

· Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate (AZ-104).

· Microsoft Certified: Security Operations Analyst Associate (SC-200).

· Microsoft Certified: Information Security Administrator Associate (SC-401).

· Microsoft Certified: Copilot and Agent Administration Fundamentals (AB-900), or the Microsoft Applied Skill for preparing security and compliance to support Microsoft 365 Copilot.

· Microsoft Certified: Cybersecurity Architect Expert (SC-100) or Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert (AZ-305).

· ITIL Foundation or a comparable service-management certification.

· Experience with Teams Phone or direct routing voice deployments.

· Experience with compliance-driven environments and recognized security frameworks such as CIS, NIST, CMMC, HIPAA, PCI, or SOC 2.

· Experience building agents or automation with Microsoft Copilot Studio or Power Platform.

Customer Service and Communication Expectations: 

GDS serves its customers on the principle of Serving People and Making IT Simple. The Senior Engineer is expected to translate complex technical work into language customers can act on, to set and meet realistic expectations, and to keep stakeholders informed during projects, escalations, and service-impacting events. The position requires professional written and verbal communication with technical and non-technical audiences, the ability to present information and answer questions in customer and internal meetings, ownership of issues through to resolution, and the judgment to raise risks early rather than late.

Success Measures: 

Performance in this position is evaluated against the following outcomes:

· Quality and reliability of technical implementations.

· Achievement of project milestones and customer commitments.

· Reduction of repeat escalations and preventable incidents.

· Accuracy and completeness of technical and project documentation.

· Measurable security and compliance improvement in supported environments.

· Timely resolution of complex escalations.

· Customer satisfaction and effective stakeholder communication.

· Successful operational handoffs into managed services.

· Increased standardization and automation across delivery.

· Knowledge transfer and measurable growth of other engineers.

· Contribution to service maturity, scalability, and continuous improvement.

Physical Demands and Work Environment

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this position. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the functions. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit and to talk or hear. The employee is frequently required to stand; walk; use hands to finger, handle, or feel; and reach with hands and arms. The employee must regularly lift or move up to 25 pounds. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, and color vision. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is occasionally exposed to risk of electrical shock.

NOTE: 

This job description in no way states or implies that these are the only duties to be performed by the employee incumbent in this position. Employees will be required to follow any other job-related instructions and to perform any other job-related duties requested by any person authorized to give instructions or assignments. All duties and responsibilities are essential functions and requirements and are subject to possible modification to reasonably accommodate individuals with disabilities. To perform this job successfully, the incumbent will possess the skills, aptitudes, and abilities to perform each duty proficiently. Some requirements may exclude individuals who pose a direct threat or significant risk to the health or safety of themselves or others. The requirements listed in this document are the minimum levels of knowledge, skills, or abilities. This document does not create an employment contract, implied or otherwise, other than an at-will relationship.