Senior Microsoft Platform Engineer

Years of Experience: 10 years of experience

Education Requirements:Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Information Systems, Engineering, or related field, or equivalent practical experience

Program Description: The program provides end to end IT Infrastructure support services, including Tier 1 Help Desk, Tier 2 End User Support, Tier 3 Server, Platform, and Network Infrastructure Support and Engineering with responsibility for incident resolution, service requests, monitoring, lifecycle support, and escalation management.

Position Description: The Senior Microsoft Platform Engineer is a Tier 3 role responsible for the administration, operation, and continuous improvement of the agency's Microsoft Azure platform, Microsoft 365 services, and on-premises and cloud-hosted Windows and Linux servers. The engineer receives incidents escalated from Tier 1 and Tier 2 support, owns them through resolution, and engages vendors such as Microsoft support when needed. As a senior technical resource, the engineer works with minimal direction, leads technical work within assigned areas, guides other administrators, and helps project and application teams adopt new Azure capabilities while maintaining security and compliance. The role works closely with architecture, cybersecurity, networking, and engineering teams to keep services aligned with enterprise standards.

Work Model: The engineer concurrently manages Tier 3 incidents, recurring operations and maintenance (O&M), and small-scale projects that modernize Microsoft platform capabilities. Priorities may change daily. The engineer must respond to urgent incidents, communicate resulting schedule impacts, and resume planned work without losing ownership of existing commitments.

Platform Administration

·       Manage and maintain Azure environments, including subscriptions, resource groups, landing zones, governance and tagging, virtual networks, virtual machines, storage accounts, and platform services.

·       Administer Microsoft Entra ID, hybrid identity, Conditional Access, Privileged Identity Management (PIM), and role-based access control (RBAC).

·       Implement and maintain Azure networking, including Network Security Groups, Azure Firewall, Application Gateways, VPN connectivity, private endpoints, and hybrid network integration.

·       Administer Microsoft 365 services.

·       Administer and patch on-premises and cloud-hosted (Azure) Windows and Linux servers, including builds, configuration, and lifecycle maintenance, using Microsoft Configuration Manager (MCM) and other approved tools.

·       Build automation and infrastructure as code using PowerShell, Azure Automation, Logic Apps, ARM templates, Bicep, or Terraform.

·       Monitor platform health using Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, Application Insights, and Microsoft Defender.

·       Maintain backup, disaster recovery, and high availability using Azure Backup and Azure Site Recovery.

·       Perform security hardening and vulnerability remediation in line with agency security requirements, NIST controls, and federal cloud security standards.

·       Participate in architecture reviews and recommend performance, cost, and security improvements.

Tier 3 Incident Support

·       Own Tier 3 incidents from assignment to closure: assess impact and urgency, restore service, and confirm resolution with the end user or requesting team.

·       Troubleshoot complex Azure, identity, network, and server issues using a structured method: define the symptom and scope, gather evidence (logs, sign-in data, monitoring alerts), isolate the failing layer, test one change at a time, and verify the fix.

·       Escalate to Microsoft or other vendors with a complete case record, and identify recurring incidents for permanent fixes through problem management.

·       Participate in the on-call rotation.

Operations and Change Management

·       Complete recurring O&M tasks on schedule and record completion in ServiceNow.

·       Follow the NCUA change management process: submit change requests with scope, risk, test, implementation, and rollback plans; obtain approval before implementing; and close each change with results documented.

Projects

·       Lead small-scale projects from planning through closeout, including scope, requirements, milestones and dependencies, stakeholder agreement, phased implementation with rollback planning, user communications, and status reporting in Azure DevOps (ADO).

·       Support cloud migration projects for servers, applications, databases, and hybrid workloads.

Communication and Documentation

·       Communicate directly with end users, government stakeholders, and contract counterparts: explain issues and impact in plain language, set expectations on timelines, and confirm outcomes.

·       Write clear ticket notes and work logs in ServiceNow as work happens, so another engineer can pick up the issue without re-contacting the user.

·       Maintain technical documentation, runbooks, SOPs, knowledge articles, and architecture diagrams, and update them after incidents, changes, and projects.

·       Guide other administrators and review their runbooks, change requests, and ticket documentation when asked.

Required Skills:

·       10+ years of Microsoft infrastructure administration experience, including 5+ years of hands-on Azure administration and engineering.

·       Strong experience with:

o   Microsoft Azure (networking, virtual machines, storage, Backup and Site Recovery)

o   Microsoft Entra ID and hybrid Active Directory

o   Windows Server and Linux server administration

o   Microsoft 365 administration

o   PowerShell automation

o   Microsoft Configuration Manager (MCM)

·       Experience administering controls that support Zero Trust, such as Conditional Access and PIM.

·       Demonstrated experience resolving Tier 3 incidents in a ticketed (ITSM) environment while carrying O&M and project assignments, using a repeatable troubleshooting process.

·       Demonstrated experience following a formal change management process (change requests, change board review, implementation and rollback plans).

·       Demonstrated experience planning and delivering small-scale IT projects through closeout.

·       Experience as a senior or lead technical resource, including guiding other administrators and owning technical decisions within an assigned area.

·       Experience working directly with end users and government or customer stakeholders, verbally and in writing.

Preferred Qualifications:

·       Microsoft certifications: Azure Administrator Associate (AZ-104), Identity and Access Administrator Associate (SC-300), or Microsoft 365 Administrator Expert (MS-102) or its successor

·       ITIL 4 Foundation or equivalent IT service management training

·       Experience with ServiceNow, Azure DevOps (ADO), NinjaOne, and Datadog

·       Prior experience supporting a federal agency

SES provides a competitive salary and the following benefits:

• Medical
• Dental
• Vision
• AD&D
• STD
• LTD
• Company paid Life Insurance
• 401k with employer contribution
• Paid Time Off
• Pet Insurance