Senior Microsoft Cloud Operations Engineer

Citizenship & Eligibility

• U.S. citizenship is required.
• Must be U.S.-based and able to work on-site in Washington, DC.
• Must be able to pass a federal background investigation and suitability determination for access to the customer’s systems and facilities.

What it looks like

We are looking for a Senior Microsoft Cloud Engineer to run and secure an enterprise Microsoft 365, Azure, and Microsoft Security environment for a federal customer in Washington, DC. You will operate, harden, and advance the tenant, lead on identity and Zero Trust, and keep the environment secure, resilient, and audit-ready. This is a senior, hands-on role for someone who can operate independently and advise stakeholders. Candidates must be U.S. citizens, U.S.-based, and able to work on-site in DC.

In this role you will:

• Identity and access: administer Microsoft Entra ID, Conditional Access, privileged access, and least-privilege models; manage MFA including provider transitions, third-party MFA, and Smart Card and FIDO2 authentication.
• Endpoints at scale: manage Windows, macOS, and iOS devices through Microsoft Intune and Autopilot across 700+ endpoints, including compliance and policy delivery.
• Security operations: run Microsoft Defender, Sentinel, and Purview; manage Sentinel data sources and monitor ingestion and log-quality health; support incident response readiness.
• Collaboration and Azure: support Exchange Online, Microsoft Teams, and SharePoint Online, and provide Azure infrastructure, networking, and hybrid integration.
• Automation: build and lock down PowerShell and Microsoft Graph automation across the relevant APIs.
• Reporting and cost: build Power BI dashboards for systems health, compliance, spend and forecast, and utilization; configure Azure budgets with early overage alerting.
• Compliance and continuity: align configurations to NIST SP 800-53, NIST SP 800-207 Zero Trust, and FedRAMP Moderate; keep the tenant audit-ready and support incident and disaster recovery.
• Change and advisory: work through formal change management, maintain documentation, SOPs, and runbooks, and serve as a senior technical advisor to the team.

What we are looking for

• Current Microsoft certifications (hard requirement): you must currently hold, and have maintained for about five years, the following active certifications. Expired certifications, or certifications never used professionally, will not qualify.
• Microsoft 365 Certified: Administrator Expert
• Microsoft Certified: Cybersecurity Architect Expert
• Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert
• Microsoft 365 Certified: Endpoint Administrator Associate
• Microsoft Certified: Identity and Access Administrator Associate
• Microsoft Certified: Windows Server Hybrid Administrator Associate
• Microsoft 365 Certified: Teams Administrator Associate
• Microsoft Certified: Information Security Administrator Associate
• Senior, independent operator: able to run an enterprise Microsoft cloud environment with minimal supervision and sound technical judgment.
• Deep hands-on experience: across Entra, Intune and Autopilot, Defender, Sentinel, Purview, Exchange Online, and Azure.
• Strong communication: able to advise stakeholders and collaborate across network, cybersecurity, and cloud teams.

Nice-to-have

• Experience in a federal or highly regulated environment.
• Hybrid Active Directory, M365, and Entra tiered-security experience.
• Experience preparing for audits, assessments, and compliance reviews.
• Two to four short technical writing samples you personally authored (documentation, design docs, PowerShell, SOPs).

Qualifications / Experience

• Proven senior-level experience operating enterprise Microsoft 365, Azure, and Microsoft Security platforms.
• All eight Microsoft certifications listed above, currently active and maintained roughly five years.
• Experience implementing Zero Trust, least privilege, and Conditional Access at enterprise scale.
• Strong documentation, change-management, and stakeholder-communication skills.

What we care about

• You, the person. Bring your whole, authentic self, not a version you think we want to see.
• Your passions, professional and personal, even if they have nothing to do with the job.
• Your honest thoughts on technology, teamwork, and how you approach problems.

Location & On-site Requirement

• On-site in Washington, DC. This is not a remote role.
• Applicants must be U.S. citizens, U.S.-based, and able to work on-site in DC.
• Applicants must live in, or be willing to relocate to, the DC metro area.

Work Authorization

We participate in E-Verify. Upon hire, we provide the federal government with your Form I-9 information to confirm you are authorized to work in the U.S. XCell is a federal contractor, and all positions require work to be performed within the United States.