Enterprise Active Directory & Email Services Lead - Secret Clearance

This position is listed on behalf of a partner company, which manages all applications and next steps. Our partner is looking for an Enterprise Active Directory & Email Services Lead – Secret Clearance based in the United States.

As an Enterprise Active Directory & Email Services Lead, you will oversee enterprise identity, directory, authentication, and messaging services across a large-scale hybrid IT environment. You will provide senior technical leadership while managing a team of approximately 12 engineers and administrators responsible for critical Microsoft infrastructure services. Your scope will cover Active Directory, Microsoft Entra ID, Exchange, Microsoft 365, authentication, and enterprise email security. You will drive operational excellence, strengthen security and compliance, and ensure the reliability and availability of essential enterprise services. In addition to resolving complex technical challenges, you will lead modernization, automation, and continuous improvement initiatives. This fully remote leadership opportunity combines hands-on engineering expertise, people management, and strategic service delivery within a secure federal IT environment.

Accountabilities

• Lead, supervise, and develop a team of approximately 12 engineers and administrators specializing in Active Directory, identity management, Exchange, Microsoft 365, and enterprise messaging.

• Manage team recruitment, onboarding, offboarding, staffing, workload distribution, schedules, and on-call rotations.

• Establish individual and team objectives, conduct regular one-on-one meetings and performance reviews, and provide ongoing coaching and career development support.

• Identify technical skill gaps and coordinate training, professional development, upskilling, and certification initiatives.

• Promote a collaborative, accountable, and high-performing team culture while addressing performance concerns and resolving workplace conflicts in coordination with HR when necessary.

• Lead regular team meetings, technical discussions, and knowledge-sharing sessions to strengthen technical capabilities and operational consistency.

• Own the overall health, reliability, security, and L2/L3 engineering support of enterprise Active Directory, Microsoft Entra ID, ADFS, identity synchronization, hybrid Exchange, Exchange Online, and email security services.

• Govern Active Directory architecture and operations, including forests, domains, sites and services, trusts, Group Policy Objects (GPOs), delegation, DNS, replication, SYSVOL, and functional-level standards.

• Oversee Microsoft Entra ID services, including Conditional Access, Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), Single Sign-On (SSO), authentication methods, application integrations, and modern authentication capabilities.

• Manage hybrid Exchange and Exchange Online environments, ensuring reliable mail routing, connectors, SMTP relays, transport rules, mail tracing, certificate management, and hybrid configurations.

• Strengthen enterprise email security through SPF, DKIM, DMARC, anti-phishing controls, email security gateway optimization, retention policies, and messaging compliance measures.

• Lead responses to high-severity incidents, coordinate root-cause investigations, implement corrective actions, and oversee problem management activities.

• Define, monitor, and report service performance indicators, including KPIs and SLOs covering directory services, authentication, synchronization, mail flow, and email security.

• Review and approve complex technical and architectural changes, ensuring appropriate risk assessments, rollback strategies, implementation plans, and supporting documentation.

• Drive infrastructure modernization, automation, technical debt reduction, configuration standardization, and improvements to operational procedures and runbooks.

• Collaborate with cybersecurity, cloud, VMware, infrastructure, networking, application, and compliance teams to ensure integrated service delivery.

• Lead client and service governance meetings, communicating operational priorities, service health, risks, incidents, and improvement initiatives in clear business terms.

• Maintain operational documentation, audit readiness, security controls, and compliance with established enterprise and federal requirements.

Requirements

• At least 10 years of professional experience in enterprise infrastructure, identity management, directory services, messaging, or Microsoft platform operations and engineering.

• At least 5 years of hands-on experience with Active Directory and Microsoft identity services in large-scale hybrid enterprise environments.

• At least 5 years of experience with Exchange, Exchange Online, Microsoft 365 messaging, SMTP and mail flow management, and enterprise email security operations .

• At least 3 years of direct technical team leadership or management experience , preferably supervising teams of 10 or more employees, including staffing, performance management, coaching, and workload planning.

• Extensive knowledge of enterprise Active Directory architecture and administration, including forests, domains, trusts, GPOs, DNS, replication, and directory services governance.

• Strong technical expertise in Microsoft Entra ID, ADFS, identity synchronization, MFA, Conditional Access, SSO, and modern authentication technologies.

• Demonstrated experience managing hybrid Exchange environments and Exchange Online, including mail routing, connectors, SMTP relays, transport rules, certificates, and messaging security.

• Strong understanding of email authentication and protection technologies, particularly SPF, DKIM, DMARC, anti-phishing controls, and email security gateways.

• An active Secret Security Clearance is mandatory.

• A valid CompTIA Security+ certification or another DoD IAT Level II-compliant certification is required.

• Demonstrated experience with IT Service Management (ITSM) frameworks, including incident, problem, and change management processes.

• Experience defining and monitoring service performance metrics, maintaining technical documentation, and participating in client and stakeholder governance activities.

• Strong leadership, communication, and interpersonal skills, with the ability to motivate technical teams, manage competing priorities, and communicate complex technical matters to business stakeholders.

• Excellent analytical and problem-solving abilities, particularly when managing critical enterprise infrastructure and high-priority incidents.

Preferred qualifications

• Experience with Microsoft Defender for Office 365, Proofpoint, Mimecast, Cisco email security solutions, CyberArk, SailPoint, Infoblox, VMware, Microsoft Azure, and ServiceNow.

• Practical experience with PowerShell scripting and automation, configuration-as-code, Infrastructure as Code (IaC), and operational dashboard development.

• Previous experience in regulated, public-sector, defense, or other secure environments requiring audit evidence, privileged access management, and formal change governance.

• Experience leading identity and messaging modernization initiatives, such as ADFS reduction, Conditional Access implementation, Exchange Online migrations, on-premises infrastructure decommissioning, and DMARC enforcement.

• Formal people-management training, experience with structured performance management frameworks, or recognized supervisory and leadership certifications.

Benefits

• Competitive annual salary ranging from $102,800 to $150,000 , depending on experience and qualifications.

• Fully remote working arrangement, offering the flexibility to work from anywhere in the United States.

• Full-time leadership opportunity overseeing a specialized team of approximately 12 technical professionals.

• Opportunity to lead enterprise-scale Microsoft infrastructure, identity management, and messaging services.

• Exposure to modern identity and access management technologies, cloud platforms, and advanced email security solutions.

• Opportunity to drive strategic modernization, automation, and cybersecurity improvement initiatives.

• Professional development opportunities through technical training, certifications, and leadership development.

• Collaborative environment involving cybersecurity, cloud engineering, infrastructure, and enterprise technology teams.

• Opportunity to contribute to mission-critical services within a secure federal IT environment.

How Jobgether works

We use an AI-powered matching process to ensure your application is reviewed quickly, objectively, and fairly against the role's core requirements. Our system identifies the top-fitting candidates, and this shortlist is then shared directly with the hiring company. The final decision and next steps (interviews, assessments) are managed by their internal team.

We appreciate your interest and wish you the best!

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