M365 Transition Migration Lead

Cognizant; Toronto; Hybrid; CAD 109,000 - 118,000; Full time

Job summary

Cognizant is seeking an M365 Transition Migration Lead to drive enterprise-scale Microsoft 365 transition and migration programs across collaboration, messaging, identity, and productivity platforms. You will plan, coordinate, and execute migrations with minimal business disruption and ensure secure, compliant adoption.

You will collaborate with business stakeholders, technology teams, security partners, and GRC to deliver scalable M365 solutions, establish governance, and monitor performance

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience in Microsoft 365 administration and migration.
• Hands-on with Exchange Online, Teams, SharePoint Online, OneDrive, Entra ID.
• Experience leading large-scale enterprise migrations and governance initiatives.
• Knowledge of governance, security, compliance, and information protection.
• Experience with tenancy administration, policy management, licensing, and service monitoring.
• Strong cross-functional communication and stakeholder management.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end planning, coordination, and execution of M365 migrations.
• Develop migration strategies and technical roadmaps.
• Coordinate waves, cutovers, and schedules across workloads.
• Administer and monitor M365 environments and licensing.
• Establish governance frameworks for access, data handling, and provisioning.
• Collaborate with GRC teams to implement controls.
• Monitor performance, health, and user experience; optimize adoption.
• Create runbooks, procedures, and knowledge articles.
• Support post-migration stabilization and issue resolution.
• Provide executive reporting and manage risks/dependencies.
• Partner with security, infra, and architecture teams for resilience.
• Enable secure hybrid work and remote access.
• Drive improvements by applying lessons learned.

Skills

Microsoft 365 administration

Migration planning

Governance & compliance

Stakeholder management

Analytics & troubleshooting

Hybrid work experience

Project coordination

Security & data protection

Tools

Tenant administration tools

Job description

About the Role

As an M365 Transition Migration Lead, you will make an impact by leading enterprise-wide Microsoft 365 transition and migration programs across collaboration, messaging, identity, and productivity platforms. You will be responsible for planning and executing complex migration initiatives, ensuring seamless adoption, maintaining governance and compliance standards, and driving operational excellence across global environments. You will collaborate with business stakeholders, technology teams, security partners, and support organizations to deliver secure, scalable, and user-centric M365 solutions.

In this role, you will

• Lead end-to-end planning, coordination, and execution of Microsoft 365 transition and migration programs with minimal disruption to business operations.
• Conduct discovery and assessment activities for existing email, collaboration, productivity, and identity platforms to develop migration strategies and technical roadmaps.
• Coordinate migration waves, cutover activities, and transition schedules across Microsoft 365 workloads.
• Administer and support Microsoft 365 environments, including tenant configuration, licensing, security policies, and service monitoring.
• Establish and maintain governance frameworks for Microsoft 365 services, including access management, data handling, and service provisioning standards.
• Collaborate with Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) teams to implement controls that support regulatory requirements and data protection objectives.
• Monitor migration performance, service health, and user experience metrics to identify optimization opportunities and improve platform adoption.
• Develop and maintain migration runbooks, operational procedures, support documentation, and knowledge articles.
• Support hypercare activities and post-migration stabilization efforts, addressing technical issues and optimizing configurations.
• Manage stakeholder communications, executive reporting, project updates, risks, dependencies, and mitigation plans.
• Partner with security, infrastructure, and architecture teams to ensure Microsoft 365 integrations align with enterprise standards and resilience requirements.
• Enable secure hybrid work capabilities, including collaboration, content sharing, identity management, and remote access solutions.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives by incorporating lessons learned into migration methodologies, templates, and standards.
• Coordinate with support and operations teams to ensure successful transition into steady-state support models.

Work model

We believe hybrid work is the way forward as we strive to provide flexibility wherever possible. Based on this role’s business requirements, this is a hybrid position requiring 3 days a week in a client or Cognizant office in Toronto, ON. Regardless of your working arrangement, we are here to support a healthy work-life balance through our various wellbeing programs.

The working arrangements for this role are accurate as of the date of posting. This may change based on the project you’re engaged in, as well as business and client requirements. Rest assured; we will always be clear about role expectations.

What you need to have to be considered

• 8+ years of experience in Microsoft 365 administration, migration, and enterprise collaboration platform support.
• Strong hands-on expertise with Microsoft 365 services, including Exchange Online, Microsoft Teams, SharePoint Online, OneDrive, Entra ID (Azure AD), and related administrative functions.
• Experience leading large-scale transition and migration programs in enterprise environments.
• Knowledge of Microsoft 365 governance, security, compliance, and information protection capabilities.
• Experience with tenant administration, policy management, licensing, identity integration, and service monitoring.
• Understanding of governance, risk, and compliance principles within collaboration and productivity platforms.
• Strong project coordination, stakeholder management, and communication skills with the ability to influence cross-functional teams.
• Experience developing migration strategies, cutover plans, operating procedures, and transition documentation.
• Strong analytical and troubleshooting skills with the ability to resolve complex migration and operational challenges.
• Ability to interpret operational metrics and translate findings into actionable improvements.
• Experience supporting global organizations and distributed teams within hybrid work environments.

These will help you stand out

• Experience with large-scale Microsoft 365 tenant-to-tenant migrations.
• Knowledge of Microsoft Purview, Information Protection, Data Loss Prevention (DLP), and Compliance Manager.
• Experience supporting governance and compliance initiatives in regulated environments.
• Familiarity with migration and assessment tools used for Microsoft 365 modernization projects.
• Experience driving organizational change management and user adoption programs.
• Exposure to enterprise architecture, identity modernization, and cloud transformation initiatives.
• Microsoft 365 Enterprise Administrator-level expertise.
• Microsoft 365 administration, identity/access management, messaging, and GRC certifications preferred.

We're excited to meet people who share our mission and can make an impact in a variety of ways. Don't hesitate to apply, even if you only meet the minimum requirements listed. Think about your transferable experiences and unique skills that make you stand out as someone who can bring new and exciting things to this role.

Total compensation

We regularly assess market data to ensure we offer a competitive compensation package for our associates. The base salary for this position ranges between $108,500.00 – $118,000.00 per year. Where the successful candidate may fall within the range depends on relevant education, work and/or management experience and other business-related and job-necessary qualifications. This position is also eligible for Cognizant’s discretionary annual performance-based bonus, as well as benefits that support your physical, mental and financial wellbeing.