Windows Patching Lead

Cognizant; Toronto; On-site; CAD 60,000 - 85,000; Full time

Job summary

Cognizant is seeking a Windows Patching Lead in Toronto to own the full Windows patch lifecycle across a large endpoint estate. You will manage patch deployment, reporting, and governance while interfacing with client L2/L3 teams during Canada business hours and weekend windows.

The role requires 10+ years in Windows administration, 4+ years in a lead capacity, and ITIL 4 Foundation certification, with hybrid onshore work in Canada.

Qualifications

• 10+ years in Windows Server/desktop administration and patching
• 4+ years as tower/pod lead
• Experience owning full Windows patch lifecycle (SCCM/MECM/WSUS/Intune/Tanium)
• Client-facing lead for Windows patching across 190,000+ endpoints
• Able to work during Canada business hours and weekend change windows
• English language proficiency mandatory

Responsibilities

• Plan and execute monthly Patch-Tuesday updates and patches
• Manage SCCM/MECM deployment rings and WSUS approvals
• Run pre-flight checks and reboot orchestration with post-patch tests
• Coordinate app-owner sign-off and change-window adherence
• Maintain patching governance reports and KPI dashboards
• Oversight of offshore SMEs during onshore hours
• Coordinate with client NOC during weekend windows

Skills

OS Expertise

Patch Tools

Automation

ITSM & Vuln

Observability

Education

ITIL 4 Foundation

Microsoft Windows Server Certifications

Tools

SCCM/MECM

WSUS

Intune

Tanium

BigFix

PowerShell

Ansible

Job description

About the group:

Cognizant’s Cloud, Infrastructure, and Security Services Practice (CIS), is all about accepting digital transformation by driving core modernization holistically across layers. We help customers transform infrastructure and workplace to meet the constantly evolving needs of the digital era. Our broad approach delivers key results for our customers by achieving cloud driven modernization and workplace and operational transformation to own the business in a secure environment.

Please note, this role is not able to offer visa transfer or sponsorship now or in the future

Role: Windows Patching Lead

Location: Toronto, ON

ROLE SUMMARY

10+ years in Windows Server/desktop administration and patching; 4+ years as tower/pod lead

The Windows Patching Tower Lead (Onshore) is the subject matter expert and client-facing lead for all Windows patching across a 190,000+ endpoint estate. This individual owns the full Windows patch lifecycle — SCCM/MECM/WSUS/Intune/Tanium-driven wave execution, GPO management, reboot orchestration, and compliance reporting — while acting as the primary Wintel interface to client L2/L3 teams and application owners during Canada business hours and weekend change windows.

ROLE IN THE OPERATING MODEL

• Tower/pod lead and subject-matter expert for Windows patching — owns execution, quality, and compliance for the Windows tower
• Primary Wintel interface to client L2/L3 engineers and application owners during Canada hours and weekend windows
• Coordinates app-owner sign-off post-patching and owns Windows tower compliance reporting to the Patch Service Lead
• Operates as the Windows execution layer under client direction; gold image/packaging engineering remains client L2/L3 owned
• Directs and reviews the work of Windows-assigned offshore SMEs during onshore hours

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Plan and execute monthly Patch-Tuesday cumulative/quality updates, hotfixes, and out-of-band/zero-day patches via SCCM/MECM, WSUS, Intune, and Tanium
• Manage SCCM/MECM deployment rings, collections, maintenance windows, WSUS approvals, and GPO-driven patch policies across servers and end-user devices
• Run pre-flight checks — disk space, connectivity, pending reboots, backup confirmation — and reboot orchestration with post-patch smoke tests
• Coordinate application-owner sign-off and change-window adherence; track compliance via Tenable/Qualys and remediate non-compliant assets
• Update CMDB patch levels, close vulnerability tickets, and maintain KEDB; perform RCA and rollback (KB uninstall) for failed patches
• Manage EOL/EOS tracking for Windows versions; flag end-of-support risks to the Patch Service Lead
• Own Windows tower compliance reporting; present KPIs and exception summaries to the Patch Service Lead for governance reviews
• Coordinate with client NOC during weekend change windows; manage escalation to client Wintel L2/L3 within agreed SLTs

TECHNICAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE SCOPE

• Execute monthly Patch-Tuesday and out-of-battery patch cycles via SCCM/MECM, WSUS, Intune, and Tanium across Windows Server 2016–2025 and Windows 10/11
• Configure and manage SCCM/MECM collections, deployment rings, WSUS approval policies, and GPO-driven patch rollouts
• Run pre-flight readiness checks (disk, connectivity, pending reboots, backup), reboot orchestration, and post-patch smoke tests
• Track compliance posture via Tenable/Qualys; remediate non-compliant assets and close vulnerability tickets in ServiceNow
• Author and submit RFC/CAB documentation for Windows patch waves; coordinate maintenance window scheduling
• Perform KB uninstall rollback for failed patches; document RCA and update KEDB
• Generate Windows tower compliance reports for cycle governance and coordinate app-owner sign-off

SKILLS, TOOLS & COMPETENCIES

Primary Skills

OS Expertise Windows Server 2016–2025 · Windows 10/11 · Active Directory · Group Policy (GPO) · Servicing stack updates

Patch Tools SCCM/MECM (deep) · WSUS · Microsoft Intune · Tanium · Windows Update for Business · BigFix (consumer view)

Automation PowerShell scripting · Ansible (Windows modules) · Task Scheduler · WMI/CIM automation

ITSM & Vuln ServiceNow (Change/CMDB) · Tenable · Qualys · RFC/CAB lifecycle · KEDB management

Observability Splunk · Dynatrace · Moogsoft · Windows Event Log analysis

Secondary Skills

• PowerShell and Ansible playbook authoring for Windows patch automation
• SCCM application packaging awareness and end-user device management
• Virtualisation (VMware/Hyper-V) and Azure Windows fundamentals
• VDI patching awareness — Citrix or VMware Horizon

CERTIFICATIONS

Mandatory

• ITIL 4 Foundation

Preferred (one or more)

• Microsoft Certified: Windows Server Hybrid Administrator Associate (AZ-800/AZ-801)
• Microsoft 365 Certified: Endpoint Administrator Associate (MD-102) — SCCM/MECM/Intune
• Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate (AZ-104) — advantageous
• Legacy MCSA: Windows Server acceptable; Tanium Certified Operator a plus

NICE TO HAVE

• Experience managing SCCM environments with 100,000+ endpoints
• Microsoft Endpoint Manager / Intune co-management exposure
• Experience with Windows patch compliance in a regulated financial services environment

WORK MODEL & COMMITMENT

Hours

Canada business hours + weekend change window coverage

Shift Model

Hybrid onshore; participates in Patch-Tuesday and scheduled maintenance windows

On-Call

Yes — weekend patch windows and zero-day escalations

Language

English (mandatory)

Compensation

We are offering between $60,000 – $85,000. Applications will be accepted until Aug 21, 2026.Cognizant will only consider applicants for this position who are legally authorized to work in Canada without requiring employer sponsorship, now or at any time in the future.

Disclaimer

The salary, other compensation, and benefits information is accurate as of the date of this posting. Cognizant reserves the right to modify this information at any time, subject to applicable law.

Please note, this role is not able to offer visa transfer or sponsorship now or in the future