PKI Operator (Remote with travel)

Manchester Digital; Manchester; On-site; GBP 55,000 - 75,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

27 days holiday

Pension up to 5%

Bonus 10%

Sales incentives

Charity donation

Private healthcare

Flexible benefits

Job summary

Manchester Digital is seeking a PKI Operator to provide 3rd and 4th line support for our PKI managed service and its infrastructure. You will handle incidents, perform root cause analysis, deliver changes, and support security best practices.

You will work with customers to maintain performance, integrity and security, keeping up to date with standards. Strong PKI knowledge and experience with Windows Server, AD, and cloud services are required.

Qualifications

• Understanding PKI including CA hierarchies (root/subordinate) and CRLs.
• Windows Server and Active Directory administration.
• DNS/DHCP/TCP/IP familiarity.
• PowerShell scripting for automation.
• RBAC and separation of duties; FIPS 140-2 awareness.
• SIEM, MMC, event logs experience.
• ITIL incident/change management knowledge.
• Cloud experience: AWS/Azure/Intune.
• GDPR and NIST familiarity.

Responsibilities

• Provide 3rd and 4th line PKI support for PKI services and infrastructure.
• Troubleshoot certificate issuance, revocation, enrolment and chain validation issues.
• Manage incidents, service requests and changes within SLA.
• Provision and de-provision Azure AD accounts; set up SSO.
• Monitor Defender portal and respond to security alerts; maintain Intune.
• Certificate lifecycle management including renewals, revocation and rekeying.
• Monitor CA services, CRLs, OCSP responders and AIA/CDP.
• Follow CP/CPS and enforce revocation policies.

Skills

PKI concepts

Windows Server

DNS/DHCP/TCP/IP

PowerShell

RBAC separation

ITIL processes

Cloud: Azure/AWS/Intune

NIST/GDPR

Documentation

Tools

MMC Snap-ins

SIEM tools

Event logs

Backup procedures

Asset management

Job description

As a PKI Operator in our Client Delivery and Managed Services function, you will provide 3rd and 4th line break/fix support for our PKI managed service and its supporting infrastructure. You will also handle day-to-day client requests and fulfilment. You will respond to incidents, carry out root cause analysis, deliver planned changes and support continuous improvement, in line with business needs and security best practice. You will need a good understanding of cryptographic principles and security best practice. You will work closely with the service's customers to maintain performance, integrity and security, and keep up to date with industry standards and emerging technology.

Operational support and incident management

• Provide 3rd and 4th line support for PKI services and supporting infrastructure, including root, subordinate and issuing CAs.
• Troubleshoot and resolve certificate issuance, revocation, auto-enrolment and chain validation issues.
• Manage incidents, service requests and change tickets within SLA.

Infrastructure support and maintenance

• Provision and de-provision Azure AD accounts.
• Set up SSO for applications.
• Monitor the Microsoft Defender portal and respond to security alerts.
• Configure and maintain Microsoft Intune.

Certificate lifecycle management

• Support certificate requests, renewals, revocations and rekeying.
• Monitor critical certificates and ensure timely renewal to prevent outages.
• Maintain an inventory of issued certificates and expiry dates.

System monitoring and maintenance

• Monitor the health of CA services, CRLs, OCSP responders and AIA/CDP availability.
• Ensure regular backups of CA keys, databases, configurations, platforms and state.
• Patch and update PKI servers and services.
• Collect, report on and remediate findings to maintain a cryptographic inventory.

Compliance and security

• Follow security best practice and organisational Certificate Policies (CP) and Certification Practice Statements (CPS).
• Review and manage CA audit logs and maintain compliance documentation.
• Apply role-based access control, separation of duties and HSM usage in line with policy.
• Keep PKI processes, configurations and procedures accurately documented.
• Apply and enforce revocation policies.

Technical Skills And Experience (essential)

• Understanding of PKI concepts, including root, subordinate and issuing CAs, CRLs, OCSP and key management.
• Windows Server administration, particularly Active Directory.
• Familiarity with DNS, DHCP, TCP/IP and common network services.
• Ability to run PowerShell scripts to automate certificate tasks and system checks.
• Awareness of role-based access control, key protection standards (e.g. FIPS 140-2) and separation of duties.
• Experience using MMC snap-ins, event logs and SIEM platforms to identify and resolve issues.
• Experience with IT asset management and discovery tools.
• Understanding of backup procedures.
• Familiarity with ITIL incident, problem and change management.
• Cloud infrastructure experience (AWS, Azure, Intune).
• Familiarity with regulatory frameworks such as NIST and GDPR.
• Strong technical documentation skills (Word, Visio, PowerPoint, Excel).

Soft Skills (essential)

• Clear verbal and written communication with clients.
• Analytical, problem-solving mindset.
• Detail-oriented and compliance-focused.
• Comfortable working independently and in cross-functional teams.
• Able to follow written processes.

Qualifications And Clearance

• Security clearance: DV (required).
• Desirable: CompTIA Security+ or a recognised vendor certification.

Benefits

• 27 days' holiday plus 8 public holidays (pro rata).
• Up to 5% employer pension contribution.
• 10% annual performance-related bonus.
• Uncapped sales incentives.
• Annual charity donation of your choice.
• Flexible benefits payment.
• Private healthcare.

Interview process

• Screening
• Technical interview
• Senior leadership interview with presentation

Start date:

Q4 2026

Diversity and inclusion

We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive team. We strongly encourage applications from under-represented groups, including people of different ethnic backgrounds, genders, ages, disabilities, sexual orientations and socio-economic backgrounds.