Information Assurance Specialist

Planet Technologies; Washington; On-site; USD 110,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

Planet Technologies, the Nation’s leading Microsoft services provider to the public sector, is seeking an Information Assurance Specialist to advance security baselines and cloud governance. You will work on Azure DevOps, apply Scrum, and drive remediation strategies while supporting critical federal projects.

The role requires hands-on experience with GPOs, Intune, CIS benchmarks, NIST/FedRAMP controls, and Azure RBAC. Public Trust readiness is a plus; strong communication is essential.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree and 3–5 years of relevant work experience with network engineering and/or system administration background (Unix/Linux/Windows).
• 3–5 years aligning infrastructure with NIST SP 800-53 Rev 5 or FedRAMP security controls.
• Experience authoring and deploying hardening guidance using CIS Benchmarks including Azure Foundations.
• Proficiency understanding and managing GPOs and Intune configuration policies.
• Strong understanding of cloud networking (NSGs, VNet, Azure Firewall, WAF, Private Link).
• Azure RBAC governance, logging/monitoring implementations, and data protection concepts.
• Ability to author/test Azure Policy definitions to enforce baselines across subscriptions.
• Experience with Microsoft Defender for Cloud and its compliance dashboards.
• Clear communication to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Experience securing Azure/Azure Government environments and willingness to obtain Public Trust Clearance.

Responsibilities

• Security Baseline Implementation: enforce CIS and Azure Foundations baselines across endpoints and servers.
• Manage GPOs and Intune configurations to enforce least privilege and secure Windows environments.
• Translate GPOs to cloud management using Intune Settings Catalogs and Endpoint Security configurations.
• Align technical configurations with IA frameworks and map to auditable controls.
• Identify and assess security risks by comparing configurations to established frameworks.
• Advise stakeholders on viability of remediation and mitigation controls.
• Lead security engagements to mature SOPs for IA processes and communications.

Skills

Security baseline implementation

GPO/Intune policy management

Azure policy definitions

Azure DevOps collaboration

Defender for Cloud monitoring

Azure RBAC governance

Education

Bachelor's degree in IT or related field

Tools

Azure DevOps

Microsoft Intune

GPO management

Azure Policy

Defender for Cloud

Job description

Planet Technologies, the Nation’s leading Microsoft services provider to the public sector, is looking for a highly motivated individual to join our growing team asan Information Assurance Specialist . In this role, you will be supporting impactful projects that make a difference for our country.

The Information Assurance Specialist utilizes knowledge of Federal sector security processes, hardening of systems, and is essential to the team in managing projects in Azure DevOps, applying Scrum principles and practices to remove impediments and deliver value and foster a collaborative environment.

Responsibilities

• Security Baseline Implementation: Implement, manage, and enforce robust security baselines and benchmarks such as CIS Benchmarks and Azure Foundations across enterprise endpoints and server infrastructure.
• Microsoft Group Policy (GPO): Technical expertise to support and audit Active Directory Group Policy Objects (GPOs) to enforce least privilege, disable insecure legacy protocols, and harden on-premises Windows environments.
• Microsoft Intune Policy Management Configuration: Experience translating traditional GPOs into modern cloud management frameworks using Microsoft Intune Settings Catalogs, Administrative Templates, and Endpoint Security configurations.
• Compliance Mapping & Governance: Aligning technical configuration baselines directly with overarching Information Assurance (IA) frameworks, ensuring that GPO and Intune policy maps cleanly to auditable compliance controls.
• Risk Identification & Assessment: Ability to identify, evaluate, and categorize security risks within organizational systems by analyzing technical configurations against established frameworks (such as NIST SP 800-30 or FedRAMP risk assessments).
• Guide stakeholders in determining and integrating baseline security requirements, advise on viability of alternative approaches.
• Propose remediation/mitigating controls and recommendations to stakeholders and management to minimize risk.
• Lead security team engagements to build and mature processes to produce written Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) with a focus on improvement to FERC’s Information Assurance processes, methodologies, and communication methods.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree and 3-5 years of relevant work experience withnetwork engineering and/or system administration background (Unix/Linux/Windows).
• Framework Alignment: Minimum of 3–5 years of experience aligning infrastructure with NIST SP 800-53 Rev 5 or FedRAMP security control frameworks.
• Infrastructure Hardening: Proven track record authoring and deploying hardening guidance using CIS Benchmarks including Azure Foundations.
• Policy Management: Technical proficiency understanding and managing Microsoft Group Policy Objects (GPOs) and Microsoft Intune configuration policies.
• Network & Endpoint Security: Strong understanding of cloud networking architecture, including NSGs, VNet segmentation, Azure Firewall, WAF, and Private Link.
• Identity & Governance: Strong understanding of Azure RBAC policies, configuring logging/monitoring solutions, and implementing data protection mechanisms.
• Skilled in authoring, testing, and debugging Azure Policy definitions and blueprints to automatically enforce configuration benchmarks (like CIS Azure Foundations) across subscriptions.
• Direct experience utilizing Microsoft Defender for Cloud and its Regulatory Compliance dashboard to monitor and report on security posture
• Ability to articulate ideas to both technical and non-technical audiences through excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Ability to independently collect, review, and evaluate IT product data to identify and characterize security threat sources of concern and provide recommendations to Government leadership.
• Experience securing infrastructure within Microsoft Azure or Azure Government environments.
• Must possess a valid baseline security certification (e.g., CompTIA Security+, CISSP, CEH, or DoD equivalent).
• Ability to obtain Public Trust Clearance

Planet Technologies is the leading provider of Microsoft Consulting Services to public sector and commercial organizations.Planet has significant experience in deploying business intelligence, cloud services, unified communications, and systems management with an emphasis building, deploying, and managing custom solutions that transform the business operations of federal government agencies.

Planet Technologies does not discriminate in employment opportunities, terms and conditions of employment, or practices. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, age, gender, religious or political beliefs, national origin or heritage, disability, sexual orientation, protected veteran status, or any characteristic protected by law. Select positions at Planet Technologies have Federal Agency Clearance Requirements and may require up to a 10-year background investigation and/or US Citizenship (clearable).

Salaries for Information Assurance Specialists at Planet Technologies range from $110,000 and $200,000. Several factors will impact final pay offered to a successful candidate including but not limited to the type and years of experience within the job, clearance level, the type of years and experience within the industry, education, training, etc.

Visit www.go-planet.com to learn more about us. Details about our benefits can be found here 2026-2027 Recruitment Guide (1).pdf.docx

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses and identifying potential inconsistencies or verification signals in application materials based on available information. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.