Senior Microsoft Cloud Operations Engineer

XCell, LLC; Washington, Northern (District of Columbia, KY); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 230,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health Insurance

Paid Time Off

Flex Schedule

Training & Budget Tools

Job summary

XCell, LLC, in Washington, DC, seeks a Senior Microsoft Cloud Operations Engineer to run and secure an enterprise Microsoft 365, Azure, and security environment for a federal customer. You will operate, harden, and advance the tenant, lead on identity and Zero Trust, and keep the environment audit-ready. Candidates must be U.S.

citizens, U.S.-based, and able to work on-site in DC. In this senior role, you will administer Entra ID, Intune, Defender, and Azure infra, while building automation with

Qualifications

• Active Microsoft certifications listed above and maintained for about five years.
• Experience running enterprise Microsoft 365, Azure, and security platforms.
• Strong documentation, change-management, and stakeholder communication.
• Ability to operate with minimal supervision in a federal-like environment.

Responsibilities

• Administer Entra ID, CA, privileged access, and least-privilege models.
• Manage 700+ endpoints via Intune and Autopilot with policy delivery.
• Operate Defender, Sentinel, and Purview; support incident readiness.
• Support Exchange Online, Teams, SharePoint Online and Azure infrastructure.
• Build PowerShell and Graph automation across APIs.
• Create Power BI dashboards for health, compliance, spend, and forecasts.
• Align configurations to NIST 800-53, Zero Trust, FedRAMP Moderate; ensure audit readiness.
• Provide senior technical advisory and drive change-management artifacts.

Skills

Microsoft Entra ID

Intune

Autopilot

Defender

Sentinel

Purview

Exchange Online

Azure

PowerShell

Microsoft Graph

Power BI

Education

Microsoft 365 Certified: Administrator Expert

Microsoft Certified: Cybersecurity Architect Expert

Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert

Microsoft Certified: Identity and Access Administrator Associate

Microsoft Certified: Windows Server Hybrid Administrator Associate

Microsoft 365 Certified: Teams Administrator Associate

Microsoft Certified: Information Security Administrator Associate

Senior, independent operator

Tools

PowerShell

Microsoft Graph

Azure Portal

Intune Console

Job description

Senior Microsoft Cloud Operations Engineer

Engineering Contract On-site, Washington, DC

XCell was born out of a passion for using the power of design to transform organizations in ways that build up our communities. We work in small, fast-paced agile teams that use Design Thinking to help Government, Non-Profit and Educational organizations solve complex challenges. We value our team and culture — finding the right fit takes time, and we believe in hiring slow.

• U.S. citizenship is required.
• Must be U.S.-based and able to work on-site in Washington, DC.
• Must be able to pass a federal background investigation and suitability determination for access to the customer’s systems and facilities.

What it looks like

We are looking for a Senior Microsoft Cloud Engineer to run and secure an enterprise Microsoft 365, Azure, and Microsoft Security environment for a federal customer in Washington, DC. You will operate, harden, and advance the tenant, lead on identity and Zero Trust, and keep the environment secure, resilient, and audit-ready. This is a senior, hands-on role for someone who can operate independently and advise stakeholders. Candidates must be U.S. citizens, U.S.-based, and able to work on-site in DC.

In this role you will:

• Identity and access:administer Microsoft Entra ID, Conditional Access, privileged access, and least-privilege models; manage MFA including provider transitions, third-party MFA, and Smart Card and FIDO2 authentication.
• Endpoints at scale:manage Windows, macOS, and iOS devices through Microsoft Intune and Autopilot across 700+ endpoints, including compliance and policy delivery.
• Security operations:run Microsoft Defender, Sentinel, and Purview; manage Sentinel data sources and monitor ingestion and log-quality health; support incident response readiness.
• Collaboration and Azure:support Exchange Online, Microsoft Teams, and SharePoint Online, and provide Azure infrastructure, networking, and hybrid integration.
• Automation:build and lock down PowerShell and Microsoft Graph automation across the relevant APIs.
• Reporting and cost:build Power BI dashboards for systems health, compliance, spend and forecast, and utilization; configure Azure budgets with early overage alerting.
• Compliance and continuity:align configurations to NIST SP 800-53, NIST SP 800-207 Zero Trust, and FedRAMP Moderate; keep the tenant audit-ready and support incident and disaster recovery.
• Change and advisory:work through formal change management, maintain documentation, SOPs, and runbooks, and serve as a senior technical advisor to the team.

What we are looking for

• Current Microsoft certifications (hard requirement):you must currently hold, and have maintained for about five years, the following active certifications. Expired certifications, or certifications never used professionally, will not qualify.
• Microsoft 365 Certified: Administrator Expert
• Microsoft Certified: Cybersecurity Architect Expert
• Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert
• Microsoft Certified: Identity and Access Administrator Associate
• Microsoft Certified: Windows Server Hybrid Administrator Associate
• Microsoft 365 Certified: Teams Administrator Associate
• Microsoft Certified: Information Security Administrator Associate
• Senior, independent operator:able to run an enterprise Microsoft cloud environment with minimal supervision and sound technical judgment.
• Deep hands-on experience:across Entra, Intune and Autopilot, Defender, Sentinel, Purview, Exchange Online, and Azure.
• Strong communication:able to advise stakeholders and collaborate across network, cybersecurity, and cloud teams.

Nice-to-have

• Experience in a federal or highly regulated environment.
• Hybrid Active Directory, M365, and Entra tiered-security experience.
• Experience preparing for audits, assessments, and compliance reviews.
• Two to four short technical writing samples you personally authored (documentation, design docs, PowerShell, SOPs).

Qualifications / Experience

• Proven senior-level experience operating enterprise Microsoft 365, Azure, and Microsoft Security platforms.
• All eight Microsoft certifications listed above, currently active and maintained roughly five years.
• Experience implementing Zero Trust, least privilege, and Conditional Access at enterprise scale.
• Strong documentation, change-management, and stakeholder-communication skills.

What we care about

• You, the person. Bring your whole, authentic self, not a version you think we want to see.
• Your passions, professional and personal, even if they have nothing to do with the job.
• Your honest thoughts on technology, teamwork, and how you approach problems.

Location & On-site Requirement

• On-site in Washington, DC. This is not a remote role.
• Applicants must be U.S. citizens, U.S.-based, and able to work on-site in DC.
• Applicants must live in, or be willing to relocate to, the DC metro area.

Work Authorization

We participate in E-Verify. Upon hire, we provide the federal government with your Form I-9 information to confirm you are authorized to work in the U.S. XCell is a federal contractor, and all positions require work to be performed within the United States.

Health Insurance Paid Time Off Flex Schedule Training & Budget Tools

Benefits

Health Insurance Paid Time Off Flex Schedule Training & Budget Tools We participate in E-Verify. XCell is a federal contractor; all positions require work to be done within the United States. U.S. Citizenship or Naturalization is required.