Senior Security Administrator

Vaco by Highspring; Birmingham (AL); Hybrid; USD 110,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Vaco by Highspring is seeking a Senior Security Administrator to act as a hands-on technical leader within a fast-paced MSP environment. The role focuses on Microsoft 365 identity and access management, customer security operations, and process improvement.

You will mentor staff, establish consistent practices, and elevate security maturity across customer environments. The position balances advanced technical work with leadership responsibilities, with remote or hybrid flexibility to fit a

Qualifications

• Strong hands-on experience with Microsoft 365 security, Entra ID and IAM concepts.
• Knowledge of SAML, OpenID Connect, MFA and modern identity practices.
• Approximately 5+ years in IT, systems, identity or security.
• Experience in a fast-paced managed services or customer-focused setting.
• Proven ability to lead initiatives and mentor engineers or admins.
• Ability to operate independently and own security-related work.
• Experience handling security incidents and escalations.
• Ability to support onboarding/offboarding from a security perspective.
• Strong troubleshooting, communication and documentation skills.
• Comfort with ambiguity and adapting to changing priorities.

Responsibilities

• Lead Microsoft 365 identity and security initiatives.
• Own Tier 2 security and identity work in customer environments.
• Serve as primary escalation point for complex security issues.
• Configure and troubleshoot Entra ID, SAML, OIDC, and MFA.
• Lead customer onboarding and offboarding from a security perspective.
• Mentor junior security resources and establish best practices.
• Drive process improvement, automation, and security maturity.
• Participate in customer calls for projects, escalations, or sales support.
• Balance hands-on work with team leadership and knowledge sharing.

Skills

Microsoft 365 security

Entra ID

Identity & access management

SAML

OIDC

MFA

Team leadership

Mentoring

Troubleshooting

Documentation

Customer onboarding

Tools

Duo

Huntress

SharePoint

Keeper

Inky

Job description

Senior Security Administrator

About the Role

We are seeking a Senior Security Administrator to serve as a hands-on technical leader within a fast-paced managed services environment. This role is focused on Microsoft 365 identity and access management, customer security operations, process improvement, and team development. It is not a traditional SOC or threat-hunting position. The ideal candidate will own complex security and identity work while serving as a trusted escalation point, mentor, and technical resource for the broader team. Strong leadership is critical. This person should be able to guide junior team members, establish consistent practices, improve processes, and help increase the overall security maturity of customer environments.

What You'll Do

• Serve as a senior technical leader and trusted resource for Microsoft 365 identity and security initiatives.
• Own Tier 2 security and identity work within Microsoft 365 customer environments.
• Act as the primary escalation point for complex security, identity, and access issues raised by the support team.
• Configure and troubleshoot Entra ID, SAML, OpenID Connect, multifactor authentication, and related identity services.
• Lead customer onboarding and offboarding activities from a security and identity perspective.
• Mentor junior security and support resources through technical challenges, troubleshooting, and security best practices.
• Help establish clear standards, documentation, repeatable processes, and a consistent quality bar across the team.
• Improve and streamline identity, onboarding, offboarding, and security administration processes.
• Drive process improvement, automation, and stronger security practices across customer environments.
• Participate in customer calls for projects, escalations, and sales support when needed.
• Balance hands-on technical execution with team leadership and knowledge sharing.

Required Qualifications

• Strong hands-on experience with Microsoft 365 security, Entra ID, and identity and access management concepts.
• Working knowledge of SAML, OpenID Connect, multifactor authentication, and modern identity practices.
• Approximately 5 or more years of IT, systems, identity, or security experience preferred.
• Experience working in a fast-paced managed services environment or a similarly high-volume, customer-focused setting.
• Proven ability to lead technical initiatives and serve as a trusted resource for other engineers or administrators.
• Experience mentoring junior team members and helping build their technical capabilities.
• Ability to operate independently, take ownership, and move work forward without close oversight.
• Experience handling security incidents and escalations from support or service teams.
• Ability to support customer onboarding and offboarding from a security and identity perspective.
• Strong troubleshooting, communication, documentation, and decision-making skills.
• Comfort working through ambiguity, adapting quickly, learning from setbacks, and managing changing priorities.
• Broad systems knowledge with strong learning ability and the confidence to work across unfamiliar tools.
• Collaborative, low-ego, adaptable working style with a seasoned client-facing presence.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-moving MSP environment rather than a rigid or slow-paced enterprise structure.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with Duo.
• Experience with Huntress.
• Exposure to SharePoint.
• Experience with Inky.
• Experience with Keeper.
• Experience with additional Microsoft 365 or managed security tools.
• Interest in automation and scripting to improve future processes and scalability.

Typical Responsibilities

• Resolve security ticket escalations and complex identity issues.
• Configure, maintain, and troubleshoot identity and access services.
• Execute and oversee customer onboarding and offboarding activities.
• Coach team members and provide technical guidance during escalations.
• Lead process improvement and documentation initiatives.
• Join occasional customer meetings tied to tickets, projects, escalations, or sales support.
• Help prevent knowledge gaps by sharing expertise and building repeatable team practices.

Leadership & Working Style

• Leads by example while remaining actively involved in day-to-day technical work.
• Provides clear direction, constructive guidance, and practical mentorship to less experienced team members.
• Creates structure in ambiguous situations and helps the team move forward with confidence.
• Takes accountability for execution, service quality, and follow-through.
• Communicates clearly with technical teams, business partners, and customers.
• Builds trust through sound judgment, consistency, humility, and a willingness to help others succeed.

Work Environment

This is a direct-hire individual contributor role with a strong technical leadership and mentorship component. It is best suited for someone who thrives in a high-autonomy, fast-moving environment and is comfortable balancing customer needs, escalations, process improvement, and team development. Remote or hybrid flexibility is available.

Equal Opportunity Notice

Highspring LLC (d/b/a Vaco by Highspring) and its parents, affiliates, and subsidiaries ("we," "our," or "Vaco by Highspring") are committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals and does not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race (including but not limited to traits historically associated with race such as hair texture and hair style), color, sex (includes pregnancy or related conditions), religion or creed, national origin, citizenship, age, disability, status as a veteran, union membership, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, political affiliation, or any other protected characteristics as required by applicable law. The company is also committed to ensuring that persons who need them are provided with reasonable accommodations; if an accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, please contact [e-mail] .

Vaco by Highspring also wants all applicants to know their rights that workplace discrimination is illegal.

For residents of Ontario, Canada only: to the extent the position for employment is not with Highspring or not otherwise noted as vacant above, candidate should be informed that this role is to replace a presently employed person at Vaco by Highspring's client.