Active Directory Specialist

Sasso Consulting; Johannesburg; Hybrid; ZAR 600,000 - 900,000; Full time

Job summary

Sasso Consulting is seeking experienced Active Directory Specialists to design, implement, configure, administer and secure Microsoft Active Directory environments across on-premises and hybrid cloud infrastructures.

Key responsibilities include managing AD DS, DNS, GPOs, domain controllers and identity synchronization while maintaining security, availability and performance across large-scale deployments.

Qualifications

• 3–5 years of relevant experience administering Microsoft Active Directory environments.
• Proven hands-on experience with Microsoft Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) in enterprise environments.
• Strong knowledge of Active Directory forests, domains, organisational units and Group Policy.

Responsibilities

• Install, configure, administer and maintain Microsoft Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS).
• Manage Active Directory forests, domains, organisational units (OUs), users, groups and computer objects.
• Configure, maintain and troubleshoot domain controllers and directory replication.
• Implement and manage Group Policy Objects (GPOs) across enterprise environments.
• Administer Active Directory Sites and Services, trusts and domain relationships.
• Maintain directory service availability, performance and operational stability.
• Manage Active Directory permissions, delegation and administrative access.
• Perform routine Active Directory maintenance, monitoring and health checks.
• Investigate and resolve directory service incidents, authentication failures and replication issues.
• Support Active Directory upgrades, migrations and infrastructure modernisation initiatives.

Skills

Active Directory (AD DS)

Group Policy

DNS & Kerberos

NTLM authentication

Security best practices

Education

Diploma or degree in IT/CS

Tools

PowerShell

AD Admin Tools

Job description

Location:

Gauteng

Positions Available:

5

Salary:

Market-related

Employment type:

3 Year contract, hybrid

Job Overview

We are seeking experienced and technically proficient Active Directory Specialists to design, implement, configure, administer, secure and maintain Microsoft Active Directory environments within complex enterprise IT infrastructures.

The successful candidates will be responsible for ensuring the availability, performance, security and integrity of enterprise directory services, authentication systems and identity infrastructure across on-premises and hybrid cloud environments.

This role requires strong hands-on expertise in Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS), Group Policy management, domain controllers, DNS, authentication protocols, identity synchronisation and enterprise directory security.

The ideal candidates will have proven experience supporting large-scale Microsoft Active Directory environments, troubleshooting complex directory service issues, implementing security best practices and maintaining reliable identity and authentication services.

Key Responsibilities

Active Directory Administration and Management

• Install, configure, administer and maintain Microsoft Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS).
• Manage Active Directory forests, domains, organisational units (OUs), users, groups and computer objects.
• Configure, maintain and troubleshoot domain controllers and directory replication.
• Implement and manage Group Policy Objects (GPOs) across enterprise environments.
• Administer Active Directory Sites and Services, trusts and domain relationships.
• Maintain directory service availability, performance and operational stability.
• Manage Active Directory permissions, delegation and administrative access.
• Perform routine Active Directory maintenance, monitoring and health checks.
• Investigate and resolve directory service incidents, authentication failures and replication issues.
• Support Active Directory upgrades, migrations and infrastructure modernisation initiatives.

Active Directory Security and Access Control

• Implement and maintain Active Directory security policies and access controls.
• Apply least-privilege principles and secure administrative account management.
• Review and remediate excessive permissions, privileged group memberships and insecure configurations.
• Implement Active Directory hardening measures aligned with Microsoft security recommendations.
• Secure domain controllers, administrative accounts and critical directory infrastructure.
• Monitor suspicious authentication activity and potential Active Directory security threats.
• Support privileged access management and identity governance initiatives.
• Implement and maintain secure Group Policy configurations.
• Assist with Active Directory security assessments and remediation activities.
• Support the implementation of Zero Trust identity security principles.

Authentication, DNS and Directory Services

• Configure and troubleshoot Kerberos and NTLM authentication.
• Administer Active Directory-integrated DNS services.
• Support Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) and secure LDAP (LDAPS).
• Manage domain trust relationships and authentication dependencies.
• Troubleshoot name resolution, domain connectivity and authentication issues.
• Maintain Active Directory replication and site topology configurations.
• Support enterprise certificate services and directory-integrated authentication where required.
• Investigate complex authentication and directory integration problems.

Hybrid Identity and Microsoft Entra Integration

• Support integration between on-premises Active Directory and Microsoft Entra ID.
• Configure, administer and troubleshoot Microsoft Entra Connect synchronisation.
• Support hybrid identity authentication and directory synchronisation.
• Manage identity-related configurations supporting Microsoft 365 and Azure environments.
• Assist with hybrid identity migrations and cloud identity integration projects.
• Support authentication modernisation and identity security improvements.
• Collaborate with cloud and IAM teams to ensure secure and reliable identity integration.

Automation, Monitoring and Technical Support

• Develop and maintain PowerShell scripts to automate Active Directory administration.
• Automate user provisioning, group management, reporting and routine maintenance tasks.
• Monitor Active Directory health, replication, security events and service performance.
• Maintain Active Directory documentation, configuration records and operational procedures.
• Support backup, recovery and disaster recovery planning for directory services.
• Participate in Active Directory recovery testing and business continuity activities.
• Provide advanced technical support for complex Active Directory incidents.
• Collaborate with infrastructure, networking, cybersecurity and application support teams.
• Recommend improvements to directory service performance, security and operational efficiency.

Minimum Requirements

• Relevant diploma or degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Information Systems, Network Engineering or a related discipline.
• Typically 3–5 years of relevant experience administering and supporting Microsoft Active Directory environments.
• Proven hands-on experience with Microsoft Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) in enterprise environments.
• Strong knowledge of Active Directory forests, domains, organisational units and Group Policy.
• Practical experience administering domain controllers and troubleshooting directory replication.
• Experience configuring and troubleshooting DNS, LDAP, Kerberos and Windows authentication.
• Strong working knowledge of Windows