Senior Microsoft Security Specialist

Boardroom Appointments; Johannesburg; Hybrid; ZAR 1,339,000 - 2,009,000; Full time

Job summary

Boardroom Appointments seeks a Senior Microsoft Security Specialist for a 6-month hybrid contract in Johannesburg. You will be the senior technical authority, driving security posture improvements across the Microsoft security ecosystem including Microsoft 365, Azure, Defender, Sentinel, Entra ID, and Intune in hybrid environments.

The role requires 8–10 years of IT security experience, deep hands-on Microsoft security expertise, incident response leadership, and the ability to mentor teams.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in IT, CS, cybersecurity, engineering or related field.
• Microsoft security certifications and hands-on expertise with Microsoft 365/Azure.
• 8–10 years of IT infrastructure and security experience.
• 5+ years of hands-on Microsoft Security experience in large enterprises.

Responsibilities

• Own and manage the organization's Microsoft security posture.
• Design, implement, and govern the Microsoft E5 security stack.
• Establish standards, baselines, policies and procedures for Microsoft platforms.
• Lead Defender ecosystem administration and optimization (Defender for Endpoint, Office 365, Identity).
• Drive threat hunting, detection improvements and Sentinel governance.
• Oversee Azure security governance, policy, and landing zones.
• Conduct incident response leadership and major investigations.

Skills

Security leadership

Threat hunting

Incident response

Governance

Stakeholder communication

Education

Bachelor's Degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Cybersecurity, Engineering

Tools

Microsoft Defender XDR

Microsoft Sentinel

Microsoft Entra ID

Intune

SCCM / MECM

Azure AD / Entra ID

Azure Security

Conditional Access

RBAC

MFA / SSO

Job description

Senior Microsoft Security Specialist – 6-Month Contract

Location: Johannesburg / Gauteng
Workplace: Hybrid
Contract: 6 Months
Industry: Technology / Cybersecurity

An exciting 6-month contract opportunity is available for an experienced Senior Microsoft Security Specialist to join a leading technology environment.

We are looking for a senior security professional with extensive hands‑on experience across the Microsoft security ecosystem, including Microsoft 365, Azure, Microsoft Defender, Sentinel, Entra ID, Intune and hybrid infrastructure environments.

The successful candidate will act as a senior technical authority, driving security posture improvements, cyber resilience, governance and technical security initiatives while serving as a high‑level escalation point for complex Microsoft security matters.

Key Responsibilities

• Own and manage the organisation's overall Microsoft security posture.
• Lead the design, implementation, optimisation and governance of the Microsoft E5 Security stack.
• Establish security standards, baselines, policies and operational procedures for Microsoft platforms.
• Develop strategic roadmaps to improve Microsoft security capability maturity.
• Lead the administration and optimisation of the Microsoft Defender ecosystem, including Defender for Endpoint, Office 365, Identity, Cloud Apps, Cloud and XDR.
• Implement advanced threat protection controls and drive proactive threat hunting and detection improvements.
• Own and manage the Microsoft Sentinel platform, including detection rules, analytics, workbooks, automation playbooks and threat-hunting capabilities.
• Integrate Microsoft and third‑party security data sources into Sentinel and improve security monitoring maturity.
• Manage and secure Microsoft 365 services including Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive, Teams and Power Platform.
• Implement and maintain DLP, Information Protection, Sensitivity Labels, Retention Policies and Insider Risk Management controls.
• Lead administration and security of Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD).
• Design and implement Conditional Access, PIM, Identity Protection, MFA, Passwordless Authentication, SSO and RBAC.
• Conduct access reviews and privileged account governance while implementing Zero Trust security principles.
• Design and implement security controls across Azure environments.
• Manage Azure security governance, including Azure Policy, Landing Zones, subscription governance and resource governance.
• Secure cloud workloads, networking, storage and platform services.
• Own the organisation's Microsoft Intune and SCCM/MECM co‑management environment.
• Manage endpoint security policies, MDM, MAM, device compliance and configuration management.
• Lead endpoint patch management and vulnerability remediation activities.
• Drive continuous improvement of Microsoft Secure Score and overall cyber maturity.
• Conduct security assessments, reviews, gap analyses, control effectiveness assessments and vulnerability reviews.
• Develop and execute remediation plans for identified security weaknesses.
• Act as an L3/L4 escalation point for critical and complex security incidents.
• Lead technical investigations involving Microsoft 365, Azure, identity, endpoint compromises, insider threats and advanced persistent threats.
• Coordinate containment, eradication, forensic investigation and recovery activities during major cyber incidents.
• Produce root cause analyses and post‑incident recommendations.
• Review and approve security designs for projects impacting Microsoft cloud and hybrid platforms.
• Provide security sign‑off for platform‑related changes and initiatives.
• Maintain architecture decision records and security control documentation.
• Provide technical leadership, coaching and mentorship to junior security specialists and operational teams.
• Promote security best practices and a security‑first culture across technology teams.

What We Are Looking For

The ideal candidate will have:

• A Bachelor's Degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Cybersecurity, Engineering or a related field.
• Relevant Microsoft security certifications.
• Minimum 8–10 years of IT infrastructure and security experience.
• Minimum 5 years of hands‑on Microsoft Security experience.
• Proven experience managing Microsoft E5 Security environments within large enterprise organisations.
• Extensive experience with Microsoft Sentinel and Microsoft Defender technologies.
• Strong experience securing hybrid cloud environments.
• Hands‑on experience with Intune and SCCM/MECM co‑management environments.
• Experience leading major incident response and forensic investigations.
• Proven experience developing security standards, governance frameworks and operating models.
• Experience mentoring technical teams and operating as a senior escalation point.
• Strong analytical, problem‑solving and decision‑making abilities.
• Excellent stakeholder management, communication and presentation skills.

Technical Skills

• Microsoft Defender XDR
• Defender for Endpoint
• Defender for Office 365
• Defender for Identity
• Defender for Cloud Apps
• Defender for Cloud
• Microsoft Sentinel
• Microsoft Purview
• Microsoft Secure Score
• Microsoft Entra ID
• Conditional Access
• MFA and SSO
• Privileged Identity Management (PIM)
• Identity Protection
• RBAC
• Microsoft Intune
• SCCM / MECM
• Windows Autopilot
• Patch Management
• Application Packaging and Deployment
• Azure Security
• Azure Policy
• Azure Landing Zones
• Cloud Governance and Compliance
• Cloud Workload Protection
• Security Architecture
• Incident Response
• Threat Hunting
• SIEM and SOAR
• Vulnerability Management
• Security Monitoring
• Digital Forensics

Preferred Certifications

• Microsoft Certified: Cybersecurity Architect Expert (SC‑100)
• Microsoft Certified: Security Operations Analyst Associate (SC‑200)
• Microsoft Certified: Identity and Access Administrator Associate (SC‑300)
• Microsoft Certified: Information Protection Administrator Associate (SC‑400)
• Microsoft Certified: Azure Security Engineer Associate (AZ‑500)
• Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate (AZ‑104)
• CISSP
• CISM
• CCSP
• CompTIA Security+

Key Competencies

• Strategic security leadership
• Advanced problem‑solving
• Security architecture and design
• Incident management
• Risk assessment
• Stakeholder management
• Decision‑making
• Communication and presentation
• Coaching and mentorship
• Governance and compliance management
• Continuous improvement
• Strong analytical skills

Success Measures

Success in this role will be measured through:

• Improvement of Microsoft Secure Score.
• Reduction in security vulnerabilities and exposure risks.
• Improved Microsoft Sentinel detection and incident response capabilities.
• Successful implementation of Microsoft security roadmap initiatives.
• Improved endpoint compliance and patch management effectiveness.
• Effective incident response and resolution outcomes.
• Increased adoption of security governance standards.
• Overall improvement in the organisation's Microsoft cloud security maturity.

Contract Details

This is a 6-month hybrid contract position based in Johannesburg, with an opportunity to work across a dynamic enterprise technology and cybersecurity environment.