Senior Microsoft 365 Platform Engineer - 6 month FTC
Location: Bristol, Hybrid 3 days office
The Senior Microsoft 365 Platform Engineer is a senior technical role responsible for the ownership, security and day-to-day running of our Microsoft 365 tenant across the global business with particular focus on Exchange Online and Email Security, SharePoint, OneDrive and Teams as well as Entra ID and Copilot for Microsoft 365. This is a technical leadership role with no direct reports; the successful candidate will take active ownership of the platform, drive continuous improvement using their own initiative, mentor junior colleagues, and partner with Information Security, Risk & Compliance and the wider Global IT team to protect the organisation's data and enable secure productivity.
Requirements
- Own the Microsoft 365 platform end-to-end, including its security posture, service health and technical direction.
- Manage Exchange Online mail flow — hybrid connectors, transport rules, anti-spam/anti-phishing and email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC).
- Provide governance for SharePoint Online, OneDrive and Teams — provisioning, external sharing, sensitivity labels and retention.
- Own the rollout, governance and ongoing administration of Copilot for Microsoft 365, including data readiness, licence targeting, adoption and safe use.
- Administer Microsoft Entra ID — identity lifecycle, role-based access control, group management and external/guest access governance.
- Develop and maintain PowerShell and Microsoft Graph automation for provisioning, licensing and reporting.
- Design and deliver SaaS application integrations with Microsoft 365 (SSO, provisioning, Graph).
- Own tenant backup and recovery for Microsoft 365 workloads (Exchange, SharePoint, OneDrive, Teams).
- Act as the escalation point and recognised technical authority for all Microsoft 365 matters.
- Lead investigation, triage and remediation of Microsoft 365 security incidents, including out-of-hours response where necessary.
- Act as technical adviser for Microsoft contract renewals, supporting Procurement and Global IT with SKU analysis and vendor engagement; manage licence allocation and drive cost optimisation.
- Mentor junior team members and produce self-service documentation, runbooks and knowledge-base articles that enable colleagues to work safely with Microsoft 365.
Essential skills
- Strong experience of Exchange Online management and configuration, including Exchange security and DLP.
- Solid understanding of mail flow and email security (SPF, DKIM, DMARC, connectors, transport rules, DNS security, distribution lists).
- Extensive experience of managing and configuring SharePoint Online, OneDrive and Teams.
- Experience administering Copilot for Microsoft 365, including data readiness, governance and adoption.
- Strong working knowledge of Microsoft Entra ID.
- Advanced PowerShell and Microsoft Graph scripting for automation, provisioning and reporting.
- Experience integrating SaaS applications with Microsoft 365.
- Working knowledge of Microsoft Intune for endpoint management, compliance, Autopilot and application deployment.
- Experience of managing Microsoft licensing across a global estate and working with Microsoft partners.
Desirable skills
- Experience of Checkpoint Harmony Email Security and AvePoint Backup, or equivalent third-party tools.
- Experience with Conditional Access, MFA, PIM and Identity Protection in order to support Information Security in the design and operation of Zero Trust controls
- Understanding of Zero Trust security principles and their practical implementation across identity, endpoint and data.
- Experience of managing endpoints through Microsoft Intune — compliance policies, Autopilot, application deployment and app protection.
- Experience of migrating hybrid Active Directory to a cloud-only Entra ID model.
- Working knowledge of AWS Simple Email Service (SES) for transactional and bulk email delivery.
- Working knowledge of Google Workspace, particularly in migration or coexistence scenarios.
- One or more Microsoft certifications: MS-102, SC-300, SC-200 or SC-100, AZ-104.
- Familiarity with ShareGate or comparable Microsoft 365 migration tooling.
- Familiarity with Admindroid or comparable Microsoft 365 reporting tooling
- Experience with hybrid identity (Entra Connect / Azure AD Connect).
- Working knowledge of Microsoft Purview (DLP, retention, sensitivity labels, eDiscovery).
Behaviours
- Active ownership and initiative — drives improvements without needing to be prompted.
- Personal use of AI — actively uses Copilot and other AI tools in day-to-day work and models good practice for colleagues.
- Strong communication across technical and non-technical audiences.
- Collaboration and knowledge-sharing — mentors junior colleagues and enables safe self-service.
Experience and qualifications
- 5+ years' hands-on experience administering Microsoft 365 at enterprise or global scale.
- Demonstrable experience managing enterprise mail flow within Microsoft 365.
- Strong PowerShell and Microsoft Graph scripting experience.
- A relevant Bachelor's degree or equivalent professional experience.