Senior Cloud Engineer I (Hybrid)

<p><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">AIR’s Tek Office is seeking an experienced <strong>Senior Cloud Engineer</strong> with a focus on Microsoft 365/Entra to join its diverse and talented group. The Senior Cloud Engineer manages and optimizes the organization’s Microsoft 365 and Entra ID tenants, with primary responsibility for Exchange Online, identity, security, and collaboration services. This role requires advanced skills in Microsoft 365 administration, investigation, and strong cross‑platform experience, with the ability to drive automation and modern cloud practices. This position reports to the Director of IT Infrastructure Operations.&nbsp;</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">This position offers hybrid work flexibility, requiring three days per week in AIR’s Crystal City, Virginia office, with occasional travel for meetings, training sessions, and conferences.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>About AIR:</strong></span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Founded in 1946 and headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, the American Institutes for Research (AIR) is a nonpartisan, not-for-profit organization that conducts behavioral and social science research and delivers technical assistance to address some of the most pressing challenges in the United States and globally. We generate evidence and apply data-driven solutions that expand opportunities and improve lives for all.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Key responsibilities:</strong></span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">The key responsibilities for the position include, but are not limited to-</span></p> <ul> <li style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Design, configure, and administer Microsoft 365 services including Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive, Teams, Copilot, and related security/compliance features.</span></li> <li style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Administer and harden Entra ID (Azure AD), including conditional access, identity protection, app registrations, and role‑based access control.</span></li> <li style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Own Exchange Online configuration: mail flow, transport rules, connectors, policies, hybrid connectivity, and advanced troubleshooting of mail delivery issues.</span></li> <li style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Investigate incidents, identify patterns, and develop detection queries and reports leveraging Microsoft 365 Defender, Purview, and Log Analytics.</span></li> <li style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Collaborate with security and networking teams to implement and maintain security baselines, DLP, retention, eDiscovery, and auditing across the M365 environment.</span></li> <li style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Develop and maintain automation, scripts, and integrations to streamline administration, reporting, and provisioning.</span></li> <li style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Contribute to CI/CD and infrastructure‑as‑code practices (e.g., Azure DevOps, GitHub) for Microsoft 365 configuration and related workloads.</span></li> <li style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Work with containerized and cloud workloads (e.g., Kubernetes) where they integrate with M365/Entra for identity, security, or application access.</span></li> <li style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Lead complex incident response and root‑cause analysis for M365 and identity‑related outages and security events.</span></li> <li style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Produce and maintain technical documentation, standards, runbooks, and architectural diagrams for Microsoft 365 and Entra services.</span></li> <li style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Mentor junior collaborators and provide guidance on best practices, governance, and operational excellence.</span></li> </ul> <p><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Qualifications:&nbsp;</strong></span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Education, Knowledge, and Experience</strong></span></p> <ul> <li style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or related discipline and at least 9 years of relevant experience in the IT industry, or a master’s degree with at least 7 years of relevant experience, or at least 15 years of relevant industry experience.</span></li> <li style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">At least 5 years experience of hands‑on administration experience with Microsoft 365 and Entra ID in a mid‑ to large‑enterprise environment.</span></li> <li style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Exposure to Azure DevOps, GitHub, or similar tools to manage scripts, pipelines, and infrastructure‑as‑code definitions for Microsoft 365.</span></li> <li style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Strong experience using KQL in Microsoft 365 Defender, Sentinel, or Log Analytics to query logs, create custom detections, and analyze security or operational events.</span></li> <li style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Demonstrated expert‑level experience with Exchange Online: mail flow troubleshooting, advanced transport configuration, security and compliance policies, and integration with third‑party services.</span></li> </ul> <p><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Skills</strong></span></p> <ul> <li style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Effective communicator with demonstrated ability to communicate with and understand the needs of both technical and non-technical internal and external clients.</span></li> <li style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Demonstrated ability to work well independently, and collaboratively as needed.</span></li> <li style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Adept in a fast-paced environment to manage multiple concurrent deliveries.</span></li> <li style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Demonstrated analytical, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills with a focus on detail and high quality.</span></li> <li style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Deep understanding of identity and access concepts: SSO, OAuth/OIDC, federation, conditional access, MFA, and privileged identity management.</span></li> <li style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Proficiency with PowerShell for automation, bulk operations, and configuration management in Microsoft 365 and Entra ID.</span></li> <li style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Solid knowledge of security, compliance, and governance capabilities in M365 (e.g., DLP, retention, eDiscovery, audit, safe links/attachments).</span></li> <li style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Familiarity with container platforms (e.g., Kubernetes/AKS) and how they integrate with Entra ID for identity and access control.</span></li> <li style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Experience using Microsoft Graph API for automation, integration, and advanced reporting scenarios is preferred.</span></li> <li style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Experience with Microsoft Sentinel or similar SIEM platforms for M365 and Entra monitoring and analytics is preferred.</span></li> <li style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Experience with LSoft List-Plex is preferred.</span></li> <li style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Passion for the craft with a demonstrated ability to learn and understand the technology both at a high level and at a detailed level.</span></li> </ul> <p><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Disclosures:</strong>&nbsp;Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the U.S. on a full-time basis. Employment-based visa sponsorship (including H-1B sponsorship) is not available for this position. Depending on project work, qualified candidates may need to meet certain residency requirements.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">American Institutes for Research is an equal employment opportunity/affirmative action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without discrimination on the basis of any characteristic protected by applicable federal, state or local law, including, but not limited to, actual or perceived race (including traits historically associated with race, such as hair texture, hair type, and protective hairstyles such as braid, locks, and twists), creed, color, religion, alienage or national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, age, physical or mental disability, medical condition (e.g., cancer), sex, gender,&nbsp;gender identity or expression (including transgender status), sexual orientation, marital status, civil union status, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, genetic information, or military or veteran status. AIR adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo reference and background checks. AIR maintains a drug-free work environment.&nbsp;</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>ACCESSIBILITY NOTICE:&nbsp;</strong>If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the employment process due to a physical or mental disability, please send an email to Taliba Boone at <a href="mailto:tboone@air.org">tboone@air.org</a> or call 202.403.5000.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Fraudulent Job Scams Warning &amp; Disclaimer:&nbsp;</strong>AIR is aware of individuals falsely presenting themselves as AIR representatives. Fraudulent job scams seek to extract sensitive information or money from victims. To protect yourself, please be aware that AIR recruitment will only email you from an “@air.org” domain. Please take extra caution while examining the email address, for example jdoe@air.org is correct and jdoe@aircareers.org is not a legitimate AIR email address. If you are unsure of the legitimacy of a communication you have received, please reach out to recruitment@air.org. If you see a job scam, or lose money to one, report it to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. You can also report it to your state attorney general. Find out more about how to avoid scams atftc.gov/scams.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">#LI-MP1 #LI-Hybrid</span></p><div class="content-pay-transparency"><div class="pay-input"><div class="description"><p><a href="https://www.air.org/build-career-air/benefits">AIR’s Total Rewards Program,</a> is designed to reward our staff competitively and motivate them to achieve our critical mission. This position offers the anticipated annual salary as listed. Salary offers are made based on internal equity within the institution and external equity with competitive markets. Please note this is the annual salary range for candidates that are based in the United States.</p></div><div class="title">Anticipated Annual Salary Range</div><div class="pay-range"><span>$149,000</span><span class="divider">&mdash;</span><span>$176,000 USD</span></div></div></div>