Job Summary
The M365 Engineer L2 is a senior escalation and SME role with primary ownership of Exchange Online (and Hybrid) operations, complex troubleshooting, service reliability, security posture, and continuous improvement. The role partners with architects, security, network and identity teams to deliver stable, compliant and automated M365 services. L3 drives root cause analysis (RCA), change governance, automations, and platform enhancements.
Key Responsibilities
Key Responsibilities • Act as Exchange Online/Hybrid SME for L3 escalations: complex mail flow, transport rules, connectors, TLS, DKIM/DMARC/SPF alignment, and cross-tenant scenarios. • Own critical incident management for M365 messaging: triage, mitigation, stakeholder updates, and post-incident RCA with corrective/preventive actions. • Design and implement advanced configuration and governance: retention/archiving, eDiscovery support, mailbox lifecycle, shared mailboxes, public folders (where applicable), and RBAC. • Drive service reliability and performance: proactive monitoring, capacity/limits management, and health-based operational readiness. • Lead change and release management for Exchange/M365: risk assessments, test plans, implementation, validation, and backout strategies. • Develop/maintain automation using PowerShell and/or Graph where applicable for repetitive tasks, compliance reporting, and operational efficiencies. • Partner with Security and Compliance teams on Defender for Office 365 (EOP, anti-phish/anti-spam, Safe Links/Attachments), incident response, and hardening. • Support migrations and transformations: Exchange Hybrid configuration, mailbox moves, tenant-to-tenant transitions (where applicable), and coexistence troubleshooting. • Mentor L1/L2 engineers: create SOPs/KBs, run technical trainings, improve runbooks and diagnostics standards. • Participate in governance: problem management, service improvement plans, audit readiness, and compliance evidence preparation. Required Technical Skills – Exchange (Core) • Exchange Online administration: mail flow, transport rules, connectors, accepted domains, email address policies, and message trace. • Mailbox management: provisioning, permissions, shared/resource mailboxes, litigation hold / retention basics, archive mailboxes. • Client connectivity and troubleshooting: Outlook, OWA, ActiveSync, Autodiscover, profile issues. • Security fundamentals: EOP/Defender for Office 365 concepts, anti-spam/anti-phish, Safe Links/Attachments basics. • PowerShell for Exchange Online: querying, reporting, and bulk operations. • Exchange Hybrid expertise: HCW, OAuth/Modern Auth, mail flow with connectors, free/busy, and hybrid troubleshooting. • Advanced security & compliance: Defender for Office 365 tuning, threat investigation workflows, and integration with SOC processes. • Governance: RBAC design, auditing, retention/records management coordination with Purview, and eDiscovery support. • Automation & scripting: robust PowerShell modules, error handling, logging, scheduling, and CI/CD-friendly scripts. • Architecture-level understanding of Entra ID, Conditional Access impacts on messaging, and identity/mailbox lifecycle integration.
Skill Requirements
Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD): user/group concepts, licensing basics, MFA/Conditional Access awareness. • Microsoft Teams: user enablement basics, policy concepts, meetings/calling troubleshooting awareness. • SharePoint Online/OneDrive: permissions basics, sharing concepts, sync client awareness. • Intune/Endpoint Manager: device enrollment concepts and policy troubleshooting awareness. • Microsoft Purview: awareness of retention labels/policies, audit concepts, and compliance boundaries. • ITSM tools (ServiceNow/Remedy/Jira Service Mgmt) for incident/request/problem/change workflows.
Other Requirements
Experience • 8–12 years of overall IT experience with 5+ years focused on Microsoft 365 Messaging (Exchange Online/Hybrid). • Proven experience handling L3 escalations, major incident management, and delivering RCAs with preventive actions. • Hands-on experience with migrations (hybrid mailbox moves, tenant consolidation/moves preferred). • Demonstrated track record of automation and operational excellence (scripts, dashboards, proactive controls). Certifications (Preferred) • Preferred: Microsoft certifications aligned to M365 (e.g., MS-102 Microsoft 365 Administrator, SC-300 Identity, SC-400 Purview). • Messaging specialization/certifications are a plus (legacy Exchange/Office 365 messaging credentials accepted). • ITIL Foundation (preferred) or proven ITSM process understanding. Behavioral / Soft Skills • Leadership and mentoring ability; comfortable driving war rooms and technical decision-making during outages. • Strong problem-solving, structured troubleshooting and documentation skills. • Ability to communicate clearly with business stakeholders and technical teams. • Ownership mindset with focus on reliability, security and customer experience. • Collaboration with cross-functional teams (identity, network, security, EUC/endpoint).