Exchange System Administrator SME

Leidos•Alexandria, VA

9d•$116,350 - $210,325

About The Position

Leidos is seeking an Exchange Subject Matter Expert (SME) to support a large enterprise IT contract for the Department of Defense. The role focuses on developing and implementing on-premises Microsoft Exchange solutions across small, medium, and large enterprise environments, including physical and virtual server technologies. Solutions include Microsoft Exchange 2019 and 2025 SE on-premises, Exchange Online in Microsoft 365, and hybrid solutions spanning varied classifications, scopes, redundancy and resiliency needs, and mission requirements. The position provides systems and software administration in a large, multi-enclave enterprise environment and works with a team to meet mission needs and maintain customer-facing capabilities. The SME conducts technical planning for hardware and software upgrades; reviews implementation and upgrade guides; and produces Standard Operating Procedures and other documentation for operations and maintenance. The role performs requirements and functional analysis, assesses technical solutions, supports integration and system testing for functionality and security compliance, and provides quality assurance for production implementations. Duties may also involve remotely configuring software, rebooting servers, and performing other remedial actions. The position provides Tier 2/Tier 3 administration and operational support in a 24/7/365 mission environment, including on-call support during after-hours outages. It supports Exchange Online in an Office 365 hybrid/cloud environment, troubleshoots email routing and service disruptions, manages roles, services, and permissions under government service-owner and cybersecurity mandates, and develops PowerShell scripts to automate and standardize routine tasks and monitoring. The role requires a TS/SCI clearance with a specific polygraph, or TS/SCI and willingness to obtain and maintain a polygraph; U.S. citizenship is required.

Requirements

U.S. citizenship.
TS/SCI with a specific polygraph, or TS/SCI and willingness to obtain and maintain a polygraph.
Bachelor's degree with 12 years of relevant experience, Master's degree with 10 years, Associate's degree with 14 years, or high school diploma with 16 years.
At minimum, a DoDM 8140.03 (formerly DoD 8570) IT System Administrator Intermediate certification, such as Cloud+, GICSP, SSCP, Security+ CE, GSEC, or higher.
Experience interacting with service lanes to handle service inquiries and problems.
Extensive experience as a Tier 2/3 System Administrator.
Extensive experience with Office 365 and Microsoft Exchange 2016, 2019, and 2025 SE.
Extensive knowledge of email journaling solutions.
Extensive experience with Exchange PowerShell or other scripting languages for scripting and automation.
Experience resolving highly complex problems through technical knowledge, factual reasoning, and proper interpretation of problem indicators.
Experience developing and implementing solutions for upgrades to newer Exchange versions.
Experience directing migrations between on-premises Exchange and M365 Exchange Online.
Time management skills and ability to work independently within an IT service management/ticketing system such as ServiceNow.
Strong oral and written communication skills, including experience briefing senior government and military officials.
Strong leadership and mentoring skills to guide and improve team skill composition.
Ability to work effectively in a team and support peers in improving processes and results.
Ability to triage and correctly classify incidents and prioritize work accordingly.
Extensive experience planning, deploying, and documenting patch and configuration updates.
Extensive knowledge of disaster recovery and high availability for large, dispersed enterprise environments.
Extensive experience with log reviews, incident analysis, issue-trend identification, and problem analysis.
Experience with server/system patch management methodologies.

Nice To Haves

Certification related to Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert (MCSE) or Microsoft Certified System Administrator (MCSA).
Experience troubleshooting in a Trellix/Windows Defender security environment.
Experience with backup and restore procedures using NetBackup, VMware snapshots, or other backup solutions before major changes or upgrades.

Responsibilities

Provide Tier 2/Tier 3 implementation, troubleshooting, maintenance, and monitoring support for physical and virtual servers.
Distinguish isolated user issues from enterprise-wide application and system problems; advise Operations staff on root causes and recommended fixes, and document resolutions.
Collaborate with peers and other service lanes on network latency analysis to address slow connections and user experience issues.
Collect data, conduct analysis, and develop and implement solutions under Problem Management guidelines.
Establish and maintain availability and capacity management solutions using lessons learned and best business practices.
Provide technical findings, feedback, and resolution steps for root-cause analysis, operational assessments, and process improvement initiatives.
Support customer requirements in a 24/7/365 mission environment and provide on-call support during after-hours outages.
Update operations and monitoring documentation for 24/7/365 IT Operations Center personnel.
Troubleshoot email routing and service disruptions affected by cybersecurity tools and policies, ensuring implementation and integration do not negatively impact customers.
Conduct day-to-day oversight of Exchange Online in an Office 365 hybrid/cloud environment.
Manage roles, services, and permissions in accordance with Government Service Owner and Cyber Security mandates.
Create, test, and implement PowerShell scripts to automate and standardize routine tasks and monitoring.
Plan technical hardware and software upgrades; review implementation and upgrade guides; and prepare SOPs and other operations and maintenance documentation.
Perform requirements analysis, functional analysis, and requirements allocation with operations staff to meet upgrade timelines.
Conduct technical assessments, integration support, system testing for functionality and security compliance, and quality assurance of production implementations.
Remotely access servers to perform software configuration, reboots, and other remedial actions as needed.