Lead Active Directory Engineer

M&T Bank•Buffalo, NY

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

Responsible for designing, securing, and operating Microsoft Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) in regulated, high-availability environments. Acts as knowledge resource for and trains less experienced engineers. Completes day-to-day support activities and special projects.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree and a minimum of 5 years’ relevant work experience, or in lieu of a degree, a combined minimum of 9 years’ higher education and/or work experience
Proven expertise supporting large-scale, Tier‑1 identity infrastructures with strict uptime, latency, and change‑control requirements
Strong experience with: Multi-domain and multi-forest designs aligned to business units, regions, or regulatory boundaries
Forest and external trusts supporting M&A, joint ventures, and third-party integrations
FSMO role placement optimized for resilience and auditability
Advanced understanding of Active Directory–integrated DNS, split‑brain DNS, and secure name resolution models
Extensive experience integrating on-prem AD with Microsoft Entra ID in regulated financial environments
Hands-on implementation of: Entra Connect (Cloud Sync and Traditional), Password Hash Sync, Pass-through Authentication, and Federation
Strong experience with: Conditional Access aligned to regulatory and risk-based controls
Hybrid Join, Entra ID Join, and legacy device coexistence
Understanding of identity lifecycle controls to support joiners, movers, leavers, and separation-of-duties requirements
Expert-level knowledge of Active Directory security hardening in financial services, including: Tiered administrative model (Tier 0/1/2), Dedicated admin forests or hardened admin boundaries (where applicable), Privileged Access Workstations (PAWs) / Secure Admin Workstations
Experience enforcing least privilege, role separation, and dual‑control models
Deep familiarity with threats targeting financial institutions: Credential theft, Kerberoasting, Pass-the-Hash/Ticket Delegation and ACL abuse
Hands-on experience with: Privileged Identity Management (PIM), Regular access reviews and entitlement recertification
Strong alignment with Zero Trust and defense-in-depth identity strategies
Demonstrated experience supporting audits and controls for financial regulations and frameworks, such as: SOX, GLBA, PCI DSS, SOC 2
Internal risk management and model governance requirements
Ability to design AD environments that support: Strong logging and traceability, Tamper-resistant audit logs, Evidence generation for internal and external auditors
Advanced PowerShell expertise for: Controlled, auditable administrative changes, Automated provisioning/deprovisioning aligned to compliance workflows, Identity reporting for risk, security, and audit teams
Experience building automation that integrates with: Change management processes, IAM, ticketing, and security tooling
Deep experience managing: AD replication topology across data centers and regions, SYSVOL (DFSR) health and recovery, Latency-sensitive authentication dependencies
Strong understanding of: AD backup, recovery, and authoritative restore procedures, Identity disaster recovery scenarios with defined RTO/RPO
Experience implementing monitoring and alerting with a focus on early risk detection
Acts as technical authority and escalation point for all directory and identity services
Defines and enforces: Enterprise identity standards, Secure configuration baselines, Operational runbooks and procedures
Partners closely with: Information Security and IAM teams, Risk, audit, and compliance stakeholders, Infrastructure, cloud, and application teams
Mentors engineers and reviews designs from a security and risk-first perspective

Nice To Haves

Advanced understanding of the security system development and infrastructure lifecycle and architecture, and systems design
Proven experience with the development and customization of tools utilized in assigned Cybersecurity function
Demonstrated ability to translate architecture into technical requirements
Proficient level of critical thinking and problem solving ability
Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
Experience partnering with leaders to design solutions to business needs
Proficient persuasive communication skills to gain buy-in of others
Strong ability to analyze and draw reliable conclusions based on large volumes of quantitative data from diverse sources
Ability effectively serves in indirect leadership role

Responsibilities

Enterprise Active Directory Architecture: Proven expertise supporting large-scale, Tier‑1 identity infrastructures with strict uptime, latency, and change‑control requirements. Strong experience with: Multi-domain and multi-forest designs aligned to business units, regions, or regulatory boundaries. Forest and external trusts supporting M&A, joint ventures, and third-party integrations. FSMO role placement optimized for resilience and auditability. Advanced understanding of Active Directory–integrated DNS, split‑brain DNS, and secure name resolution models.
Hybrid Identity & Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD): Extensive experience integrating on-prem AD with Microsoft Entra ID in regulated financial environments. Hands-on implementation of: Entra Connect (Cloud Sync and Traditional), Password Hash Sync, Pass-through Authentication, and Federation. Strong experience with: Conditional Access aligned to regulatory and risk-based controls. Hybrid Join, Entra ID Join, and legacy device coexistence. Understanding of identity lifecycle controls to support joiners, movers, leavers, and separation-of-duties requirements.
Security, Compliance & Risk Controls: Expert-level knowledge of Active Directory security hardening in financial services, including: Tiered administrative model (Tier 0/1/2), Dedicated admin forests or hardened admin boundaries (where applicable), Privileged Access Workstations (PAWs) / Secure Admin Workstations. Experience enforcing least privilege, role separation, and dual‑control models. Deep familiarity with threats targeting financial institutions: Credential theft, Kerberoasting, Pass-the-Hash/Ticket Delegation and ACL abuse. Hands-on experience with: Privileged Identity Management (PIM), Regular access reviews and entitlement recertification. Strong alignment with Zero Trust and defense-in-depth identity strategies.
Regulatory & Audit Readiness: Demonstrated experience supporting audits and controls for financial regulations and frameworks, such as: SOX, GLBA, PCI DSS, SOC 2. Internal risk management and model governance requirements. Ability to design AD environments that support: Strong logging and traceability, Tamper-resistant audit logs, Evidence generation for internal and external auditors.
Automation & PowerShell: Advanced PowerShell expertise for: Controlled, auditable administrative changes, Automated provisioning/deprovisioning aligned to compliance workflows, Identity reporting for risk, security, and audit teams. Experience building automation that integrates with: Change management processes, IAM, ticketing, and security tooling.
Operations, Resilience & Recovery: Deep experience managing: AD replication topology across data centers and regions, SYSVOL (DFSR) health and recovery, Latency-sensitive authentication dependencies. Strong understanding of: AD backup, recovery, and authoritative restore procedures, Identity disaster recovery scenarios with defined RTO/RPO. Experience implementing monitoring and alerting with a focus on early risk detection.
Leadership & Governance: Acts as technical authority and escalation point for all directory and identity services. Defines and enforces: Enterprise identity standards, Secure configuration baselines, Operational runbooks and procedures. Partners closely with: Information Security and IAM teams, Risk, audit, and compliance stakeholders, Infrastructure, cloud, and application teams. Mentors engineers and reviews designs from a security and risk-first perspective.