Microsoft 365 Cloud Tech Lead

Optiver • Chicago, IL

3d

About The Position

Optiver’s Global Enterprise Clients team owns the global Microsoft 365 platform used by its worldwide workforce for collaboration, messaging, identity, and mobile access. The platform is treated as critical production infrastructure. This hands-on technical leadership role joins a distributed team operating a single global platform, with architectural influence and ownership of global deliverables. Engineers design solutions, validate them with peers, and implement them directly. Observability, continuous capability uplift, CI-driven change, and self-healing automation are central to platform reliability at scale.

The role sets direction and design standards across Microsoft 365 and its supporting Azure foundations. It leads architectural decisions and change from inception through peer validation, implementation, global rollout, and adoption. It also owns platform operations, incident response, change execution, monitoring, automation, and continuous improvement.

Requirements

• At least 7 years of experience as a senior Microsoft 365 engineer or architect, owning and operating mid-to-large enterprise platforms.
• Deep hands-on expertise in SharePoint Online platform engineering and Exchange Online mail flow, including hybrid scenarios.
• Strong command of identity and access architecture, including Entra ID/Azure AD and Entra ID Connect, Conditional Access, tenant restrictions, B2B, RBAC, enterprise apps, service principals, and app proxy.
• Proven track record simplifying complex hybrid environments.
• Strong PowerShell engineering skills and comfort with Microsoft Graph, Azure CLI, Terraform, and GitHub-based Infrastructure-as-Code workflows.
• High proficiency with Log Analytics and KQL.
• Comfort designing and operating Azure resources, including policies, subscriptions, workbooks, storage accounts, VNETs, and Traffic Manager.
• Experience defining and owning MDM/Intune policy and configuration for iOS and Android across BYOD and corporate-managed settings.
• Comfort debating architecture with senior peers and backing decisions with data.
• Clear, trusted communication skills and ability to mentor technical colleagues.
• Ability to thrive in a high-ownership, continuous-improvement environment and own initiatives end-to-end, from conception through implementation, rollout, skills transfer, and sustained operation.
• Ability to autonomously deliver global projects across distributed teams and time zones and drive change without heavy oversight.

Nice To Haves

• Tertiary qualification in Computer Science or a related field.
• Recent Microsoft certification in Azure or Microsoft 365 (approximately within the last 3 years).
• Background in an enterprise environment with heavy Microsoft platform adoption, particularly Financial Services, Logistics & Transportation, Resources & Mining, Big Tech/SaaS/Cloud, a Managed Service Provider, or a Microsoft integration partner.
• Experience in large-user-base, campus-style environments.
• Prior experience at Principal Consultant or Architect level, in presales design and engineering, or in project management.
• Exposure to Microsoft 365 Defender and threat protection, Purview or advanced compliance tooling, Logic Apps/Power Automate/workflow platforms, or building and maintaining AI Copilot agents.
• Experience in a trading firm or another ultra-low-tolerance production environment.

Responsibilities

• Set direction and design standards for the global Microsoft 365 platform across collaboration, messaging, identity, and device access.
• Lead architectural decisions end-to-end, from design and peer validation through implementation, global rollout, and adoption; own global deliverables.
• Drive systemic simplification by reducing legacy patterns, hybrid complexity, and accidental architecture.
• Define and operate collaboration and content platforms, including information architecture, governance, permissions, and lifecycle management.
• Own enterprise messaging architecture, including global mail flow, routing, hybrid integration, and coexistence.
• Architect identity and access foundations, including authentication models, access control, lifecycle management, and hybrid integration.
• Define and own mobile access architecture for iOS and Android.
• Architect Azure foundations supporting Microsoft 365, identity, automation, monitoring, and remediation.
• Design deep monitoring, alerting, and telemetry to surface systemic risk and inform decisions.
• Own BAU platform operations, including incidents, degradations, change execution, and continuous improvement.
• Design, implement, and operate self-healing automation connecting detection, remediation, and prevention.
• Build and maintain production-grade automation using industry-standard tooling, including AI-assisted development where it accelerates delivery without reducing ownership.
• Autonomously run and deliver global projects across a distributed team and time zones, driving change without heavy oversight.
• Provide technical mentorship and communicate clearly with colleagues.

Benefits

• Highly competitive compensation package, including a global profit-sharing pool and performance-based bonus structure.
• 401(k) match up to 50%.
• Comprehensive health, mental, dental, vision, disability, and life coverage.
• 25 paid vacation days alongside market holidays.
• Office perks including breakfast, lunch, snacks, regular social events, clubs, and sporting leagues.
• Opportunity to work alongside professionals from over 40 different countries.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: No Education Listed