System Administrator

Shift Ahead requires a capable Systems Administrator for its client operations to work independently . Excellent communication is mandatory

Location: Remote Working

Department: IT

Reports To: Systems and End User Support Manager

Position Summary:

The Systems Administrator will manage and maintain the organization's hybrid cloud infrastructure, seamlessly integrating on-premises systems with Microsoft Office 365, Azure, and Microsoft Defender. This role includes managing multiple tenants to ensure smooth operation and security across all environments, understanding and optimizing various billing plans to manage and reduce costs, handling tickets and documentation, and providing Tier 3 support.

This role requires someone who can work independently, take ownership of priorities, and stay highly responsive to requests and incidents. The Systems Administrator must communicate clearly, use sound judgment to triage competing demands, and collaborate effectively with others to support a strong team environment.

The ideal candidate will have a robust understanding of hybrid cloud systems, strong organizational skills, and the ability to provide high-level technical support and solutions while effectively communicating and collaborating with team members. Preference will be given to candidates who have experience working in middle to large enterprise environments.

Key Responsibilities:

• Microsoft 365 (Office 365) Administration:
• Administer Microsoft 365 services (Exchange Online, SharePoint, Teams, OneDrive, Intune, and related applications).
• Provision accounts and manage licenses and group membership.
• Complete quarterly access and license audits; document findings and follow up on remediation.
• Configure and enforce Microsoft 365 security settings and policies.
• Diagnose and resolve service issues; coordinate escalations with vendors as needed.
• Provide remote administration for Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, and on-prem Active Directory/Azure AD (as applicable).
• Support multi-tenant environments, ensuring reliable integration and cross-tenant communication.
• Azure Administration:
• Deploy, operate, and monitor Azure resources and services.
• Design and maintain core components (virtual networks, virtual machines, storage, and identity integrations).
• Maintain high availability and disaster recovery capabilities for critical workloads.
• Track performance and utilization; right-size resources to improve reliability and cost efficiency.
• Microsoft Defender:
• Configure and maintain Microsoft Defender for endpoint protection.
• Review alerts, investigate suspicious activity, and drive incident response through closure.
• Perform vulnerability reviews and coordinate remediation with IT and business stakeholders.
• Stay current on emerging threats and recommend control improvements and best practices.
• Email Migrations:
• Plan and execute tenant-to-tenant migrations and mailbox moves.
• Conduct pre-migration discovery and readiness assessments; develop migration runbooks.
• Minimize downtime and data loss; validate cutover and end-user readiness.
• Provide post-migration support, issue triage, and stabilization.
• Migrate mailboxes, shared mailboxes, public folders, and related user configurations.
• SharePoint Administration:
• Build and administer SharePoint Online sites, information architecture, and permissions/access controls.
• Resolve SharePoint incidents and service requests; implement preventive improvements where appropriate.
• Apply governance, security, and compliance controls (retention, sharing, and auditing).
• Hybrid Environment Management:
• Operate and improve hybrid connectivity between on-premises systems and Microsoft cloud services.
• Maintain secure communication and data flow across on-prem and cloud platforms.
• Support directory synchronization (AD to Azure AD) and identity lifecycle processes.
• Cost Optimization:
• Manage and validate Microsoft 365 and Azure licensing/billing plans.
• Analyze consumption and spend trends; identify anomalies and improvement opportunities.
• Recommend and implement cost-saving actions (right-sizing, reserved instances, license optimization, etc.).
• Ticketing and Documentation:
• Track work and outcomes in Jira/Confluence (or equivalent) and keep records current.
• Maintain c