Active Directory Architect

Virginia Tech - Virginia Beach, VA

Full-time

Virginia Beach, VA

Educational Services

About the position

The Active Directory Architect position at Virginia Tech focuses on leading the design, development, and support of a secure Active Directory (AD) and Entra ID environment. This role emphasizes enhancing the security posture of directory services, ensuring compliance with Identity and Access Management (IAM) best practices, and contributing to the organization's overall cybersecurity strategy.

Responsibilities

• Lead the design and implementation of secure AD and Entra ID environments, ensuring adherence to security best practices and organizational compliance requirements.
• Architect, implement, and manage IAM solutions, including authentication protocols (SAML, OAuth, OIDC, Kerberos) and privileged access management (PAM/PIM).
• Establish and maintain security policies for directory services, ensuring compliance with regulations such as FERPA and aligning with security frameworks like Zero Trust.
• Regularly conduct security audits of AD and Entra ID; analyze security logs, identify vulnerabilities, and lead incident response efforts to mitigate threats.
• Develop and maintain an IAM roadmap, ensuring alignment with organizational goals, evolving security standards, and emerging threats.
• Provide technical leadership on AD/Entra ID security matters, collaborate with operational teams to enhance security practices, and reduce drift in directory services.
• Utilize scripting tools such as PowerShell and Microsoft Graph API to automate tasks and enhance security monitoring and reporting capabilities.
• Create and maintain documentation for all technical processes and contribute to training materials and knowledge base articles to ensure effective knowledge transfer.
• Lead incident response activities related to identity-based security events, including vulnerability assessments, patch management, and security remediations.

Requirements

• Strong experience in Active Directory and Entra ID architecture and security.
• Proficiency in Identity and Access Management (IAM) solutions and protocols such as SAML, OAuth, OIDC, and Kerberos.
• Experience in developing and maintaining security policies and compliance frameworks.
• Ability to conduct security audits and incident response activities effectively.
• Strong technical leadership and collaboration skills with operational teams.
• Proficiency in scripting tools like PowerShell and Microsoft Graph API for automation.

Nice-to-haves

• Experience with Zero Trust security frameworks.
• Familiarity with regulatory compliance such as FERPA.