Principal Microsoft Cloud Platform Engineer

Hire Direct Now  is conducting a confidential search for a senior Microsoft cloud platform owner at a large, publicly traded global healthcare / medical technology company. This is not a ticket-queue or "keep the lights on" role. You will be the technical authority and service owner for the Microsoft cloud ecosystem — architecture, engineering, automation, governance, operational excellence, and vendor oversight.

The environment supports 5,000+ users. You will partner with infrastructure, cybersecurity, application, and managed service provider (MSP) teams to make Microsoft 365, Entra , and Azure more reliable, more secure, and more automated.

Must live within a commutable distance of Orange County, California (North OC / Brea, Irvine corridor). This role is onsite 5 days per week
. It is not hybrid and not remote. The company plans an office relocation within Orange County in 2028; candidates must be able to commute to both the current and future OC sites.

• Microsoft cloud platform strategy, architecture, engineering standards, and lifecycle
• Technical authority for Microsoft 365, Entra , Azure, Defender, Purview, and related services
• Engineering standards, architecture patterns, governance guardrails, and platform roadmaps
• Service ownership: strategy, health, lifecycle, governance, and technical oversight of MSP delivery
• Automation, standardization, documentation, and reduction of single-person / vendor knowledge risk
• Mentoring of engineers and architecture reviews — leadership through expertise, not span of control

Lead engineering for Exchange Online, Teams, SharePoint Online, One Drive, Defender, Purview, and M365 administration. Drive reliability, lifecycle, security, and service improvement.

Lead Entra , Conditional Access, Identity Governance, PIM, federation, and authentication. Partner with Cybersecurity on enterprise identity posture.

Own landing zones, governance, networking, RBAC, Azure Policy, Monitor, Backup, Site Recovery, Azure Virtual Desktop, and platform security. Enable application and infrastructure teams to adopt cloud without breaking compliance or operations.

Increase Infrastructure as Code and CI/CD using Terraform, Bicep, ARM, Power Shell, Azure Automation, Azure Dev Ops, and Git Hub. Build reusable patterns so the platform scales without heroics.

Own reliability, DR readiness, monitoring, technical-debt reduction, and documentation. Serve as primary technical partner to Microsoft and the MSP. Hold MSP delivery to approved architecture, process, automation, and roadmap standards.

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience
• 10+ years enterprise Microsoft infrastructure
• 7+ years Microsoft 365 and Azure engineering
• Experience in environments supporting 5,000+ users
• Deep hands-on expertise with Entra , Exchange Online, Azure architecture and governance, disaster recovery, Power Shell, and Infrastructure as Code
• Experience partnering with managed service providers
  
  Proven work establishing platform governance, architecture standards, and technology roadmaps
• Experience in a platform engineering, Cloud Center of Excellence, or service-ownership model
• Ability to work onsite in Orange County 5 days per week

• Azure Solutions Architect Expert, Microsoft 365 Administrator Expert, Azure Administrator, Identity and Access Administrator, or Security certifications
• Fast Track, tenant migrations, M&A integration, enterprise governance, or platform-engineering build-outs

Good-faith base salary range for this role: $187,300 – $228,900
. Actual pay depends on skills, experience, certifications, and business needs. The total package may include annual performance bonus, medical/dental/vision, 401(k) match, and other applicable plans. It is not typical to be hired at or near the top of the range.

Equal opportunity employer. We welcome qualified applicants of all backgrounds.