Microsoft Architect

The Microsoft Architect is based in Chicago and is the Firm’s senior technical authority on the Microsoft platform and is accountable for the architecture and evolution of Sidley’s Microsoft estate. The role’s first priority is a well-architected, governed, and consistently deployed productivity foundation (SharePoint, One Drive, Teams, Exchange Online and Outlook, the Microsoft 365 applications, Entra, Purview, Graph, and tenant administration) so that lawyers and staff can collaborate securely and client confidentiality is protected by design.

On that foundation, the Architect leads Copilot enablement across the Firm, layers in the broader Microsoft AI platform (Foundry, Work IQ, Fabric IQ, Foundry IQ, and Microsoft Scout) as readiness allows, and partners directly with Microsoft engineering to maximize the return on the Firm’s investment.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Design and own the target-state architecture and standards for the Microsoft productivity estate, including SharePoint and One Drive information architecture, permissions and sharing, lifecycle, and SharePoint Advanced Management to keep the estate Copilot-ready.
• Architect Teams (including Teams Phone and Rooms), Exchange Online and Outlook, Microsoft 365 Groups, and the wider Microsoft 365 application portfolio, including data residency, Microsoft 365 Backup, and integration with the Firm’s document management systems.
• Lead enterprise deployment and remediation of the Microsoft stack, retiring inconsistent policies, oversharing, and legacy configuration through pilots, waves, and change management.
• Configure Microsoft Entra and design the tenant’s administrative architecture: the Microsoft 365 permission model, admin roles, tenant-wide policies and configuration profiles, and configuration-as-code baselines.
• Establish, with Information Security and Information Governance, the Microsoft Purview architecture (sensitivity labels, data loss prevention, retention, information barriers, eDiscovery, and legal hold) and the interfaces to Intune, Defender XDR, and Entra.
• Drive Copilot enablement across the estate (readiness and data hygiene, licensing, grounding, connectors, and adoption guardrails), operate the Copilot Control System, and establish the agent identity and governance model (Entra Agent , Microsoft Agent 365, and Copilot Studio).
• Architect Microsoft Foundry and its integration with the Azure estate, define governance for Fabric, Power BI, and the Power Platform, and translate Microsoft’s AI and productivity roadmap (Work IQ, Fabric IQ, Foundry IQ, and Microsoft Scout) into Firm priorities, pilots, and licensing inputs.
• Liaise with Microsoft engineering as the Firm’s primary technical counterpart, bringing requirements and escalations to Microsoft; partner with Security, Enterprise IT Services, Network, Endpoint, and business stakeholders; and mentor Microsoft 365 administrators and engineers.

Education and/or

Experience:

Required:

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
• A minimum of 7 years architecting or administering Microsoft 365 in an enterprise environment.
• Deep understanding of SharePoint Online and One Drive, and enterprise-level expertise in Microsoft Copilot, Teams, Exchange Online and Outlook, and the Microsoft 365 productivity applications.
• Deep knowledge of the Microsoft 365 permission model, policies, and configuration profiles, with proficiency in the Microsoft 365 admin center, the Copilot Control System, and the workload admin centers.
• Foundational understanding of Microsoft Entra and the ability to configure Entra and other Azure-based services; working knowledge of Microsoft Purview, Microsoft Graph, Intune, and the Power Platform.
• Ability to…