Senior Systems Engineer

Posted Tuesday, July 14, 2026 at 5:00 AM

With offices in Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Ohio, Pepper Construction is a national general contracting and construction management firm that primarily serves the private sector. Pepper Construction provides clients the experience and resources of a national company, combined with the hands‑on approach of a local company.

The Senior Systems Engineer will lead the design, implementation, and optimization of Microsoft Cloud (Azure) and the full Microsoft 365 suite across Pepper’s enterprise and jobsite environments.

This role is responsible for delivering a secure, scalable, cloud‑first architecture that enables seamless collaboration between field and office, strengthens cybersecurity posture, and supports resilient operations.

• Lead architecture and administration of the full Microsoft 365 ecosystem, including:
  • Exchange Online (mail flow, security, hybrid environments)
  • Microsoft Teams (collaboration, voice, and meetings)
  • SharePoint Online and One Drive (content management and file services)
  • Intune / Endpoint Manager (device and application management)
• Serve as a Global Administrator responsible for tenant governance, configuration, and optimization
• Manage and enhance Exchange Online and Hybrid Exchange environments, including:
  • Mail routing, security policies, and retention
  • Backup, compliance, and archiving strategies
  • Integration with third‑party systems
• Drive adoption and optimization of Microsoft collaboration tools across job sites and offices

• Own Entra  (Azure AD) including identity lifecycle, SSO, and access governance
• Implement and manage Conditional Access, MFA, Zero Trust policies, and device compliance
• Administer Microsoft Defender suite (Endpoint, Identity, O365) and security posture improvements
• Support Microsoft Sentinel (SIEM) for monitoring and threat response
• Manage role‑based access control (RBAC) and privileged identity management

• Design and support Azure infrastructure (IaaS/PaaS) including compute, storage, networking, and backups
• Manage hybrid identity and infrastructure integrations between on‑prem and cloud platforms
• Lead cloud migration initiatives including Exchange, file services, and application workloads
• Support legacy systems where needed while driving cloud‑first modernization

• Implement disaster recovery and business continuity strategies using Azure and M365 capabilities
• Ensure compliance with data protection, retention, and regulatory standards using Microsoft tools
• Monitor performance, availability, and service health across Microsoft platforms
• Plan and execute patching, upgrades, and lifecycle management
• Provide Tier 2/3 escalation support for Microsoft Cloud, M365, and infrastructure issues
• Manage AD, DNS, and identity services in hybrid environments
• Maintain documentation, standards, and operational procedures
• Define and execute Microsoft‑first cloud strategy and architecture standards
• Partner with leadership on M365 optimization, cost management, and security improvements
• Evaluate emerging Microsoft technologies (e.g., Copilot, automation, analytics and Fabric)
• Lead technical projects and manage vendors and consultants

• Bachelor’s degree in IT, Computer Science, or equivalent experience
• 5–7+ years of experience in systems engineering, cloud, or Microsoft platform administration
• Strong hands‑on experience with:
  • Microsoft 365 administration (including Exchange Online)
  • Azure (IaaS, identity, networking)
  • Entra  / Azure AD and identity governance
• Experience managing Exchange Hybrid environments and enterprise mail systems
• Strong understanding of security, compliance, and cloud governance principles
• Solid knowledge of networking and hybrid infrastructure

• Deep expertise in:
  • Microsoft 365 (Exchange, Teams, SharePoint, One Drive, Intune)
  • Exchange Online & Hybrid administration
  • Identity, SSO, and federation technologies (ADFS, Entra )
• Experience with:
  • Microsoft Defender suite and Sentinel
  • Backup and recovery solutions (AvePoint, Veeam, Azure Backup)
  • Windows/Linux server…