Lead Identity Specialist - Microsoft Entra (Cyber)

Job Title: Lead Identity Specialist - Microsoft Entra (Cyber)
Location: Sheffield - Hybrid 60% office - 40% home
Salary/Rate: £470 per day rate INSIDE IR35
Start Date: 06/01/2026 - may be extended
Job Type: Contract

We have an exciting new contract opportunity with one of our clients! They are looking for a Lead Identity Specialist- Microsoft Entra (Cyber)

We are seeking an experienced Lead Identity Specialist to drive the design, deployment, and governance of Microsoft Entra solutions across the enterprise. This role combines deep technical expertise with strategic consulting skills. The Lead will act as the subject matter expert for Microsoft Entra, Cloud Infrastructure Entitlement Management (CIEM), Privileged Identity Management (PIM), and Microsoft Defender for Identity, while managing Application Owners, Business stakeholders, Security Architects and guiding application, security, and infrastructure teams.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead enterprise-wide architecture and deployment of Microsoft Entra, including Entra ID, Conditional Access, Identity Protection, PIM, CIEM, and Governance.
• Manage and mentor Technical Account Managers (TAMs), ensuring service excellence and alignment with IAM strategy.
• Act as SME and consultant for application, infrastructure, and security teams integrating with Entra ID and related IAM services.
• Define and execute IAM strategy in alignment with Zero Trust security principles.
• Provide consulting-level guidance on IAM adoption, migration from legacy platforms, and application onboarding.
• Drive proactive use of Microsoft Defender for Identity for threat detection and identity-based risk management.
• Partner with security leadership to ensure compliance with audit, regulatory, and governance requirements.
• Serve as enterprise escalation point for identity-related issues and lead root cause analysis for critical incidents.

Required Skills/Experience
The ideal candidate will have the following:

• Expert knowledge of Microsoft Entra architecture and deployments, including Identity Protection, Conditional Access, PIM, CIEM, and Governance.
• Strong experience with hybrid identity (on-prem Active Directory, AD FS, Azure Entra Connect).
• Proficiency with Microsoft Defender for Identity and integration with broader security ecosystems
• Deep understanding of authentication protocols (SAML, OAuth, OpenID Connect, Kerberos, LDAP).
• Familiarity with AWS IAM and GCP IAM as part of multi-cloud IAM strategy.

If you are interested in this opportunity, please apply now with your updated CV in Microsoft Word/PDF format.

Disclaimer
Notwithstanding any guidelines given to level of experience sought, we will consider candidates from outside this range if they can demonstrate the necessary competencies.

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