M365 / Entra Security & Governance Specialist (Freelance/Contract)

M365 Entra Security investigates identity-based attack paths (DCSync, Golden Ticket, Pass-the-Hash) and remediates exposures. Operates Defender for Cloud Apps for SaaS discovery, OAuth app governance, conditional access app control (reverse proxy), session policies, and shadow IT reporting. Investigates alerts and incidents in the Defender XDR portal using KQL advanced hunting; builds custom detections, suppression rules, and automated playbooks.

SIEM and SOAR - Microsoft Sentinel: Operates Microsoft Sentinel for the estate, including data connectors (M365, Entra, Defender XDR, Azure Activity, Office 365, Threat Intelligence, Syslog/CEF), workspace architecture, retention, and cost optimisation. Authors analytics rules (scheduled, NRT, Fusion, Microsoft Security), builds watchlists, threat intelligence integrations (TAXII / MISP), and User Entity Behaviour Analytics (UEBA). Develops KQL detection content aligned to MITRE ATT, operates hunting queries, bookmarks, and incident investigation graphs. Builds SOAR automation using Azure Logic Apps playbooks for incident enrichment, containment (e.g., disable user, force password reset, isolate device), and notification. Operates the 24/7 Sentinel‑based monitoring stack in collaboration with the NOC analyst function.

Information Protection and Data Governance - Microsoft Purview: Designs and operates Microsoft Purview Information Protection, including sensitivity labels, label policies, auto‑labelling (client and service‑side), encryption with rights management, and co‑authoring on encrypted documents. Builds and tunes Data Loss Prevention (DLP) policies for Exchange, SharePoint, OneDrive, Teams chat, Endpoint DLP, and Power Platform; manages policy tips, overrides, and incident review. Operates Insider Risk Management policies, content explorer, activity explorer, and communication compliance where in scope. Designs retention policies, retention labels, and records management aligned to the customer's records retention schedules and applicable public‑sector records management frameworks. Operates eDiscovery (Standard and Premium): cases, holds, collections, reviews, custodian management, and chain‑of‑custody documentation. Operates Microsoft Purview Data Map, Data Catalog, and Data Estate Insights for the Microsoft Fabric / Power BI estate, including lineage, classification scans, and Data Loss Prevention for Fabric. Maintains audit and reporting using Purview Audit (Standard / Premium), Compliance Manager templates (ISO 27001, GDPR, NIS2), and customer‑managed Compliance Manager assessments.

Identity Security and Zero Trust: Defines and maintains the Conditional Access policy baseline using a documented policy framework (Persona‑based or Microsoft Zero Trust deployment guidance), including emergency / break‑glass access, named locations, and report‑only validation. Operates Entra ID Protection – sign‑in risk, user risk, risk policies, and risk investigation – including alignment with Defender XDR for unified incident view. Governs privileged access via PIM, role‑assignable groups, access reviews, and Just‑In‑Time elevation; co‑owns break‑glass account procedures with the AD/Entra Specialist. Operates Entra Permissions Management (CIEM) where licensed, providing visibility of multi‑cloud permission risk.

Compliance and Audit: Maintains ISO 27001 control evidence and aligns with the customer's certification and surveillance audits; acts as the technical lead for any audit observation related to the Microsoft estate. Maintains GDPR records of processing, supports Data Protection Impact Assessments for new applications, and operates technical and organisational measures (TOMs). Maps controls to NIST CSF, NIS2 (where applicable as an essential / important entity), and Microsoft Secure Score / Identity Secure Score; maintains a target posture and quarterly improvement plan. Produces monthly security KPIs for the SLA report – Secure Score trend, MFA coverage, DLP incidents, phishing simulation results, vulnerability remediation, patch compliance – and quarterly executive risk reports.

Microsoft Copilot and AI Governance: Operates the security envelope for Microsoft 365 Copilot and Copilot Studio including SharePoint sharing hygiene ('oversharing'), sensitivity‑label‑aware grounding, restricted SearchableContent, and Copilot interaction audit log review. Defines and enforces a Responsible AI policy aligned with Microsoft's Responsible AI Standard – fairness, reliability, safety, privacy, security, inclusiveness, transparency, and accountability.

Mandatory Technical Skills: Microsoft Defender XDR (full stack) and Microsoft Sentinel – analytics, hunting (KQL), incident management, and SOAR playbook authoring. Microsoft Purview – Information Protection, DLP, Insider Risk, Records Management, eDiscovery, Audit, and Compliance Manager. Entra ID security: Conditional Access, MFA, PIM, Identity Protection, External Identities, and Permissions Management. Zero Trust architecture knowledge per Microsoft Zero Trust deployment guidance; ability to lead a Zero Trust roadmap discussion with senior stakeholders. ISO 27001:2022 control set; GDPR Articles 5, 6, 9, 25, 28, 30, 32–34; awareness of NIS2 and applicable national cyber‑security guidance. KQL (Kusto Query Language) – fluent across Defender Advanced Hunting, Sentinel, and Log Analytics. PowerShell automation across Microsoft Graph Security, ExchangeOnlineManagement, and Compliance modules.

Desirable Technical Skills: Threat hunting using Sigma rules, MITRE ATT.