Active Directory SME(ADFS & Entra ID Services)

Position: Active Directory SME(ADFS & Entra ID Services)

Location: Culver City, CA( onsite)

Contract

Note: Prefer local candidates.

Job Description:

Seeking a highly skilled Subject Matter Expert Active Directory & Entra ID Services to work along a team of engineers responsible for delivering and supporting enterprise-level identity and access management services. The ideal candidate will possess deep technical expertise in Active Directory (AD), Entra ID (Azure AD), and related hybrid identity services, coupled with strong leadership, stakeholder management and service ownership skills.

This role involves managing day-to-day operations, driving service excellence, mentoring team members, and acting as the key point of contact for technical escalations, issue resolutions and stakeholder communications.

The Subject Matter Expert (SME) will serve as the go-to person for domain-specific knowledge, providing expert guidance to both stakeholder and internal teams. This role requires deep functional and/or technical expertise, strong communication skills, and the ability to translate complex subject matter into actionable insights that drive project success. The SME will work closely with stakeholders to ensure solutions are aligned with best practices, company standards and stakeholder objectives.

Work closely with offshore team and be a backup for the onsite Tech Lead and cover for other s responsibilities as needed.

Key Responsibilities

General Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary knowledge resource in the designated domain.
• Provide expert input on solution design, process improvement, and decision-making.
• Partner with stakeholders to understand business challenges and propose feasible, high-impact solutions.
• Act as a trusted advisor, ensuring that recommendations align with the stakeholder s strategic goals.
• Participate in governance meetings, design discussions, and project reviews as a subject expert.
• Provide expert validation during testing, quality assurance, and implementation phases.
• Develop and maintain detailed documentation, process maps, and standard operating procedures (SOPs).
• Contribute to building internal knowledge repositories, playbooks, and reusable frameworks.
• Identify opportunities for optimization or innovation in processes, tools, or methodologies.
• Mentor team members to build domain capability within the organization.
• Drive continuous improvement, automation, and standardization across the environment.
• Collaborate with project teams to support new implementations, migrations, and transformations.

Technical Responsibilities

• Responsible for administering and supporting Active Directory Domain Controllers, forests, and trust relationships.
• Manage promotion/demotion of domain controllers and forest-level administration.
• Manage Group Policy Objects (GPOs), Sites and Services, and replication configurations.
• Manage conducting regular AD health checks, database cleanup, and replication remediation.
• Manage SYSVOL, Global Catalogue, FSMO roles, and Windows Time Services.
• Manage implementation and support of Active Directory backup, recovery, and disaster recovery procedures.
• Configure and manage Certificate Services and Public Key Infrastructure (PKI).
• Manage roaming profiles, folder redirection, and cloud storage access control (Azure Storage).
• Lead Active Directory domain migrations and consolidation projects.
• Ensure security hardening and vulnerability management of domain controllers.

Entra ID / Hybrid Identity

• Responsible for administering and supporting Entra Connect / Sync servers and synchronization rules.
• Manage Azure AD roles, Administrative Units, and RBAC.
• Manage Conditional Access Policies, Application Registrations (OIDC, SAML), and Dynamic Groups.
• Oversee Privileged Identity Management (PIM) and Service Principals.
• Support custom domain management and identity lifecycle processes.
• Collaborate on integrations with OKTA or other IAM solutions.

Automation, Documentation & Process

• Develop and design automation opportunities utilising, PowerShell scripts for reporting, and health monitoring etc.
• Maintain up-to-date technical documentation, architecture diagrams, and standard operating procedures (SOPs).
• Drive process efficiency by implementing best practices and automation frameworks.
• Support audit and compliance requirements by maintaining accurate records and configurations.
• Prepare Root cause analysis and related documentations for incidents and problem management.

Required Skills

• 10 12 years of relevant experience in Active Directory and Entra ID management, with at least 3 5 years in a subject matter expert [SME] role.
• Deep understanding of Windows Server infrastructure, ADFS, ADCS, DNS, PKI, and IAM principles.
• Strong experience in managing complex and multi forest Active Directory infrastructure.
• Strong PowerShell scripting and automation experience.
• Demonstrated experience in stakeholder-facing service delivery and technical leadership.
• Excellent communication, stakeholder management, and reporting skills.
• Strong problem-solving and analytical mindset with the ability to manage critical incidents under pressure.

Preferred Certifications

• Microsoft Certified: Identity and Access Administrator (SC-300)
• Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate (AZ-104)
• Microsoft Certified: Windows Server Hybrid Administrator Associate
• ITIL Foundation Certification