## Job Summary We are seeking an experienced Senior Active Directory Engineer / SME with approximately 10 years of experience to design, administer, secure, and optimize enterprise identity and directory services. The role will provide L3/SME-level support for complex Active Directory environments and take technical ownership of Active Directory Domain Services, Group Policy, DNS, authentication, replication, domain controllers, and hybrid identity services. The ideal candidate should have extensive hands-on experience with Microsoft Active Directory, Windows Server, PowerShell, Microsoft Entra ID, hybrid identity, security hardening, and identity lifecycle management. The role will also contribute to architecture decisions, migrations, automation, major incident resolution, security remediation, and continuous improvement of directory services. ##

Key Responsibilities
Provide L3/SME-level administration and technical support for enterprise Microsoft Active Directory environments.
• Manage and maintain Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS), including forests, domains, domain controllers, sites, trusts, Organizational Units, users, computers, and security groups.
• Design, implement, review, and troubleshoot Group Policy Objects (GPOs) across enterprise environments.
• Monitor and troubleshoot Active Directory replication, authentication, DNS, domain controller health, SYSVOL, trusts, and directory-service performance.
• Support and optimize hybrid identity environments, including integration between on-premises Active Directory and Microsoft Entra ID.
• Provide technical leadership for Active Directory migrations, domain consolidations, upgrades, domain controller deployments, decommissioning, and infrastructure modernization.
• Develop and maintain PowerShell automation for administration, health monitoring, reporting, account management, bulk operations, and repetitive operational activities.
• Strengthen Active Directory security through least-privilege access, privileged account controls, security hardening, service-account governance, stale-account remediation, and periodic access reviews.




• Troubleshoot complex authentication issues involving technologies such as Kerberos, NTLM, LDAP/LDAPS, DNS, and Windows authentication.
• Lead technical investigation and root cause analysis for major incidents and recurring directory-service problems, ensuring corrective and preventive actions are documented.
• Perform regular Active Directory health checks, capacity reviews, vulnerability remediation, and configuration reviews.
• Work closely with Cybersecurity, IAM, Cloud, Windows Server, Network, Application, Service Desk, and Endpoint Management teams to resolve cross-platform identity issues.
• Support audit and compliance requirements by providing evidence related to privileged access, account lifecycle, group memberships, authentication controls, and administrative activities.
• Review complex changes and provide technical guidance to junior engineers during implementation, troubleshooting, and major incidents.
• Develop and maintain technical documentation, architecture diagrams, SOPs, operational runbooks, troubleshooting guides, and knowledge articles.
• Identify opportunities for automation, standardization, security improvement, and operational efficiency across directory services.
• Participate in disaster recovery and business continuity exercises relating to identity and directory infrastructure. ## Skill Requirements Extensive hands-on expertise in Microsoft Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS).
• Robust knowledge of Windows Server and enterprise domain environments.
• Advanced understanding of AD forests, domains, trusts, sites, subnets, OUs, domain controllers, FSMO roles, users, groups, and computer objects.
• Robust knowledge of Group Policy design, administration, security, and troubleshooting.




• Advanced troubleshooting capability across Active Directory replication, DNS, authentication, trusts, and domain controller issues.
• Strong understanding of Kerberos, NTLM, LDAP, LDAPS, and Windows authentication mechanisms.
• Hands-on experience with Microsoft Entra ID and hybrid identity architectures.
• Knowledge of Microsoft Entra Connect / Cloud Sync and identity synchronization concepts.
• Robust PowerShell scripting and automation skills.
• Good knowledge of Privileged Access Management, Role-Based Access Control (RBAC), least privilege, service accounts, and identity security principles.
• Experience performing Active Directory migrations, upgrades, consolidation, and domain controller lifecycle activities.
• Understanding of Active Directory security hardening and vulnerability remediation.
• Experience with monitoring, auditing, and reporting solutions for Active Directory environments.
• Familiarity with enterprise ITSM solutions such as ServiceNow and ITIL-based Incident, Problem, Request, and Change Management processes.
• Working understanding of disaster recovery, backup, restoration, and business continuity principles for directory services. Other Requirement :
• Excellent analytical and advanced troubleshooting skills.
• Strong capability in problem management and root cause analysis.
• Ability to handle critical incidents and provide technical leadership during major service disruptions.
• Strong stakeholder-management and communication skills.
• Ability to translate complex technical issues into clear updates for management and non-technical stakeholders.
• Experience mentoring and providing technical guidance to L1/L2 engineers and infrastructure operations teams.
• Strong documentation and knowledge-management capabilities.
• Ability to manage multiple operational, security, change, and project priorities in a global enterprise environment.
• Strong focus on security, compliance, service availability, and operational excellence. ## Must Have Skill Active Directory Service Interfaces ## Good to Have Skill ## Other Requirements NA

📌 SME - Active Directory Service Interfaces (India)
🏢 HCLTech
📍 India