Senior M365 Governance Engineer

About This Role Hearst Technology Services is seeking a senior-level M365 Governance Engineer to own the governance framework across our Microsoft 365 messaging and collaboration platforms, including Exchange Online and Teams, while partnering with the Enterprise Apps team on SharePoint and OneDrive. This role is primarily focused on governance: developing a governance plan and designing and enforcing lifecycle management, retention, data protection, and access and sharing controls to ensure that our messaging and collaboration environment remains secure, compliant, and well organized as it scales. This work will be performed in close partnership with our GRC team. Hands-on engineering of Exchange Online and Teams is part of the role, but it exists in service of governance. You will not simply keep the platforms running; you will ensure that everything operating on them follows policy by design—not as an afterthought. What You'll Do Governance (Primary Focus) • Design, implement, and maintain governance policies for Exchange Online and Teams, including naming conventions, provisioning workflows, and full lifecycle management (creation, ownership, archival, and deletion) for mailboxes, distribution lists, Microsoft 365 Groups, and Teams • Configure and maintain retention policies, sensitivity labels, and Data Loss Prevention (DLP) rules using Microsoft Purview across mail and Teams content • Own external sharing, guest access, and permissions governance within Teams to prevent oversharing and reduce data exposure risk • Build and maintain dashboards and reports (Power BI, Purview, or native M365 admin reporting) to track compliance posture, license utilization, and governance policy adherence • Partner with security and compliance teams to support audits, eDiscovery requests, and regulatory requirements (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA, SOC 2, ISO 27001) as they relate to messaging and collaboration data • Develop automation (PowerShell, Microsoft Graph API, Power Automate) to streamline governance tasks such as orphaned mailbox/Team cleanup, ownership certification, and policy enforcement • Conduct periodic access reviews and governance audits of mailboxes and Teams to identify and remediate policy drift • Create and maintain governance documentation, runbooks, and training materials, and act as the escalation point for governance-related incidents (e.g., oversharing, policy violations, misconfigured permissions) • Collaborate with team owners and business units to drive adoption of governance best practices without unnecessarily blocking productivity • Evaluate new Microsoft 365 governance and compliance features as they are released, assessing impact before tenant-wide rollout Messaging & Collaboration Engineering (Supporting) • Administer and engineer Exchange Online, including mail flow rules, connectors, distribution lists/shared mailboxes, and anti-spam/anti-phishing configuration • Support Microsoft Teams architecture, including calling/voice (if applicable), meeting policies, channel structure, and Teams app management • Monitor service health, plan for capacity/licensing needs, and troubleshoot platform-level issues in partnership with Microsoft support when needed What You'll Bring Required Qualifications • 7+ years of hands-on experience in Microsoft 365 governance, compliance, or administration, with direct experience in Exchange Online and/or Microsoft Teams environments • Strong experience with Microsoft Purview (Compliance Center), including retention labels/policies, DLP, and sensitivity labels • Proven track record designing and enforcing lifecycle management, naming conventions, and access/sharing governance for mailboxes, groups, and Teams • Proficiency in PowerShell scripting for M365 governance automation (Exchange Online, Teams modules) • Familiarity with Microsoft Graph API for governance automation and reporting • Working knowledge of common regulatory and compliance frameworks (GDPR, HIPAA, SOC 2, ISO 27001, NIST) as they apply to messaging/collaboration governance • Working understanding of Exchange Online mail flow and Teams architecture sufficient to apply governance controls effectively • Experience with M365 license management and optimization • Strong analytical and documentation skills, with the ability to translate technical policy into clear guidance for non-technical stakeholders Preferred Qualifications • Microsoft certifications such as SC-400 (Information Protection Administrator), MS-102 (Microsoft 365 Administrator), or MS-700 (Managing Microsoft Teams) • Background in IT compliance, risk management, or audit support • Experience supporting M365 Copilot data readiness for messaging and collaboration content (oversharing remediation, sensitivity label coverage) • Experience with Power Automate and Power BI for governance reporting and workflow automation • Exposure to ITIL or change management frameworks • Familiarity with Teams Phone/voice engineering (direct routing, calling plans, PSTN connectivity) • Background in messaging migrations (e.g., legacy Exchange, other email platforms, or Teams/Slack migrations) Soft Skills • Clear communicator, able to explain governance rationale to both technical and non-technical audiences • Comfortable balancing security/compliance requirements against user productivity and business needs • Detail-oriented with strong follow-through on policy enforcement and documentation • Collaborative mindset — this role touches nearly every team in the organization Benefits Hearst provides a competitive benefits package, including medical, dental, vision, disability and life insurance, 401(k), paid holidays and paid time off, employee assistance programs, and more.