Identity Security Engineer

ECS is a full-spectrum cybersecurity organization seeking an Identity Security Engineer for their Washington, DC office. The role involves designing and evolving identity security systems while ensuring the Windows server infrastructure is secure and compliant with modern security standards.

Responsibilities:

• Assess the organization's identity architecture against modern security frameworks
• Lead initiatives to reduce identity-based risk
• Ensure that the Windows server environment supporting identity systems is configured, documented, and defended to the highest standard
• Monitor identity health, detect suspicious activity, and investigate identity-based threats using security analytics and operational playbooks
• Administer and harden Windows Server environments in an enterprise setting
• Monitor and analyze Windows-based architecture, communication, policies, and protocols from a cybersecurity lens
• Identify gaps in current identity and server security capabilities and recommend both technical and process-level improvements
• Develop and contribute to technical security standards, monitoring standards, and security architecture documentation
• Communicate findings and risks clearly to both technical peers and senior leadership

Requirements:

• Deep understanding of enterprise identity and access management (IAM) architecture, governance, and security operations
• Experience integrating identity signals into security operations, including identity protection, threat detection, and centralized logging
• Ability to monitor identity health, detect suspicious activity, and investigate identity-based threats using security analytics and operational playbooks
• Hands-on experience with Microsoft Entra ID (Azure Active Directory), Privileged Identity Management (PIM), and just-in-time access controls
• Experience enforcing least privilege, role-based access control (RBAC), and automating access provisioning and deprovisioning workflows
• Familiarity with Zero Trust identity principles — verify explicitly, enforce least privilege, and assume breach — and the ability to assess and mature an organization's identity posture against those principles
• Experience securing workload identities, service principals, and high-risk administrative accounts
• Ability to decommission legacy federation infrastructure and migrate applications to modern, standards-based authentication
• Strong experience administering and hardening Windows Server environments in an enterprise setting
• Proficiency with Microsoft Active Directory, Active Directory Federation Services, and Group Policy Objects (GPOs) from a security engineering perspective
• Ability to monitor and analyze Windows-based architecture, communication, policies, and protocols from a cybersecurity lens
• Experience performing system monitoring, reviewing logs, and taking corrective action to maintain server integrity and availability
• Ability to create and maintain thorough system documentation covering installation, configuration, and troubleshooting procedures
• Experience supporting security continuous monitoring efforts including risk assessments and system patching within Windows server environments
• Ability to identify gaps in current identity and server security capabilities and recommend both technical and process-level improvements
• Experience developing and contributing to technical security standards, monitoring standards, and security architecture documentation
• Comfortable working across teams including cybersecurity, networking, systems administration, and technology support partners
• Ability to communicate findings and risks clearly to both technical peers and senior leadership
• A minimum of 5+ years of progressive experience in identity security and Windows server administration is required, with demonstrated experience operating at an engineering level rather than a purely operational or support capacity
• Experience with Microsoft Defender for Identity and integration with SIEM platforms such as Splunk
• Scripting and automation experience in PowerShell, Bash, or Python to support identity operations and reporting
• Familiarity with hybrid identity environments and cloud identity platforms such as Microsoft Azure or AWS IAM
• Experience with Single Sign-On (SSO), SAML, OAuth 2.0, and OpenID Connect protocols
• Knowledge of Kerberos delegation risks, lateral movement detection, and privilege escalation monitoring
• Microsoft License Management experience
• Bachelor's degree in Cybersecurity, Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field preferred
• Relevant certifications such as Microsoft Identity and Access Administrator (SC-300), Microsoft Cybersecurity Architect (SC-100), CISSP, or equivalent are strongly preferred