To Apply for this Job Click Here
Microsoft Defender for Servers Consultant
Remote—United States
5 Weeks-Short-Term Contract
ASAP
Position Overview:
Client is seeking an experienced, U.S.-based Microsoft Defender for Servers Consultant to support an active security modernization project & create a Pilot. The consultant will transition responsibilities from the current offshore delivery team and continue the project without disrupting its schedule or momentum. The engagement focuses on designing, configuring, and piloting Microsoft Defender for Servers Plan 2 across a hybrid infrastructure of up to 1,500 servers. The environment consists primarily of Windows servers, with some Linux systems, hosted across AWS EC2 and on-premises infrastructure. Furthermore, The consultant will help establish Azure Arc as the centralized management platform, integrate Microsoft Defender for Cloud with Microsoft Sentinel, configure endpoint security policies, and complete a pilot deployment involving approximately 50–75 servers. The ideal candidate is a senior, hands-on Microsoft security consultant who can enter an active project, rapidly understand the existing environment, and take ownership of the remaining work. This individual must be equally comfortable developing architecture and documentation, configuring Microsoft and AWS security services, troubleshooting server onboarding, tuning endpoint policies, and communicating directly with technical and business stakeholders.
Requirements:
- Must have prior experience Architecting /designing Microsoft Defender for Servers Plan 2 architecture for a hybrid and multi-cloud environment inclusive of:
- Assess an environment of up to 1,500 Windows and Linux servers across AWS EC2 and on-premises infrastructure.
- Review server operating systems, versions, locations, workload types, and supportability.
- Map AWS accounts, regions, workloads, IAM roles, and EC2 instance profiles.
- Validate AWS Systems Manager agent readiness and compatibility.
- Assess Azure Arc prerequisites, including TLS 1.2, outbound connectivity, proxy configuration, and supported operating systems.
- Document on-premises network topology, connectivity requirements, and deployment dependencies.
- Assess an environment of up to 1,500 Windows and Linux servers across AWS EC2 and on-premises infrastructure.
- Enable and configure Microsoft Defender for Cloud and Defender for Servers Plan 2.
- Configure the Log Analytics workspace and Microsoft Sentinel data connectors.
- Deploy the AWS Connector and Azure Arc agents to selected pilot systems.
- Onboard approximately 50–75 representative AWS EC2 and on-premises servers.
- Validate onboarding across Windows Server and Linux platforms.
- Confirm Defender for Endpoint extension installation and health.
- Deploy anti-malware policies and enable ASR rules in audit mode.
- Analyze ASR results and tune policies before broader enforcement.
- Verify telemetry, alerts, recommendations, and security events within Defender for Cloud and Microsoft Sentinel.
- Test alert generation, notification routing, and incident-response workflows.
- Evaluate server performance impact and document exceptions or remediation actions.
- Provide a pilot go/no-go recommendation for the broader production rollout.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience transitioning enterprise environments from Sentinel One to Microsoft Defender.
- Experience supporting server environments of 1,000 or more systems.
- Experience with Intune, Group Policy, LANDesk, or similar enterprise deployment tools.
- Knowledge of auto-scaling, ephemeral, and cloud-native server workloads.
- Experience designing phased enterprise security rollouts.
- Relevant Microsoft certifications, such as:
- Microsoft Certified: Cybersecurity Architect Expert
- Microsoft Certified: Azure Security Engineer Associate
- Microsoft Certified: Security Operations Analyst Associate
- Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate