Johannesburg: Senior Infrastructure & Data Protection Engineer | Johannesburg | Permanent

Take ownership of critical enterprise infrastructure and ensure resilience where it matters most. This is a hands-on senior role for someone who thrives in complex, high-impact environments. You will lead the operational management of core Microsoft infrastructure, identity platforms, and data protection systems across both on-premises and cloud environments. The role is accountable for ensuring availability, security, and recoverability of business-critical services, while driving best practices across monitoring, patching, backup, and disaster recovery. This position sits at the heart of infrastructure stability and identity integrity, requiring deep technical expertise and the ability to manage incidents, optimise systems, and maintain audit-ready environments. You will play a key role in ensuring systems meet strict RPO and RTO targets while supporting continuous improvement across platforms. Our client is a large, enterprise-scale organisation operating in a highly regulated environment, where system reliability, security, and compliance are essential to business continuity. What You’ll Do Own and manage Microsoft Windows Server environments end-to-end Lead Active Directory operations including replication, GPO, DNS, and authentication services Administer Microsoft Entra ID and hybrid identity environments Manage Office 365 services ensuring availability and configuration integrity Own SCOM and SCCM platforms for monitoring, patching, and endpoint management Support VMware virtualisation including performance optimisation and lifecycle management Oversee enterprise backup and recovery platforms, including retention and immutability Execute and validate backup, restore, and disaster recovery processes Lead major incident resolution and root cause analysis Maintain documentation, standards, and operational runbooks What You Bring 5–10 years’ experience in enterprise Microsoft infrastructure environments Strong hands-on expertise in Windows Server, Active Directory, and Azure AD Experience with Office 365, SCCM, SCOM, and VMware Solid understanding of identity, authentication, and access management Proven experience with backup, recovery, and data protection platforms Ability to operate in high-pressure, business-critical environments Relevant IT qualification (Diploma or Degree preferred) Microsoft certifications preferred; VMware and backup certifications advantageous What Success Looks Like High availability and reliability of identity and authentication services Consistent performance and uptime of Office 365 platforms Effective monitoring, alerting, and incident response Strong backup success rates and reliable recovery outcomes Compliance with data protection, retention, and security standards Reduced MTTR across infrastructure and recovery incidents High-quality documentation and audit-ready systems