Active Directory Engineer

About the Role

We are seeking an Active Directory Engineer to support a critical Active Directory (AD) Hardening and Consolidation initiative. This project is focused on improving security posture, reducing cross-site risk, and implementing best practices across a complex, multi-site environment. This individual will play a key role in design, validation, and implementation of AD enhancements, working closely with teams across IT to ensure minimal business impact.

Responsibilities

• Lead and contribute to Active Directory hardening and tiering initiatives
• Design and implement security best practices across AD, including:
  • AD tiering strategy
  • Privileged access controls
  • Group Policy (GPO) design, cleanup, and enforcement
• Support AD consolidation and infrastructure changes across ~90 distributed sites
• Perform impact analysis, testing, and validation prior to rollout of changes
• Partner with application owners and business stakeholders to ensure:
  • Awareness of AD changes
  • Proper testing and minimal disruption
• Assist in server builds, domain controller updates, and decommissioning legacy components
• Work cross-functionally with network teams to validate dependencies (e.g., redundancy, connectivity)
• Evaluate and integrate Privileged Access Management (PAM) controls
• Manage and optimize:
  • Service accounts
  • Authentication flows and dependencies
• Develop automation using PowerShell scripting to support implementation and standardization
• Document architecture, processes, and security improvements

Requirements

• 7+ years of experience in Active Directory engineering/administration
• Deep experience with:
  • AD solution design and deployment
  • AD hardening and security best practices
  • Domain services, replication, and multi-site environments
• Hands-on experience with:
  • AD tiering models (Tier 0 / Tier 1 / Tier 2 concepts)
  • Group Policy Management (GPOs)
  • Windows Server administration
• Strong scripting experience with PowerShell
• Experience supporting or implementing:
  • Privileged access controls / PAM integrations
  • Service account management and security
• Knowledge of DNS, authentication protocols, and AD dependencies
• Strong collaboration skills and ability to work across technical and business teams
• Expertise lending to a solutions-oriented approach; not a task-driven role

Preferred Qualifications

• Familiarity with PKI / certificate services and secure communications
• Exposure to enterprise PAM tools
• Experience working in regulated or security-sensitive environments
• Experience in infrastructure transformation or consolidation initiatives

Pay

The pay range for this position is $10.00 - $70.00/hr.

Benefits

Eligibility requirements apply to some benefits and may depend on your job classification and length of employment. Benefits are subject to change and may be subject to specific elections, plan, or program terms. If eligible, the benefits available for this temporary role may include the following:

• Medical, dental & vision
• Critical Illness, Accident, and Hospital
• 401(k) Retirement Plan – Pre-tax and Roth post-tax contributions available
• Life Insurance (Voluntary Life & AD&D for the employee and dependents)
• Short and long-term disability
• Health Spending Account (HSA)
• Transportation benefits
• Employee Assistance Program
• Time Off/Leave (PTO, Vacation or Sick Leave)

Schedule

This is a fully onsite, contract position based in Chicago, IL.