Senior Microsoft Purview Specialist

About the role

An experienced Microsoft Purview Specialist is sought to join the internal Information Security / IT team. The role owns the design, implementation and ongoing management of the organisation's data protection and compliance posture using Microsoft Purview, with deep expertise in Information Protection (MIP), Data Loss Prevention (DLP) and Information Rights Management (IRM), plus working knowledge of the wider Purview suite.

Key responsibilities

• Own the end-to-end lifecycle of the Microsoft Purview environment: configuration, policy tuning, monitoring and continuous improvement.
• Design and maintain sensitivity label taxonomies, auto-labeling policies and MIP configurations aligned to internal data classification standards.
• Build, monitor and refine DLP policies across Exchange, SharePoint, OneDrive, Teams and endpoints (Windows/macOS) to prevent data leakage.
• Manage IRM/RMS templates and encryption policies to protect sensitive content in motion and at rest.
• Administer related Purview capabilities as needed: Data Lifecycle Management, Records Management, Insider Risk Management, Communication Compliance, eDiscovery and Audit.
• Maintain and refine sensitive information types (SITs) and trainable classifiers.
• Investigate and respond to DLP and insider risk alerts, tuning policies to reduce false positives and negatives.
• Align Purview configurations with compliance obligations such as UAE PDPL, GDPR and ISO 27001, and keep documentation including policy matrices, configuration standards and runbooks.
• Work with IT, legal and compliance teams, train internal stakeholders, and liaise with Microsoft support and external partners when needed.

Required profile

• 5+ years of experience in Microsoft security and compliance, with a strong focus on Microsoft Purview.
• Deep hands-on expertise in MIP, DLP and IRM; working knowledge of other Purview components.
• Solid understanding of Microsoft 365 architecture and familiarity with data classification frameworks and regional compliance regulations.
• Relevant certifications preferred (e.g. SC-400, SC-401, SC-100).

Required skills

• Microsoft Purview (MIP, DLP, IRM, Data Lifecycle Management, Records Management, Insider Risk Management, eDiscovery, Compliance Manager, Audit)
• Microsoft 365 (Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, Teams, OneDrive)
• PowerShell for Purview and Security & Compliance administration
• Nice to have: Microsoft Defender suite and Entra ID, integration with third-party DLP/CASB tools, and experience with Microsoft partners or system integrators