Senior Technical Lead – Secure Access & Endpoint Platforms

Role Purpose

We are seeking an experienced Senior Technical Lead – Secure Access & Endpoint Platforms to provide technical leadership, implementation assurance, and delivery governance across enterprise secure access and endpoint management platforms.

This role is ideal for a senior hands-on technical leader with deep expertise in Cisco Secure Access, Microsoft Intune, enterprise networking, security, identity integration, and endpoint management platforms.

Responsibilities

Technical Assessment & Design Assurance

• Assess existing secure access, endpoint management, and identity management environments.
• Review and validate high-level and low-level solution designs.
• Identify technical gaps, risks, assumptions, and dependencies.
• Challenge vendor recommendations, designs, and implementation approaches where required.
• Maintain technical risk, dependency, decision, and remediation registers.
• Ensure alignment with enterprise architecture, security standards, and operational requirements.
• Escalate material design deviations through the appropriate governance channels.

Architecture-to-Implementation Planning

Translate approved architecture into detailed execution plans including:

• Technical work packages and ownership assignments.
• Deployment sequencing and implementation waves.
• Integration and configuration activities.
• Cutover and rollback strategies.
• Hypercare and support requirements.
• Test plans and acceptance criteria.
• Risk mitigation controls.
• Operational documentation and handover deliverables.

Establish readiness checkpoints and technical go/no-go criteria for production deployments.

Cisco Secure Access Technical Leadership

Provide technical leadership and implementation assurance across:

• Secure Internet Access (SIA)
• Secure Web Gateway (SWG)
• Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA)
• Secure Private Access (SPA)
• Cisco Secure Client
• Resource Connectors
• Private Application Access
• IPsec Tunnels and VPN Connectivity
• Policy enforcement and access control frameworks

Key responsibilities include:

• Validating connectivity, routing, DNS, firewall and application dependencies.
• Reviewing access policies, identity integrations and authentication flows.
• Troubleshooting authentication, connectivity, policy, routing, performance and application-access issues.
• Validating endpoint readiness and client deployment strategies.
• Ensuring successful integration with identity and security platforms.

Endpoint Management Leadership

ManageEngine Endpoint Central

• Review software packaging and deployment strategies.
• Validate deployment rules, scripting, detection methods, and recovery mechanisms.
• Assure reporting accuracy and deployment visibility.
• Lead root-cause investigations for recurring deployment failures.
• Coordinate pilot testing and rollout activities.
• Improve deployment reliability and operational efficiency.

Microsoft Intune

• Provide technical oversight of Intune implementation and optimization initiatives.
• Review and validate:
• Device enrolment
• Application deployment
• Compliance policies
• Configuration profiles
• Security baselines
• MDM and MAM configurations
• Conditional Access integrations
• Define operational boundaries between endpoint management platforms.
• Coordinate identity, security, and device-management dependencies.
• Support modernization and governance of endpoint management services.

Testing, Quality Assurance & Technical Acceptance

Own technical quality assurance across all workstreams by:

• Developing end-to-end testing strategies.
• Establishing traceability between requirements, testing, defects, and approvals.
• Coordinating:
• Connectivity testing
• Authentication testing
• Authorization testing
• User journey validation
• Certificate validation
• Failover and resiliency testing
• Recovery testing
• Pilot and phased deployment testing
• Operational readiness validation
• Managing defect resolution and remediation activities.
• Providing technical production readiness recommendations.
• Recommending formal service acceptance when exit criteria have been achieved.

Change Management, Hypercare & BAU Transition

• Prepare and review implementation plans and change documentation.
• Participate in technical governance and CAB activities.
• Coordinate hypercare support following production deployments.
• Define operational acceptance and transition criteria.
• Ensure operational readiness through:
• Monitoring and alerting
• Runbooks and SOPs
• Escalation paths
• Support models
• Knowledge transfer
• As-built documentation
• Access governance and auditability
• Facilitate successful transition into BAU ownership.

Vendor & Service Delivery Governance

• Act as the primary technical liaison between internal stakeholders and managed service providers.
• Review and challenge vendor deliverables, designs, implementation plans, and remediation actions.
• Ensure vendor accountability for:
• Technical quality
• Incident resolution
• Problem management
• Documentation
• Knowledge transfer
• Service reporting
• Coordinate cross-vendor dependencies and issue resolution.
• Drive service improvement initiatives and technical governance.

Technical Skills

Cisco Secure Access

• Hands-on expertise with Cisco Secure Access technologies.
• Secure Internet Access (SIA)
• Secure Private Access (SPA)
• Zero Trust architectures
• Secure Web Gateway (SWG)
• Cisco Secure Client
• Resource Connectors
• VPN and IPsec connectivity
• Access policy design and troubleshooting

Networking & Security

• Enterprise networking and routing.
• Network security architecture.
• Firewall technologies.
• DNS and traffic flow analysis.
• Secure remote access solutions.
• PKI and certificate management.
• Authentication and authorization frameworks.

Identity & Access Management

Strong experience with:

• Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD)
• Active Directory
• SAML
• Single Sign-On (SSO)
• Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
• Certificate-based authentication
• Group-based access control

Endpoint Management

• Microsoft Intune
• ManageEngine Endpoint Central
• Software packaging and deployment
• Device compliance management
• Security policy administration
• Endpoint governance

Automation & Troubleshooting

• PowerShell scripting
• Endpoint diagnostics
• Log analysis
• Network troubleshooting
• Root cause analysis
• Operational monitoring and telemetry

Documentation

• Low-Level Designs (LLDs)
• Technical Implementation Plans
• Test Plans
• Runbooks
• Standard Operating Procedures
• As-Built Documentation
• Operational Handover Documentation

Qualifications

• Matric and a relevant qualification in Information Technology, Computer Science, Engineering, or related field.
• CCIE certification or demonstrable equivalent senior-level Cisco expertise.
• Minimum 8 years' enterprise networking, security, infrastructure, or platform engineering experience.
• Proven experience leading complex technical implementations from design validation through production deployment and operational handover.

Highly Advantageous

• Cisco Security Certifications
• Cisco Secure Access or SASE Certifications
• Cisco Zero Trust Certifications
• Microsoft Intune Certifications
• Microsoft Security Certifications
• Microsoft Identity Certifications
• ITIL Foundation or higher

Experience

• 8+ years of enterprise networking and security experience.
• Extensive hands-on Cisco networking expertise.
• Experience delivering Cisco Secure Access implementations.
• Experience leading endpoint management and device modernization initiatives.
• Proven delivery of enterprise-scale deployments from assessment through production and BAU transition.
• Experience coordinating cross-functional teams including Security, Infrastructure, Networks, End User Computing, Operations, and Vendors.
• Strong managed service provider governance experience.
• Experience performing technical assurance and quality oversight.
• Strong troubleshooting and root-cause analysis capability across multiple technologies.
• Experience within highly regulated or large enterprise environments will be advantageous.