MS365 Platform Manager

The Microsoft 365 Platform Manager role ensures the effective delivery, optimisation, and strategic alignment of all Microsoft 365 services across the National Gas Technology landscape. This role provides oversight of core Microsoft platforms to meet business needs, comply with governance and security standards, and support future growth. By driving innovation, managing vendor performance, and fostering adoption, the role enables collaboration, improved productivity, and a robust roadmap for the evolving digital workplace.

Join us, and help be the energy behind the change.

• Platform Development and Support: Manage the development, administration, strategy, and support of all Microsoft 365 services, ensuring the health and alignment of the Microsoft 365 tenant with business needs.
• Vendor Management: Coordinate and oversee a third party service provider responsible for day to day operational support. This includes managing service quality, cost efficiency, compliance, risk mitigation, and monitoring vendor performance via KPIs such as uptime and user satisfaction. The manager sets clear expectations and ensures SLAs are met or exceeded.
• Platform Optimization: Continuously review and implement improvements to enhance performance, user experience, and productivity. This may involve configuration adjustments, process streamlining, and enabling underutilised features to maximise value.
• Adoption of New Features: Stay updated on Microsoft 365 capabilities, track product roadmaps, evaluate relevant new services, and lead pilot programmes to ensure smooth deployment organisation wide.
• Liaison with Microsoft: Act as the primary contact with Microsoft for support and strategic alignment, working with account managers and Unified Support to resolve complex issues, escalated problems, and prepare for upcoming changes.
• Governance and Compliance: Ensure platform management aligns with company policies, security standards and regulations. Oversee governance controls such as permissions, data loss prevention, retention policies and compliance configurations, collaborating with IT security and compliance teams.
• Cross team Collaboration: Work with IT and business teams to ensure Microsoft 365 services integrate well with enterprise systems, facilitate user adoption and communicate platform changes effectively.
• Incident and Change Management: Lead response to major incidents and outages, coordinate with third party support and Microsoft, and manage change processes with proper testing and communication to minimise disruption, applying ITIL best practices.
• Strategic Roadmap Development: Develop and maintain a month internal roadmap for upgrades, capacity, licence management and new deployments aligned with business objectives and future demands.

• Significant hands on experience managing and administering the Microsoft 365 platform in a mid to large organisation. A strong track record (ideally 3+ years) of Microsoft 365 product experience is expected, including deep familiarity with core services like Microsoft Teams, SharePoint Online, Exchange Online, OneDrive and Entra ID (Azure AD).
• Possession of relevant Microsoft certifications is highly desirable, demonstrating formal expertise in Microsoft 365. Certifications such as Microsoft 365 Certified: Enterprise Administrator Expert or specialised certifications (e.g. Teams Administrator, SharePoint Administrator) are preferable and validate the candidate's proficiency.
• Broad knowledge of the entire M365 suite is required. The ideal candidate understands how different Microsoft 365 services interconnect and can manage the platform end to end. In depth technical knowledge of collaboration tools (Teams, SharePoint) and productivity apps, as well as the underlying identity/security components (Azure AD, compliance centre), is essential for making informed decisions across the platform.
• Proven ability to manage third party IT service providers or managed service teams. This includes skills in contract/SLA management, performance monitoring and relationship management to ensure external partners deliver high quality service. Experience in holding vendors accountable to KPIs and making strategic decisions.

• Salary circa £70,000 dependent on experience
• Performance bonus of up to 15% pa
• 28 days' holiday plus 8 statutory holidays - and option to buy 5 additional days
• Double match pension scheme - for every £1 you put in, we add £2
• Opt In flexible benefit scheme, including salary sacrifice car, private healthcare, dental insurance, technology plans and more
• Financial protection with 10x salary death in service and financial support if unable to work due to long term illness
• Excellent family friendly provisions

Gas provides the energy security to support renewable electricity generation, and we are developing our infrastructure to transport hydrogen and carbon dioxide across the country. We are Britain's national gas network, providing secure energy to power the country, achieve net zero and maintain our industrial competitiveness.

At National Gas, we're committed to building a workforce that reflects the communities that we serve. We celebrate the different experiences our colleagues bring and encourage applicants of all backgrounds to apply. To that end we want to support you during the interview process, please advise your recruitment partner if you require any reasonable adjustments.

The successful candidate must be able to achieve and maintain Security Check (SC) security clearance for this role.

Many of the positions within our company are subject to national security clearance and Trade Control restrictions. This means that your eligibility for certain roles may be affected by your place of birth, nationality, current or former citizenship, and any residency you hold or have held. Further details are available at United Kingdom Security Vetting: clearance levels - GOV.UK () .