Project Manager with AD Migration Experience

DescriptionThe Active Directory Migration Project Manager will be responsible for planning, coordinating, and delivering enterprise‑scale Active Directory transformation initiatives. This includes consolidation, domain redesign, tenant separation or merger, hybrid and cloud‑based identity migrations, while ensuring minimal business disruption, strong governance, and security compliance. The role requires strong project management discipline combined with deep understanding of identity and access management concepts and Microsoft AD technologies. Desired Experience & Qualifications • 8+ years of IT project management experience, with at least 3–5 years in identity or infrastructure‑focused programs. • Prior experience delivering Active Directory migration, consolidation, carve‑out, or merger projects. • Strong communication skills with ability to engage technical and non‑technical stakeholders. • PMP, PRINCE2, or equivalent certification preferred. • Microsoft identity‑related certifications are considered an advantage. Project Governance & Delivery • Lead end-to-end Active Directory migration projects, from initiation through closure, ensuring delivery on time, within scope, and within budget. • Define project scope, objectives, milestones, dependencies, risks, and success criteria. • Establish and manage detailed project plans, schedules, RAID logs, and change controls. • Drive adherence to project governance, enterprise standards, and migration best practices. • Ensure clear entry and exit criteria for each migration phase (design, pilot, migration waves, decommissioning). Stakeholder & Vendor Management • Act as the single point of accountability between business stakeholders, infrastructure teams, security teams, application owners, and external vendors. • Conduct regular project status meetings, steering committee updates, and executive reporting. • Manage vendor and SI engagements, ensuring contractual deliverables and SLAs are met. • Align business readiness, user impacts, and communication plans with HR, IT, and security stakeholders. Active Directory Migration Planning • Oversee current-state and target-state assessments covering: • Forests, domains, trusts • Group Policies • Users, computers, service accounts • Identity governance and access controls • Coordinate migration strategies such as: • Forest consolidation or separation • Domain restructuring • Tenant-to-tenant or on-prem to Azure AD migrations • Ensure application and service dependency mapping is completed and validated. Risk, Security & Compliance • Identify and mitigate risks related to authentication, authorization, downtime, and security posture. • Ensure migration design complies with internal security standards, audit requirements, and regulatory controls. • Coordinate identity-related security validations including: • Privileged access • Service accounts • Legacy authentication dependencies • Manage rollback and contingency planning for each migration phase. Testing, Cutover & Readiness • Define and manage testing strategies including: • Functional testing • Application authentication testing • Performance and access validation • Coordinate UAT, sign-off, and business readiness for each migration wave. • Plan and execute cutover activities including communication, hyper care, and post-migration stabilization. • Ensure legacy AD environments are properly decommissioned where applicable. • proceeding. RequirementsActive Directory & Identity Fundamentals • Strong understanding of: Active Directory and domain architecture Trusts, DNS, FSMO roles Group Policy Objects (GPOs) LDAP, Kerberos, NTLM authentication • Experience managing or overseeing large-scale migrations involving: User accounts, computer objects, groups, service accounts SID history, access continuity, and permissions mapping AD Migration & Microsoft Technologies • Hands-on or oversight experience with AD migration tools such as: ADMT Quest Migration Manager Binary Tree Microsoft native migration approaches • Exposure to hybrid identity environments including: Azure AD / Entra ID Azure AD Connect / Cloud Sync Microsoft 365 integration • Understanding of identity lifecycle management and access governance concepts. Application & Infrastructure Awareness • Ability to coordinate with application teams to assess AD dependencies and authentication methods. • Awareness of impacts on: Windows servers and workstations Applications using LDAP or integrated authentication File shares, permissions, and service accounts • Understanding of IAM integrations, SSO, and federated identity models. Security & Compliance Knowledge • Familiarity with identity security principles including: Least privilege Privileged Identity Management (PIM) Role-based access control • Awareness of audit, compliance, and regulatory implications of identity changes. Project Management Skills & Tools • Proven experience delivering complex infrastructure or identity programs. • Strong command of project management practices including: RAID management Cutover and hyper care planning • Experience using tools such as MS Project, Jira, Confluence, ServiceNow, or equivalent.