Microsoft Purview Specialist 

Duration: 3 Months

Location: Manchester & remote (hybrid)

Rate: £532 per day

Start: ASAP

IR35 Status: Inside

We require a Microsoft Purview Specialist for our higher education client who are delivering a strategic programme to enable Microsoft 365 Copilot across their students and staff.   As part of this initiative, they are establishing enterprise-grade data governance, security, and compliance controls using Microsoft Purview.

An experienced Microsoft Purview Specialist is required to lead the design, implementation, and operationalisation of Purview across Microsoft 365. You will work closely with various areas of the organisation to ensure data is appropriately classified, protected, and governed to support safe adoption of Copilot and broader Microsoft 365 services.

This is a hands-on specialist role responsible for configuring Purview capabilities such as Information Protection, Data Loss Prevention, eDiscovery, retention policies, and audit controls. The successful candidate will also establish governance frameworks, define best practices, and up-skill internal teams to support ongoing operations.

The role sits within their Digital Workplace function and reports to the Digital Workplace Manager. As the Microsoft Purview Specialist you will play a key role in establishing foundational capability and enabling long-term operational ownership within internal teams.

Essential Skills & Experience required:

To possess strong hands-on Microsoft Purview implementation experience within complex enterprise or public sector environments.

Essential:

• Proven hands-on experience implementing and configuring Microsoft Purview in a production environment
• Strong experience across key Purview capabilities, including:
  • Microsoft Information Protection (sensitivity labels, encryption, auto-labelling)
  • Data Loss Prevention (DLP)
  • Retention and records management policies
  • eDiscovery (Standard and Premium)
  • Audit and compliance capabilities
• Strong knowledge of Microsoft 365 security and compliance architecture
• Experience designing and implementing data governance frameworks and controls
• Experience working in environments with regulatory requirements such as GDPR or UK data protection legislation
• Ability to work independently to establish new capability and provide technical leadership
• Strong stakeholder engagement skills, including working with security, legal, compliance, and IT teams
• Experience producing documentation, standards, and operational handover material

Highly desirable:

• Experience supporting Microsoft 365 Copilot readiness or governance
• Experience in Higher Education, Public Sector, Government, or similarly complex organisations
• Experience implementing Purview at scale across large tenant environments
• Experience with Insider Risk Management and advanced Purview capabilities
• Microsoft security and compliance certifications (e.g., SC-400, SC-300, SC-100)

Candidates must possesses experience of the following:

 Proven hands-on Microsoft Purview implementation experience
Demonstrable experience implementing and configuring Purview capabilities such as sensitivity labels, DLP, retention policies, and eDiscovery in a live enterprise environment.

Strong Microsoft 365 security, compliance, and data governance experience
Able to demonstrate experience designing and implementing data governance, information protection, and compliance controls across Microsoft 365, ideally in regulated environments

Experience working in complex, regulated organisations with strong stakeholder engagement
To possess previous experience working in large enterprise, public sector, higher education, or similarly complex environments and can engage effectively with technical and non-technical stakeholders.

If this role is of interest then please email your CV to: joanne.stanley@certes.co.uk