Junior IT Operations Engineer (12m FTC)
Location: Sheffield City centre (fully office based) Hours: 37 hours per week Contract: 12 months fixed term contract from September 2026 Salary: £25,878 pa pro rata for the duration of the contract
As a Junior IT Operations Engineer at UniHomes, you will be the hands-on delivery partner to our internal IT & Security lead. This is a delivery-focused role: the controls, policies and automation are pre-designed - your job is to implement them, keep an eye on our environment, and help work through a busy remediation and automation backlog across our Microsoft 365 estate. This role would suit someone early in their career, ideally an undergraduate on a placement or sandwich year who wants genuine, practical exposure to how security and IT operations really work. You will report directly to our Cyber Security Manager who will mentor you throughout and set the priorities you deliver against. Key responsibilities: Microsoft 365 administration
- Apply configuration changes across Microsoft 365 and Entra ID to close out scoped remediation items.
- Implement and help maintain Conditional Access policies.
- Audit devices in Microsoft Intune.
- Administer email, users, and groups in Entra ID.
- Provision, patch, and harden endpoints across Windows and macOS
- Keep eyes on alerts and dashboards across SentinelOne EDR, Entra / M365 sign-in and audit logs, DNSFilter and email security.
- Triage the noise and flag anomalies to the IT & Security lead.
- Build and maintain automation for repetitive work using PowerShell, Microsoft Graph and Bash.
- Create Power Automate flows for reporting, reminders, and evidence collection.
- Collect and organise evidence for Cyber Essentials.
- Keep key inventories accurate and current - endpoint devices, SaaS / application registers, and access reviews.
- Attend a weekly check-in with your manager.
- Contribute to the monthly cyber report that goes to senior leadership.
Skills and experience: Essential:
- Working towards an undergraduate degree in Cyber Security, Computer Science, Software Engineering, IT, or a related subject, ideally on a placement or sandwich year (recent graduates also considered).
- A genuine interest in security and IT.
- A solid grasp of the basics of how computers, networks and the cloud fit together.
- Willing to learn scripting, with some exposure to PowerShell, Python or Bash an advantage.
- Meticulous and organised, and diligent about writing things down.
- Trustworthy and dependable – the role involves access to sensitive systems.
Desirable:
- Exposure to Microsoft 365, Entra, Azure or Intune.
- Familiarity with concepts such as MFA, Conditional Access, EDR and SIEM.
- Evidence of initiative – home labs, CTFs, side projects or foundational certifications.