Joseph Khalil
Guildford
Summary
A highly skilled Cloud SME with over 10 years of experience in securing, engineering, and managing IT infrastructures for large-scale organizations. With a specialized focus on Microsoft security solutions, including Azure AD, Microsoft Defender, and M365, with extensive experience designing and implementing secure identity management, threat analysis, and compliance strategies. Known for blending technical expertise with effective communication skills, successfully led projects in high-security environments, delivering solutions that comply with industry regulations and ensure operational security. Expertise spans cloud environments, on-premises security, and hybrid infrastructures, always ensuring a seamless integration of security protocols to protect critical assets.
Overview
9
9
years of professional experience
5
5
years of post-secondary education
1
1
Certification
Work history
Cloud SME – Security engineering
Direct Line Group
London
08.2019 - 03.2025
- Acting as Cloud SME, providing expertise and strategic guidance to CIO and executive leadership team
- Accountable for designing and engineering cloud security solutions, creating High-Level Architecture (HLA) and Low-Level Design (LLD) documents, and producing knowledge transfer materials to ensure smooth handover to operations and support teams
- Conducting threat modelling to ensure secure execution and delivery of projects
- Collaborating with third parties and stakeholders to ensure seamless and efficient delivery of technical solutions
- Designed and implemented deployment of thin client endpoints, ensuring endpoint and operating system hardening through Intune
- Designed, configured and optimised Azure Entra protection, such as risky sign in policies, authentication methods, Conditional access policies and Privilege identity management (PIM)
- Managing Enterprise Applications & App registration onboarding, such as SAML certification renewals, Application registration secret renewal, SCIM configuration, configuring claims, APIs, roles and permissions
- Configured SAML, OAuth, and OIDC applications for SSO, ensuring robust authentication and authorisation mechanisms for enterprise applications
- Configuring azure entitlement management with external identities, using access packages and access review policies
- Also, B2C & B2B guest access
- Configured Microsoft defender for cloud apps integration with conditional access policies to manage enterprise applications though MS defender
- Configured safe attachment policies for email in Microsoft Defender for Office 365
- Configured DMARK, DKIM and SPF for email security and protection
- Performing annual Entra ID on-demand security assessments
- Conducted regular seminars, enhancing departmental expertise.
- Liaised frequently with industry professionals for updated information and insights.
EUC SME
ICBC Standard Bank
08.2016 - 08.2019
- Working as part of EUC team, managing 16 load balancers and 4 remote access gateways, securing Citrix environment for 1,000+ concurrent users across multiple regions
- Threat & Vulnerability Management: Conducted Qualys vulnerability scans, mitigating SSL/TLS security risks for external access points
- Web Application & Endpoint Security: Configured NetScaler WAF and End Point Analysis (EPA) policies, enhancing remote access security
- SSL Certificate & Lifecycle Management: Led SSL certificate administration, firmware upgrades, and capacity planning for future Citrix & NetScaler infrastructure scalability
- Proactive Monitoring & Alerts: Implemented SNMP alerts and AppFlow monitoring via Citrix Insight, optimising security performance and ICA/TCP latency analysis
Senior Infrastructure Engineer
Dunnhumby
11.2015 - 08.2016
- Senior SME for Global Citrix and Wintel environments
- Responsible for maintaining and upgrading WINTEL and Citrix technologies
- Handled BAU escalations for applications hosted on Windows Server 2008R2
- Improved network stability by designing and implementing new infrastructure solutions.
- Oversaw server maintenance, resulting in improved system reliability.
Education
BSc (Hons) - Computing and Information Technology
University of Derby
Derby9 GCSEs - A-C, including Maths, English, and Science
Bishop Thomas Grant Roman Catholic School
01.1993 - 01.1998
Skills
Identity and Access Management (IAM)
Azure AD/Entra ID
Active Directory (AD), LDAP
Conditional Access policies
Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), SSPR, authentication & password policies
Privileged Identity Management (PIM) & Privileged Access Management (PAM)
Authentication protocols: SAML, OAuth, OIDC, securing application integration with Azure AD
Cloud Security & Microsoft 365 (M365)
M365 Purview
Microsoft Defender XDR Suite
Microsoft Sentinel
Exchange Online Protection
M365 Security: DLP, sensitivity labels, retention policies
Intune (Endpoint management)
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
CASB (Cloud Access Security Broker) solutions
Azure AVD & Citrix Cloud (Virtualization platforms
Scripting & Automation
PowerShell
Automation with Intune, Azure Automation
Endpoint Security & Management
Intune (Device management and security)
Citrix Cloud, Azure AVD
Linux-based endpoint management
Network Security
PKI (Public Key Infrastructure)
Cryptography
IDS/IPS (Intrusion Detection/Prevention Systems)
Firewalls, including WAFs (Web Application Firewalls)
Networking Fundamentals: Load Balancers (F5, NetScaler), VPNs, DNS
Certification
- CISSP - Certified Information Systems Security Professional
- SC-300 Microsoft Certified: Identity and Access Administrator Associate
- MS-102 Microsoft 365 Administrator Expert
- MITRE ATT&CK Defender (MAD) Cyber Threat Intelligence Certification
- MITRE ATT&CK Defender (MAD) Fundamentals Badge
- City & Guilds Level 3 Diploma: CCNA – Essentials in Designing, Building, Installing, Configuring, and Troubleshooting Cisco Networks
- CISSP
Custom
Available upon request
Timeline
Cloud SME – Security engineering
Direct Line Group
08.2019 - 03.2025
EUC SME
ICBC Standard Bank
08.2016 - 08.2019
Senior Infrastructure Engineer
Dunnhumby
11.2015 - 08.2016
9 GCSEs - A-C, including Maths, English, and Science
Bishop Thomas Grant Roman Catholic School
01.1993 - 01.1998
BSc (Hons) - Computing and Information Technology
University of Derby
Similar Profiles
Karthikeyan RKarthikeyan R
Senior Software Engineer at Direct Line GroupSenior Software Engineer at Direct Line Group
Abhimanyakousik VemuriAbhimanyakousik Vemuri
Lead Site Reliability Engineer at Direct Line GroupLead Site Reliability Engineer at Direct Line Group
Nathan ReynardNathan Reynard
Real Time Management analyst at Direct Line GroupReal Time Management analyst at Direct Line Group
Kanyinsola SorunkeKanyinsola Sorunke
CUSTOMER SERVICE ADVISOR at Direct Line GroupCUSTOMER SERVICE ADVISOR at Direct Line Group
Samir SangroulaSamir Sangroula
Laundry Assistant at Ralph LaundryLaundry Assistant at Ralph Laundry