About Comet
Comet Consulting Group is a Microsoft-focused managed services and professional services firm based in Strongsville, Ohio. We work with mid-market clients across managed services, Azure, Microsoft 365, identity, and security. Our values are Ownership, Humility, Discipline, and ROTA (Relationships Over Transactions Always).
Role Summary
We are looking for a Microsoft Cloud Solution Architect for our Managed Services practice.
This is a managed services role at its core, focused on operationalizing, hardening, and continuously improving established client environments so they run reliably day after day. The role balances incident and problem management against targeted improvement work, and requires sound judgment about what to prioritize when operational and project demands compete for the same hours.
Responsibilities will include the design, configuration, management, and support of the internal MSP tool stack that the whole practice runs on, as well as actively supporting the MSP team in problem-solving and solution architecture that draws on senior consultative experience.
This is a senior individual contributor position with a path to practice leadership.
Responsibilities
Managed Services Operations
- Operationalize and maintain established client environments for reliability, security, and performance over their full lifecycle.
- Design, configure, manage, and support the internal MSP tool stack, including Professional Services Automation (PSA), Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM), and patch management platforms.
- Tune monitoring, alerting, and automation policies to reduce noise, surface real issues earlier, and limit manual intervention.
- Own patch management and endpoint compliance across the managed client base.
- Drive operational resilience through backup validation, configuration baselines, and proactive remediation of recurring conditions.
- Maintain runbooks, standard operating procedures, and configuration documentation for the managed services team.
Incident and Problem Management
- Lead response on high-priority and escalated incidents across M365 and Azure, driving resolution and keeping clients informed throughout.
- Perform root-cause analysis and problem management to prevent recurrence.
- Convert recurring issues into permanent fixes through configuration changes, automation, or architecture adjustments.
- Triage and prioritize incidents based on client impact, risk, and effort.
Solution Design and Improvement
- Design and deploy targeted improvements to established environments across Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive, Teams and Teams Phone, Intune, and Entra ID.
- Produce design documents, architecture diagrams, and implementation plans suitable for engineer execution and client approval.
- Align solutions to networking, identity, security, and multi-site requirements.
- Lead migrations and deployments end to end, including pre-migration assessment, cutover, and post-implementation validation.
Automation and Continuous Improvement
- Develop PowerShell scripts to automate tenant configuration, bulk administrative tasks, and environment hardening.
- Identify and implement efficiency improvements across routine delivery and operations, including within the MSP tool stack itself.
- Document delivery and operational patterns for reuse across the team.
Client Advisory and Practice Contribution
- Serve as trusted advisor, translating technical decisions into business outcomes for client stakeholders.
- Support pre-sales activity, including scoping, estimates, technical whiteboards, and discovery.
- Mentor junior and mid-level team members and provide structured technical feedback.
What we're looking for
- 8+ years in IT, with at least 5 in a managed services, consulting, or client-facing delivery role.
- Hands-on experience administering core MSP platforms: PSA, RMM, and patch management tooling.
- Demonstrated delivery experience across the Microsoft cloud stack: Active Directory and Entra ID, Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive, Teams and Teams Phone, and Intune (including application packaging and Windows 11 migrations).
- Demonstrated knowledge of the on-premises estate clients modernize from: Windows Server, networking, end-user compute, and line-of-business application dependencies.
- Secondary depth in Microsoft security and identity, including Conditional Access, identity protection, and Zero Trust principles, with the judgment to know when to engage a dedicated security resource.
- Proficiency in PowerShell for automation and administrative tasks.
- Proven ability to lead a project and an incident response with equal competence, and to prioritize effectively when both are active.
- Strong client communication skills, including delivering difficult news and explaining technical tradeoffs to non-technical stakeholders.
Preferred
- Experience designing or standing up an MSP tool stack, not just operating one.
- Hands-on experience with Session Border Controllers, AudioCodes preferred, for Teams voice integration.
- Experience converting recurring incidents into permanent fixes through automation or design.
- History of building runbooks, frameworks, or documentation that remained in use after handoff.
- Relevant Microsoft certifications. Comet will support earning them; they are not a requirement.
- Bachelor's degree in computer science, information technology, or a related field. Welcome but not a gate.
What Comet Offers
- Base salary of $110,000 to $150,000 depending on experience and qualifications, plus an annual performance bonus.
- Microsoft certification reimbursement.
- Comprehensive healthcare, 401(k) match, and paid time off.
- Ongoing learning support.
- Remote work with occasional client travel, roughly once per quarter.
- A direct path to practice leadership as the practice grows.