Proofpoint Consultant

Job Summary:

We are seeking a highly skilled and experienced Proofpoint Consultant to lead and execute a comprehensive email infrastructure assessment, planning, design, implementation, and documentation project. The consultant will work closely with stakeholders to evaluate the current Exchange Online and Defender for Office setup, design a cloud-first SMTP routing strategy, and implement secure and compliant mail flow configurations using Proofpoint and Microsoft technologies.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Discovery & Assessment

• Conduct a health check of Exchange Online and Defender for Office.

• Identify mailboxes still hosted in Exchange and categorize users, shared, resources, and archive mailboxes.

• Inventory current mail flow topology including send/receive connectors, smart hosts, and transport rules.

• Review hybrid configuration and Exchange Online connector status.

• Identify dependencies such as third-party appliances, journaling, SMTP relay, scanners.

• Assess journaling, archiving, and backup integrations.

• Evaluate DNS records and TLS certificate usage.

• Validate SPF, DKIM, and DMARC configurations for all domains.

2. Planning & Design

• Define a cloud-first SMTP routing strategy with Proofpoint as primary ingress/egress and Exchange on-prem as secondary.

• Review and update mail flow diagrams and documentation.

• Plan DNS record changes and connector reconfigurations.

• Recommend optimizations for Defender for Office configuration as a secondary hygiene solution.

• Validate licensing and support implications for Exchange SE / Hybrid configurations.

3. Security & Compliance

• Review and evaluate Proofpoint policies and rules including spam/phish, URL defense, and safe attachments.

• Validate existing Defender for Office 365 policies including spam/phish, safe links, and safe attachments.

• Confirm mail journaling and archiving compliance needs post-routing change.

• Review Conditional Access and authentication flows for SMTP clients including Outlook, POP/IMAP, and mobile.

4. Implementation

Phase 1: UAT Implementation

• Configure M365 Exchange Online and Defender for Office as per design in UAT environment.

• Assist with configuring MX, Proofpoint, Exchange connectors for routing through Exchange Online.

• Modify transport rules and policies for cloud-first flow.

• Update SPF/DKIM/DMARC records for UAT domains.

• Conduct end-to-end mail flow scenario testing (internal, external, hybrid, local relay).

• Monitor message trace, delivery reports, and quarantine behavior.

• Validate fallback scenarios and failover routing.

Phase 2: Production Implementation

• Configure M365 Exchange Online and Defender for Office in production environment.

• Reconfigure MX, Proofpoint, connectors for production mail routing.

• Modify transport rules and policies for cloud-first flow.

• Update SPF/DKIM/DMARC records for production domains.

• Conduct end-to-end mail flow scenario testing.

• Monitor message trace, delivery reports, and quarantine behavior.

• Validate fallback scenarios and failover routing.

5. Knowledge Transfer & Documentation

• Provide updated mail flow architecture diagrams.

• Deliver configuration documentation and change logs.

• Conduct knowledge transfer sessions with stakeholders.

Expected Deliverables:

• SMTP mail flow routing diagrams (As-Is and To-Be)

• DMARC policies defined and implemented

• Routing & Security Configuration Plan

• UAT Test Plan & Results

• Production Deployment Checklist

• Hypercare Support Summary/Plan

• Final Documentation & Knowledge Transfer Materials

Qualifications:

• Proven experience with Proofpoint, Exchange Online, and Microsoft Defender for Office 365.

• Strong understanding of email routing, DNS, SPF/DKIM/DMARC, and transport rules.

• Experience with hybrid Exchange environments and cloud-first strategies.

• Excellent documentation and communication skills.

Job Type: Full-time

Work Location: In person