Senior SharePoint Migration Lead
Remote / Houston, TX
12 Months plus
Job Description:
Looking for a senior SharePoint migration lead, on site in Houston, to move about 30 TB of file share data from AWS FSx into Client Teams and SharePoint for 23 business departments over at least 12 months.
This person is the face of the migration to the business. They plan and run the migration, fix broken file links, train department leads, and guide data classification and retention. The client needs equal strength in SharePoint migration execution and executive level communication.
Engagement Context This role delivers Phase 2 of a two phase file share program that retires legacy data center storage.
- Phase 1 (in flight, target Nov 30, 2026): Dell Isilon user file shares move to AWS FSx via AWS DataSync. Users keep their mapped drives.
- Phase 2 (this role): Data moves from AWS FSx into Teams and SharePoint as its final home. Users lose mapped drives and switch to links, so embedded links in Excel, Word, and other Office files will break unless remediated.
What makes this hard:
- Scale: About 30 TB across 23 departments, spanning the full history of legacy Gexa and Frontier data.
- Mixed data: Department data is mixed at the source and must be separated so each department owns its content and can attest to access annually.
- New behavior: Most users use Teams for chat and meetings but have never stored or managed files in Teams or SharePoint.
- Retention: NextEra retention policies may apply as soon as content lands in SharePoint, so classification and archiving decisions must happen before or during migration, not after.
- Business priority: Departments have set 2027 priorities and this is not at the top. Migration is expected to run sequentially, a few departments at a time.
- Users: 90 to 95% are in Houston, with some in Atlanta and Florida supported by video.
Key Responsibilities Responsibilities follow the client's draft project plan, from kickoff through archiving.
Initiation and kickoff- Review the project charter, staffing, and prior drafts (project plan, user communications, any source to destination mapping).
- Build the project schedule, collaboration site, templates, and contact sheets.
- Run the kickoff and set recurring status meetings and sponsor checkpoints.
Discovery- Scan all 23 departments' shares with ShareGate and PowerShell to find files that link to other files by drive letter.
- Identify application generated data that cannot move to Teams or SharePoint, and plan its migration with the infrastructure team.
- Map NTFS permissions and mixed department folders to a target Teams and SharePoint structure with clear department ownership.
- Confirm NextEra retention policies in the target tenant and how they will apply as data lands.
Migration execution- Recommend whether to fix embedded links before or during migration, with a written proposal comparing both.
- Migrate IT and early adopter departments first, then remaining departments in waves (planned as 8, 8, and 5).
- Execute migrations with ShareGate, preserving metadata and security, and validate each wave with department leads.
- Remediate broken links in Excel, Word, and other Office files, including Excel financial models and external data connections.
User adoption and communication- Serve as the primary on site contact for department leads, guiding each department through prepare, migrate, and validate.
- Write and send user communications for each wave (announcements, cutover notices, how to guides).
- Lead lunch and learns and hands on sessions on storing, sharing, and linking files in Teams and SharePoint instead of mapped drives.
- Train data owners to manage their own access, so departments control sharing after migration.
Data classification and retention- Teach department leads to classify their data so the right retention policies apply.
- Help departments apply retention labels and policies based on requirements from the regulatory team.
- Support annual access attestation by setting up clean department ownership and permissions.
Archiving- Identify data to archive under legal and regulatory retention rules (up to about 10 years for legal and contract records).
- Work with the infrastructure team on an archive solution and migrate the first wave of archive data.
Project reporting- Track progress, risks, and dependencies, and report status to the client project manager and sponsors.
Required Qualifications - 8+ years with SharePoint and Client 365, including at least two recent file share to Teams/SharePoint Online migrations at enterprise scale (multi TB, multiple departments).
- Hands on ShareGate experience (SPMT a plus) for discovery, migration, permission mapping, and post migration validation.
- Proven remediation of embedded and hard coded file links in Excel, Word, and PowerPoint during a move from mapped drives to SharePoint.
- Strong Windows file server knowledge: NTFS permissions, ACLs, Active Directory and Entra ID groups, and translating them into SharePoint and Teams security models.
- PowerShell scripting (PnP PowerShell, SharePoint Online Management Shell) for link analysis, inventory, and bulk permission work.
- Working knowledge of Client Purview retention labels and policies, and how they apply to migrated content.
- Experience designing Teams and SharePoint information architecture: sites, hub sites, libraries, permission inheritance, and governance.
- Excellent communication with business leaders. Able to explain change in plain terms, handle resistance, and keep busy departments engaged.
- Track record running end user training: lunch and learns, train the trainer, quick reference guides, and data owner coaching.
- Able to plan and run a multi wave project: schedule, status reporting, risk tracking, and stakeholder checkpoints.
- Able to work on site in Houston, TX.
Preferred Qualifications - A reusable migration project plan and user communication kit from a prior engagement.
- Experience in utilities, energy, or another regulated industry with legal and records retention requirements.
- Experience migrating legacy data where retention policies apply on landing, including archive strategies for aged content.
- Experience separating mixed department data and setting up access reviews or annual attestation.
- Familiarity with AWS FSx or hybrid cloud file storage as a migration source.
- Excel link analysis on complex financial models, macros, and external data connections.
- Certifications such as Client 365 Certified: Enterprise Administrator Expert, Client 365 Certified: Teams Administrator Associate, or PMP.
- Prior work in the NextEra environment or with Houston area enterprises.
Engagement Details | Item | Detail |
| Work location | Houston, TX. Client prefers on site; at minimum alternate days on site. |
| Remote users | Atlanta and Florida users supported by Teams video |
| Start and onboarding | Interviews and onboarding in Nov to Dec 2026 so the candidate starts in January 2027 |
| Duration | 12 months minimum; the draft plan's phases total about 15 months |
| Tools provided | ShareGate (already licensed in the NextEra environment), Client 365 tenant access |
| Key contacts | Gexa Infrastructure PM; NextEra SharePoint/ShareGate SME; client infrastructure and regulatory teams |
Deliverables by phase (from the client's draft plan)| # | Phase | Est. months | Deliverable |
| 1 | Initiation and kickoff | 1 | Schedule, collaboration site, kickoff held |
| 2 | Discovery | 2 | Link complexity across 23 departments; application data that cannot move |
| 3 | Migration wave 1 | 2 | Link fix proposal; IT and early adopter departments migrated |
| 4 | Migration wave 2 | 2 | 8 departments migrated |
| 5 | Migration wave 3 | 2 | 8 departments migrated |
| 6 | Migration wave 4 | 2 | 5 departments migrated |
| 7 | Data classification | 3 | All departments classified with retention policies applied |
| 8 | Archiving | 1 | First wave of archive data moved to target |