Microsoft 365 / Exchange Online Specialist Needed — Fix Email Mirroring to Gmail

# JOB OVERVIEW

I need an experienced Microsoft 365 / Exchange Online specialist to fix a mail-flow issue.

My company domain is currently hosted in Microsoft 365 / Exchange Online. Microsoft 365 must remain the authoritative mail system for now. I am not ready to move MX records to Google Workspace yet, although it is planned.

The goal is simple:
- All inbound company email should arrive in Microsoft 365 / Outlook and also be mirrored into a normal Gmail inbox.
- I do not want to buy additional Microsoft 365 licenses, since I am in the process of slowly migrating away from Microsoft.


# CURRENT ENVIRONMENT

- Microsoft 365 / Exchange Online tenant
- One real licensed mailbox/user: ----------
- Other company addresses are aliases on that same mailbox, such as:
-- ----------
-- ----------
-- ----------
- Mail sent to those aliases successfully arrives in the ---------- mailbox.
- Desired result: those same inbound emails should also appear in a Gmail inbox.
- Microsoft 365 must remain authoritative for the domain during this interim period.
- No Google Workspace MX cutover yet.
- No extra M365 licenses.


# CURRENT PROBLEM

I tried multiple approaches, but the Gmail mirror still does not work reliably.
Known facts:
- Direct email to the Gmail inbox works.
- Mail to ---------- arrives in Outlook.
- Mail to aliases like ---------- and ---------- arrives in Outlook.
- Gmail forwarding is disabled.
- Gmail filters/blocked addresses are clean.
- Outlook inbox rules appear clean.
- Exchange connectors appear empty.
- Exchange transport rules appear empty except for a test mirror rule.
- POP pull from Gmail failed and should not be used.
- App passwords are not available in this tenant.

Previous Microsoft 365 mailbox forwarding initially failed with:
- 550 5.7.520 – external forwarding not allowed

An outbound anti-spam policy was then created to allow external forwarding for the mailbox.

After that, forwarding still did not produce the desired result. Some NDRs showed SRS-style forwarding behavior and 550 5.1.1 rejections from Google / ---------- .

I also tested a mail-flow rule to Bcc/copy mail to a Gmail mail contact, but the mirrored copy still did not appear in Gmail.


# REQUIRED OUTCOME

The project is successful when:
- Email sent to ----------
- Email sent to ----------
- Email sent to ----------
- Email sent to ----------

--> Arrives in ---------- 365 mailbox
--> Also appears in the target Gmail inbox
--> No extra Microsoft 365 licenses are required
--> Microsoft 365 remains authoritative
--> No MX change to Google Workspace is required


# SCOPE OF WORK

Please audit and fix the inbound mail mirroring issue.

You should be able to inspect:
- Exchange Online mailbox forwarding properties
- Hidden forwarding settings
- Inbox rules via PowerShell
- Mail-flow rules
- Remote domain settings
- Outbound anti-spam policy
- Accepted domain settings
- Mail contact configuration
- Message trace
- SRS / forwarding-loop behavior
- Alias/proxy address configuration
- Any hidden PowerShell-only routing/forwarding state


# OUT OF SCOPE UNLESS SEPARATELY APPROVED

Do not focus on these unless asked later:
- Full Google Workspace migration
- Moving MX records
- Buying additional Microsoft 365 licenses
- Creating separate paid mailboxes for aliases
- POP/IMAP Gmail pull
- Gmail Send As / SMTP sending setup

There is also a secondary Gmail “Send mail as” issue, but the main priority is inbound mail mirroring only.


# REQUIRED SKILLS

You must have real hands-on experience with:
- Microsoft 365 Admin Center
- Exchange Admin Center
- Exchange Online PowerShell
- Exchange Online message trace
- Microsoft Defender outbound anti-spam policies
- Mailbox forwarding
- Remote domains
- Mail contacts
- Transport/mail-flow rules
- NDR/header analysis
- Gmail delivery behavior


# STRONG PREFERENCE

Please only apply if you are comfortable with PowerShell checks such as:
Get-Mailbox
Get-InboxRule
Get-TransportRule
Get-RemoteDomain
Get-AcceptedDomain
Get-MailContact
Get-MessageTrace
Get-MessageTraceDetail

And mailbox properties such as:
ForwardingAddress
ForwardingSmtpAddress
DeliverToMailboxAndForward

EmailAddresses
RecipientTypeDetails


# ACCESS METHOD

Access method will be agreed before work begins.

Possible options:
- Screen share while I operate
- Temporary delegated access
- Remote session with approval for each admin change

Do not request the Microsoft 365 admin password directly.


# DELIVERABLES

Please provide:
- Root-cause diagnosis
- Exact settings checked
- Exact settings changed
- Screenshots or PowerShell output showing relevant checks
- Message trace evidence
- Before/after test results
- Confirmation that test emails to ---------- ---------- ---------- and ---------- in both Outlook and Gmail
- Short written summary of what was fixed


# Application Instructions

When applying, please answer all questions below.

1. How much hands-on Microsoft 365 / Exchange Online experience do you have?

2. Can you use Exchange Online PowerShell confidently?
Please rate yourself from 1–10 and briefly mention which Exchange Online PowerShell tasks you have personally done.

3. Have you diagnosed Microsoft 365 forwarding, NDR, message trace, or mail-flow issues before?
If yes, briefly describe the type of issue you handled.

4. What exact first 3 checks would you run for this issue? Please be specific.

5. Please include your pricing and availability:
A) Your current, recent, or typical hourly rate for similar Microsoft 365 / Exchange Online troubleshooting work (in PHP);
B) The best hourly rate you are comfortable offering for this specific narrow troubleshooting engagement (in PHP);
C) Your earliest availability;
D) How many billable hours you expect the first diagnosis to take.

Hourly is preferred. If you want to include a fixed-price diagnosis option as an alternative, you may do so, but please also include the hourly rate and estimated hours behind that fixed price.

I am mainly comparing applicants based on relevant Exchange Online experience, hourly rate, expected total diagnosis cost, availability, and quality+specificity of the first 3 checks proposed.


Thanks.


(Generic applications or applicants who skip the instructions will not be considered.)