diff --git a/dev-requirements.txt b/dev-requirements.txt
index c4cc54a..b3fc751 100644
--- a/dev-requirements.txt
+++ b/dev-requirements.txt
@@ -154,6 +154,12 @@ pluggy==1.5.0
     # via pytest
 pre-commit==4.0.1
     # via imperial_coldfront_plugin (pyproject.toml)
+pyasn1==0.6.1
+    # via
+    #   pyasn1-modules
+    #   python-ldap
+pyasn1-modules==0.4.1
+    # via python-ldap
 pycparser==2.22
     # via cffi
 pyopenssl==24.2.1
@@ -186,6 +192,8 @@ python-dateutil==2.9.0.post0
     #   arrow
     #   coldfront
     #   faker
+python-ldap==3.4.4
+    # via imperial_coldfront_plugin (pyproject.toml)
 python-memcached==1.62
     # via coldfront
 pytz==2024.1
diff --git a/doc-requirements.txt b/doc-requirements.txt
index 1d5176b..edac6ca 100644
--- a/doc-requirements.txt
+++ b/doc-requirements.txt
@@ -185,6 +185,12 @@ platformdirs==4.3.6
     # via
     #   mkdocs-get-deps
     #   mkdocstrings
+pyasn1==0.6.1
+    # via
+    #   pyasn1-modules
+    #   python-ldap
+pyasn1-modules==0.4.1
+    # via python-ldap
 pycparser==2.22
     # via cffi
 pygments==2.18.0
@@ -205,6 +211,8 @@ python-dateutil==2.9.0.post0
     #   coldfront
     #   faker
     #   ghp-import
+python-ldap==3.4.4
+    # via imperial_coldfront_plugin (pyproject.toml)
 python-memcached==1.62
     # via coldfront
 pytz==2024.1
diff --git a/imperial_coldfront_plugin/ldap.py b/imperial_coldfront_plugin/ldap.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..73790fa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/imperial_coldfront_plugin/ldap.py
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+"""Module for interacting with LDAP identity provider."""
+
+import ldap
+from django.conf import settings
+
+
+def get_uid_from_ldap(username: str) -> int:
+    """Retrieve the UID from LDAP for a given username.
+
+    Args:
+      username: The username to search for in LDAP.
+
+    Returns:
+      The UID number associated with the given username.
+    """
+    conn = ldap.initialize(settings.LDAP_SERVER_URI)
+    conn.set_option(ldap.OPT_REFERRALS, 0)
+    conn.set_option(ldap.OPT_PROTOCOL_VERSION, 3)
+    conn.set_option(ldap.OPT_X_TLS_REQUIRE_CERT, ldap.OPT_X_TLS_ALLOW)
+    result = conn.search_s(
+        settings.LDAP_SEARCH_BASE, ldap.SCOPE_SUBTREE, f"(cn={username})", ["uidNumber"]
+    )
+    return int(result[0][1]["uidNumber"][0].decode("utf-8"))
diff --git a/imperial_coldfront_plugin/settings.py b/imperial_coldfront_plugin/settings.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..52bf892
--- /dev/null
+++ b/imperial_coldfront_plugin/settings.py
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+"""Plugin settings that are imported into the global settings namespace of Coldfront."""
+
+from coldfront.config.env import ENV
+
+LDAP_SERVER_URI = ENV.str("LDAP_SERVER_URI", default="")
+LDAP_SEARCH_BASE = ENV.str("LDAP_SEARCH_BASE", default="")
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index ff0b804..0f7c7a4 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ dependencies = [
     "django",
     "mozilla_django_oidc",
     "django-stubs-ext",
+    "python-ldap",
 ]
 
 [project.optional-dependencies]
@@ -60,7 +61,7 @@ module = "tests.*"
 disallow_untyped_defs = false
 
 [[tool.mypy.overrides]]
-module = ["mozilla_django_oidc.*"]
+module = ["mozilla_django_oidc.*", "ldap.*"]
 ignore_missing_imports = true
 
 [[tool.mypy.overrides]]
@@ -92,4 +93,4 @@ pydocstyle.convention = "google"
 ] # Missing docstring in public module, Missing docstring in public package
 
 [tool.django-stubs]
-django_settings_module = "imperial_coldfront_plugin" # a lie but seems to satisfy
+django_settings_module = "imperial_coldfront_plugin.settings"
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index 0967f0d..6a1e534 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -108,6 +108,12 @@ josepy==1.14.0
     # via mozilla-django-oidc
 mozilla-django-oidc==4.0.1
     # via imperial_coldfront_plugin (pyproject.toml)
+pyasn1==0.6.1
+    # via
+    #   pyasn1-modules
+    #   python-ldap
+pyasn1-modules==0.4.1
+    # via python-ldap
 pycparser==2.22
     # via cffi
 pyopenssl==24.2.1
@@ -121,6 +127,8 @@ python-dateutil==2.9.0.post0
     #   arrow
     #   coldfront
     #   faker
+python-ldap==3.4.4
+    # via imperial_coldfront_plugin (pyproject.toml)
 python-memcached==1.62
     # via coldfront
 pytz==2024.1