Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery Specialist

Job Summary

Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery Lead Specialist (BC/DR Specialist) is responsible for leading the development, testing and implementation of a business continuity plan to ensure resiliency of TRS operations in the event of accidents, disasters, emergencies or threats that disrupt normal System operations.

This position is responsible for leading the business continuity program, including the planning and preparation needed to overcome an incident or disaster that would disrupt normal System operations. Responsibilities include planning for the development, maintenance and testing of all components of the System’s Business Continuity Plan (BCP) to ensure documented procedures adequately prepare TRS to recover operations timely in the event of an outage.  They will translate business operations recovery requirements and organizational priorities into actionable plans. Works with the IT technical resources to identify infrastructure requirements and resilience/recovery testing strategies. The incumbent must be familiar with Disaster Recovery (DR) procedures and processes established by the System and will make recommendations for improvements to better prepare the System.  They will serve as a member of the Information Security Team.  
 

As part of the Information Security Team, the incumbent may assist in developing and creating policies and standards that support and further advance the security posture of the organization.    They may assist in managing the Security Awareness Program that trains staff on security best practices.  Additionally, as part of the cyber resiliency process, they will work closely with internal IT staff to validate and test, for accuracy and completeness, network diagrams, backup processes, and procedures, to ensure TRS would recover successfully in an event.

Essential Functions

• Lead the planning and implementation of the System’s business continuity program to facilitate the System’s response to business interruptions and incident responses. Identify program gaps, vulnerabilities and risks. Research and make recommendations to leadership for improvements including tools, remediation activities, training, staffing and program funding, for all phases of the business continuity management lifecycle
• Maintain a test schedule to ensure the regular testing of all TRS Business Continuity Plan components.  Lead planning sessions and testing exercises to evaluate business continuity procedures and incident response and recovery plans. Maintain documentation regarding test results to track continuous improvement, updating stakeholders as applicable.  Lead post recovery test review and assist in assigning remediation tasks to improve the overall program.
• Collaborate with all TRS departments to identify key business operations, maintain current Business Impact Analysis (BIA) documents and ensure individual department contingency plans for business interruptions are developed, documented, and tested, ensuring resources are available to contribute to plan refinements and testing. 
• Develop and provide training and presentations on business continuity plan awareness, policies and procedures.  Attend department huddles to field questions, educate and maintain awareness of the business continuity program.
• Plan, prepare and lead tabletop exercises that test the plans and procedures in place for a variety of disaster simulations, including natural disasters and cyber security incidents.
• Assist the Information Technology team with disaster recovery objectives, including documentation and communication of procedures and dependencies.
• Identify enterprise-wide Business Process Workflows and develop contingency plans to ensure minimal disruption during incidents.

Essential Functions Continued

• Participate in the creation of enterprise security documents (policies, standards, baselines, guidelines and procedures) under the direction of the Director of Cyber Security.
• Verify documentation for asset baseline configurations are accurate, tested and up to date, ensuring IT has ‘gold images’ in place.  Create change tickets for deviations.
• Using disaster recovery documentation, and stakeholder communication, ensure that IT has appropriate critical assets backed up and tested, including configuration files as applicable.  This would include overview and validation that appropriate systems are being backed up, their retention time and locations are appropriate.  This will include validating accurate and complete testing, and testing plans document stakeholder need.  Will note deviations, with intent to assist and support IT staff.
• Verify supporting documentation, including items such as network diagrams and topology, application workflow and assets, application infrastructure and backup infrastructure, to ensure diagrams and detailed descriptions of components and assets existed and are up to date, as well as validating configurations and settings for systems are documented.
• Assist in Security Awareness Program administration.
• Perform other duties as may be assigned.

Minimum Requirements

• A bachelor's degree in computer science, Information Technology, or Cyber Security. A minimum of 3 years equivalent knowledge and experience directly related to the position may be substituted. 
• 5 years’ experience in IT Infrastructure or similar role working with server, security, and/or storage technologies.
• Minimum of 2 years’ experience in disaster recovery planning and testing.
• 1 year project management experience required; 3 years preferred.
• Experience in use of project management tools.
• Solid understanding of risk management practices including cyber security
• Ability to work under stressful conditions.
• Strong oral and written communication skills, professional presentation, organizational skills and a proactive customer service approach.
• Ability to effectively communicate with internal customers and co-workers at all levels within the organization.
• Certified Business Continuity Professional (CBCP) certification from the Disaster Recovery Institute International (DRII) preferred.  Or Certification will be required within one year of hire.
• Certifications in security-related practices or technology a plus.