Northern Trust
IT Business Continuity/Disaster Recovery (BC/DR) Lead
Northern Trust, Chicago, Illinois, United States, 60290
IT Business Continuity/Disaster Recovery (BC/DR) Lead
Join to apply for the IT Business Continuity/Disaster Recovery (BC/DR) Lead role at Northern Trust.
Overview Northern Trust is a Fortune 500 company, a globally recognized, award-winning financial institution that has been in continuous operation since 1889. The organization provides innovative financial services and guidance to corporations, institutions, and affluent clients globally, leveraging leading technology and exceptional service.
What You’ll Do As an IT Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery Lead, you will be a hands-on continuity leader who ensures technology resilience for mission-critical services in a dynamic, regulated global environment. You have experience in disaster recovery planning, failover testing, and cloud/hybrid resiliency strategies. You thrive under pressure, translate technical risk into actionable plans, and keep the business running during disruptions. You combine technical depth with leadership and governance expertise, ensuring compliance while enabling innovation. You will plan and coordinate real-world and tabletop failover tests, point-in-time recovery exercises, and governance for complex platforms and technologies.
Responsibilities
Lead Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery efforts for Cybersecurity and enterprise services
Develop and maintain BCDR goals and objectives aligned with Enterprise controls and standards
Own BCDR governance for security platforms and critical applications
Coordinate failover and recovery testing for on-prem, hybrid, and cloud systems
Conduct point-in-time recovery tabletop exercises for in-scope security technology and platforms
Facilitate BC, DR, and PiTR tabletop exercises
Partner with engineering, application owners, and cloud teams to design resilient architectures
Validate backup and replication strategies for data integrity and compliance
Monitor emerging risks and recommend improvements to resiliency posture
Maintain BCDR documentation, SOPs, and audit-ready evidence for regulatory compliance
Ensure alignment with IT tech controls and governance frameworks
Serve as the primary liaison for risk, compliance, and executive leadership on BCDR matters
Provide reports, dashboards, and executive updates on program health and test outcomes
Introduce automation, orchestration, and cloud-native DR solutions to reduce RTOs
Support the global follow-the-sun operating model with consistent resiliency processes
Continuously evaluate and optimize BCDR processes to improve efficiency and reduce risks
Identify opportunities for automation within BCDR playbooks
Monitor metrics and KPIs to drive improvements and corrective actions
Qualifications
Education & Certification
Bachelor’s degree in information technology, Computer Science, or related field
CBCP (Certified Business Continuity Professional)
ITIL v3/v4 Foundation certification required; advanced certifications are a plus
Cloud Certifications (Azure/AWS) desirable
Experience
8+ years of IT BCDR experience, with at least 3 years in a leadership role
Proven experience coordinating failover and recovery testing for on-prem, hybrid, and cloud environments
Experience with data recovery techniques including PiTR exercises
Strong understanding of information security services
Experience in financial services or regulated industries strongly preferred
Knowledge & Skills
Expertise in disaster recovery planning, impact analysis, and resiliency architecture
Familiarity with VMware, cloud-native DR tools, backup solutions, and orchestration platforms
Knowledge of network failover, replication strategies, and monitoring tools
Strong ITSM process knowledge, especially change and incident management
Excellent planning and execution skills for DR stimulation and tabletop exercises
Effective communication and stakeholder management with executives and technical teams
Analytical thinking with the ability to balance risk, resources, and resiliency objectives
Ability to collaborate with diverse teams and stakeholders
Familiarity with regulations and standards related to business continuity, disaster recovery, and information security
Our tech stack OKTA / CyberArk / ServiceNow / Azure ADO / Confluence / SharePoint / Power BI / Pivotal Cloud Foundry / Salesforce
Salary Range $114,700 - 194,900 USD
Salary range is a good faith estimate of base pay. Northern Trust provides a comprehensive benefits package including retirement benefits (401k and pension), health and welfare benefits (medical, dental, vision, spending accounts and disability), paid time off, parental and caregiver leave, life and accident insurance, and other voluntary and well-being benefits. The company also provides a discretionary bonus program that may include an equity component.
Working With Us As a Northern Trust partner, you will be part of a flexible and collaborative work culture with a strong commitment to diversity and inclusion. We value an inclusive workplace and understand flexibility means different things to different people. Apply today and discuss your flexible working requirements.
Reasonable accommodation Northern Trust is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the employment process, please email our HR Service Center at MyHRHelp@ntrs.com.
Seniority level Mid-Senior level
Employment type Full-time
Job function Information Technology
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Overview Northern Trust is a Fortune 500 company, a globally recognized, award-winning financial institution that has been in continuous operation since 1889. The organization provides innovative financial services and guidance to corporations, institutions, and affluent clients globally, leveraging leading technology and exceptional service.
What You’ll Do As an IT Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery Lead, you will be a hands-on continuity leader who ensures technology resilience for mission-critical services in a dynamic, regulated global environment. You have experience in disaster recovery planning, failover testing, and cloud/hybrid resiliency strategies. You thrive under pressure, translate technical risk into actionable plans, and keep the business running during disruptions. You combine technical depth with leadership and governance expertise, ensuring compliance while enabling innovation. You will plan and coordinate real-world and tabletop failover tests, point-in-time recovery exercises, and governance for complex platforms and technologies.
Responsibilities
Lead Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery efforts for Cybersecurity and enterprise services
Develop and maintain BCDR goals and objectives aligned with Enterprise controls and standards
Own BCDR governance for security platforms and critical applications
Coordinate failover and recovery testing for on-prem, hybrid, and cloud systems
Conduct point-in-time recovery tabletop exercises for in-scope security technology and platforms
Facilitate BC, DR, and PiTR tabletop exercises
Partner with engineering, application owners, and cloud teams to design resilient architectures
Validate backup and replication strategies for data integrity and compliance
Monitor emerging risks and recommend improvements to resiliency posture
Maintain BCDR documentation, SOPs, and audit-ready evidence for regulatory compliance
Ensure alignment with IT tech controls and governance frameworks
Serve as the primary liaison for risk, compliance, and executive leadership on BCDR matters
Provide reports, dashboards, and executive updates on program health and test outcomes
Introduce automation, orchestration, and cloud-native DR solutions to reduce RTOs
Support the global follow-the-sun operating model with consistent resiliency processes
Continuously evaluate and optimize BCDR processes to improve efficiency and reduce risks
Identify opportunities for automation within BCDR playbooks
Monitor metrics and KPIs to drive improvements and corrective actions
Qualifications
Education & Certification
Bachelor’s degree in information technology, Computer Science, or related field
CBCP (Certified Business Continuity Professional)
ITIL v3/v4 Foundation certification required; advanced certifications are a plus
Cloud Certifications (Azure/AWS) desirable
Experience
8+ years of IT BCDR experience, with at least 3 years in a leadership role
Proven experience coordinating failover and recovery testing for on-prem, hybrid, and cloud environments
Experience with data recovery techniques including PiTR exercises
Strong understanding of information security services
Experience in financial services or regulated industries strongly preferred
Knowledge & Skills
Expertise in disaster recovery planning, impact analysis, and resiliency architecture
Familiarity with VMware, cloud-native DR tools, backup solutions, and orchestration platforms
Knowledge of network failover, replication strategies, and monitoring tools
Strong ITSM process knowledge, especially change and incident management
Excellent planning and execution skills for DR stimulation and tabletop exercises
Effective communication and stakeholder management with executives and technical teams
Analytical thinking with the ability to balance risk, resources, and resiliency objectives
Ability to collaborate with diverse teams and stakeholders
Familiarity with regulations and standards related to business continuity, disaster recovery, and information security
Our tech stack OKTA / CyberArk / ServiceNow / Azure ADO / Confluence / SharePoint / Power BI / Pivotal Cloud Foundry / Salesforce
Salary Range $114,700 - 194,900 USD
Salary range is a good faith estimate of base pay. Northern Trust provides a comprehensive benefits package including retirement benefits (401k and pension), health and welfare benefits (medical, dental, vision, spending accounts and disability), paid time off, parental and caregiver leave, life and accident insurance, and other voluntary and well-being benefits. The company also provides a discretionary bonus program that may include an equity component.
Working With Us As a Northern Trust partner, you will be part of a flexible and collaborative work culture with a strong commitment to diversity and inclusion. We value an inclusive workplace and understand flexibility means different things to different people. Apply today and discuss your flexible working requirements.
Reasonable accommodation Northern Trust is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the employment process, please email our HR Service Center at MyHRHelp@ntrs.com.
Seniority level Mid-Senior level
Employment type Full-time
Job function Information Technology
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