Job Description: 

The IT Disaster Recovery (DR) Lead is responsible for planning, coordinating, and implementing disaster recovery strategies to ensure business continuity in the event of unforeseen disruptions. This role involves close collaboration with IT teams, business units, and external stakeholders to identify criticality of systems, create recovery plans, and conduct regular testing to maintain organizational resilience.

Key Responsibilities

Disaster Recovery Planning and Strategy

• Develop, implement, and maintain comprehensive IT disaster recovery plans aligned with business continuity requirements.
• Identify critical IT systems and infrastructure necessary for business operations.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to set recovery time objectives (RTOs) and recovery point objectives (RPOs).

Risk Assessment and Impact Analysis

• Conduct business impact analyses (BIAs) to identify vulnerabilities and risks affecting IT systems.
• Recommend strategies to mitigate risks and enhance system resilience.
• Assess the adequacy of existing disaster recovery measures and propose improvements.

Testing and Validation

• Plan and execute regular DR testing exercises, such as tabletop exercises, annual failover drills and data recovery simulations.
• Document test results, identify gaps, and implement corrective actions to address deficiencies.
• Ensure compliance with regulatory and audit requirements for disaster recovery.

Incident Response and Coordination

• Serve as the primary point of contact during IT outages or disasters.
• Coordinate the execution of recovery plans during incidents, ensuring timely restoration of services.
• Collaborate with IT teams, vendors, and business units to ensure smooth recovery efforts.

Documentation and Training

• Maintain up-to-date documentation of disaster recovery plans, policies, and procedures.
• Provide training and awareness programs for IT staff and stakeholders on disaster recovery processes.
• Ensure new systems or updates are integrated into disaster recovery planning.

Required Skills and Qualifications

Technical Skills

• In-depth understanding of IT systems, networks, databases, and cloud platforms.
• Experience with backup, failover, and replication technologies in a complex environment
• Experience with Azure cloud stack, Azure site recovery, Microsoft SQL Server

Analytical and Project Management Skills

• Strong analytical skills to assess risks and recovery strategies.
• Project management expertise to handle complex DR initiatives.

Communication and Collaboration

• Excellent communication skills to coordinate between technical and business teams.
• Ability to present DR plans and results to stakeholders, including senior management.

Education and Certifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or a related field.
• Certifications such as CBCP (Certified Business Continuity Professional), DRCS (Disaster Recovery Certified Specialist), or similar are preferred.

Preferred Experience

5–7 years of experience in IT disaster recovery or business continuity roles.

Proven track record of managing disaster recovery initiatives in complex IT environments.

Familiarity with hybrid IT environments, including Azure cloud and on-premises setups.