IT Disaster Recovery Manager - Sidley Austin LLP

The IT Disaster Recovery Manager will develop and lead the strategy, planning, implementation, execution and maintenance of the firm’s IT Disaster Recovery (DR) processes. The Manager will work directly with IT functional teams, the IT Security GRC team and the Business Continuity Manager to ensure that policies, plans, procedures and strategies effectively provide and support a recovery framework for restoration of critical systems and data to meet or exceed established business, client and audit requirements.

• Develop, coordinate, and maintain a comprehensive IT Disaster Recovery strategy, capability, and execution that enables compliance with established business requirements.
• Define and integrate IT processes, procedures, guidelines and controls to govern program effectiveness and alignment with industry best practices to support the Firm’s ISO 27001/22301 certifications.
• Develop and maintain documented Disaster Recovery Plans for the Firm, along with system/application Run Books for established technology platforms.
• Ensure appropriate plans, procedures, and supplemental documentation are properly maintained and readily available within the established technology platform.
• Classify and define tiers of recovery for systems/applications to support established RTO/RPO objectives
• Consult and advise business departments with the development of automated and manual workaround procedures for an unforeseen IT outage.
• Coordinate resources, including appropriate staff from business teams, to oversee the recovery work efforts of applications and underlying infrastructure in support of a declared disaster.
• Collaborate with the IT teams to review relevant new project Risk Assessments and to validate alignment and identify any remediation with project sponsors.
• Adapt DR plan to work effectively as we migrate from On prem hosted applications to Cloud based/ SaaS solutions.
• Collaborate with Procurement to validate existing and future Firm contracts as they relate to infrastructure. Ensure appropriate verbiage exists in supporting vendor services to govern service availability and Service Level Agreements (SLA) with associated credits during a breach.
• Contribute to the design and deployment of an enterprise Business Impact Reference Table (BIRT) and participate in Business Impact Analyses (BIA) workshops.
• Plan, schedule, and facilitate all Application and Infrastructure Disaster Recovery exercises.
• Deliver ongoing Disaster Recovery awareness and training sessions to reinforce familiarity with roles/responsibilities and plan procedures. Develop metrics to benchmark milestones and present program progress to leadership.
• Coordinate the change management operations as it relates to existing/upcoming DR plans.
• Work with IT functional teams, the IT Security GRC Manager, and the Business Continuity Manager to communicate the Firm’s current state of maturity regarding IT resiliency to external auditors.
• Other duties, as assigned

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform the Duties and Responsibilities (Duties) above satisfactorily and meet the requirements below. The requirements listed below are representative of the minimum knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations will be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the job. If you need such an accommodation, please email staffrecruiting@sidley.com (current employees should contact Human Resources). 

Education and/or Experience: 

Required:

• A minimum of 7 years of experience in IT Disaster Recovery and with the development of plans, procedures, strategies, risk assessments, business impact analysis, data center assessment, audit reviews, exercise facilitation, contractual review and vendor management.
• Strong knowledge of the synergistic relationship between IT Disaster Recovery, IT Security GRC, and Business Continuity.
• Experience leading large projects to execution and presenting to senior/executive level management.
• Experience administrating Emergency Notification Systems (Send Word Now, AlertFind), LDRPS or a similar planning application.
• MS Office proficiency with Word, Excel, Visio, PowerPoint and Project.

Preferred:

• Bachelor’s degree with a concentration in IT or related field.
• Global experience in the key areas of Disaster Recovery, as well as managerial experience in public/private BCP programs
• Functional knowledge and experience with emergency response and crisis management.
• DRII (CBCP), BCI (MBCI) or ICOR (CORS) certifications.
• Active memberships in Business Continuity professional groups.
• Project management experience.
• Experience leading DR within a hybrid environment, including both on-premises and cloud.
• Experience working in a distributed/virtual environment.
• Experience with tertiary or air gap disaster recovery plans and supporting technologies.

Other Skills and Abilities:

The following will also be required of the successful candidate:

• Strong organizational skills
• Strong attention to detail
• Good judgment
• Strong interpersonal communication skills
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
• Able to work harmoniously and effectively with others
• Able to preserve confidentiality and exercise discretion
• Able to work under pressure
• Able to manage multiple projects with competing deadlines and priorities

Sidley Austin LLP is an Equal Opportunity Employer.