Location: Zurich, Switzerland

Hybrid: 2 Days on-site

Workload: 100%

Language(s) Required: Fluent German & English

We are recruiting on behalf of a leading organization within the financial services sector that is seeking a skilled Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Manager. This role focuses on ensuring the company's resilience by developing, testing, and maintaining robust disaster recovery and business continuity plans. The ideal candidate will bring a combination of strategic leadership, technical know-how, and strong communication abilities to align DR/BCP initiatives with business priorities.
Key Responsibilities:

Business Requirements Gathering:

• Collaborate with business stakeholders to gather, document, and analyze disaster recovery (DR) and business continuity requirements.
• Translate business priorities into DR strategies, aligning them with organizational goals.
• Engage with various departments to identify critical business functions and dependencies on IT systems.

Disaster Recovery Planning:

• Lead the development of comprehensive Disaster Recovery (DR) and Business Continuity Plans (BCP).
• Define and establish Backup/Restore, RTO (Recovery Time Objectives), and RPO (Recovery Point Objectives), ensuring alignment with business expectations and industry standards.
• Create clear, actionable runbooks with step-by-step procedures for recovery, suitable for both technical teams and business users.

Stakeholder Collaboration & Communication:

• Act as the primary liaison between business leaders and technical teams, ensuring a shared understanding of the disaster recovery strategy.
• Communicate regularly with senior leadership on the status of DR initiatives, presenting risks and proposed solutions.
• Ensure alignment between technical capabilities and business needs during DR planning and testing.

Disaster Recovery Testing & Validation:

• Develop and execute Disaster Recovery testing plans, including tabletop exercises and real-world scenario-based tests.
• Coordinate DR drills to validate recovery plan effectiveness and ensure compliance with RTO and RPO targets.
• Analyze DR test results and recommend improvements to strengthen resilience.

Risk Assessment & Business Impact Analysis (BIA):

• Conduct regular risk assessments and Business Impact Analyses (BIA) to identify potential threats and assess their impact on critical business operations.
• Use BIA insights to inform DR strategies, prioritizing essential business functions in recovery efforts.
• Identify vulnerabilities in business processes and systems, recommending mitigation strategies to leadership.

Documentation & Compliance:

• Ensure that all disaster recovery documentation (plans, runbooks, test results) is up-to-date, comprehensive, and accessible.
• Collaborate with compliance and legal teams to ensure adherence to industry regulations, internal policies, and legal requirements.
• Stay informed on evolving business continuity and disaster recovery standards, implementing necessary updates to maintain compliance.

Qualifications and Skills:

• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Information Systems, Project Management, or a related field; a Master’s degree or relevant certifications (e.g., CBCP, CISSP, PMP) is a plus.
  

• Experience:
  
  • 5+ years of experience managing large, complex projects focused on Backup/Restore, Disaster Recovery, Business Continuity, or IT service continuity.
  • Demonstrated experience in gathering and managing requirements from both business stakeholders and technical teams.
  • Experience with cloud-based projects and familiarity with IT infrastructure from a business perspective is advantageous.

• Business Continuity & DR Expertise:
  
  • Strong knowledge of BCP, RTO, RPO, and risk assessment methodologies.
  • Proven experience in planning and executing Disaster Recovery tests and validating recovery procedures.

• Communication Skills:
  
  • Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to present complex information clearly to business stakeholders.
  • Strong presentation skills, with experience presenting project updates, risks, and recommendations to senior leadership.

• Problem Solving:
  
  • A proactive, solution-oriented mindset with the ability to anticipate risks and resolve issues swiftly during crises.

• Personal Attributes:
  
  • Strong organizational skills with an ability to handle multiple priorities.
  • A business-driven mindset, focusing on delivering tangible value to the organization.
  • Ability to work effectively under pressure, maintaining composure during critical incidents.
  • Fluency in German and technical English.

Why Join:
This role offers the opportunity to lead critical initiatives that directly impact the continuity and resilience of the business. If you have a passion for disaster recovery and a proven ability to develop robust continuity strategies, we encourage you to apply and help ensure the future success of this growing organization.