Disaster Recovery Program Specialist

Cloudious LLC; Toronto; On-site; CAD 80,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

A cloud services company in Toronto is looking for an experienced DR Resilience Program Specialist to develop and implement disaster recovery strategies. You will be responsible for conducting risk assessments, facilitating DR tests, and ensuring compliance with regulatory standards. This role requires strong organizational skills and over 8 years of experience in disaster recovery and business continuity management. A successful candidate will work closely with IT and business units to safeguard organizational resilience during disruptions.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience in disaster recovery, IT infrastructure, or business continuity management.
• Strong writing and organizational skills for clear recovery procedures.
• Understanding of servers (Unix and Windows), databases, mainframe (Z/OS) and cloud platforms.

Responsibilities

• Conduct in-depth assessments of existing disaster recovery plans.
• Facilitate the development of detailed DR test plans.
• Lead the execution of DR test events.
• Conduct regular disaster recovery drills and simulations.

Skills

Disaster recovery strategy development

Risk assessment

Cross-functional team management

Technical documentation

Regulatory compliance (ISO 22301, NIST, GDPR, HIPAA)

Tools

Disaster recovery tools

Job description

DR Resilience Program Specialist

The Disaster Recovery (DR) specialists is responsible for developing, implementing, and maintaining disaster recovery strategies to ensure organizational resilience. This role oversees risk assessments, recovery planning, and testing to minimize downtime and data loss during disruptions. The DR Manager works closely with IT, operations, and business units to align recovery efforts with overall business continuity objectives.

Responsibilities

• Conduct in‑depth assessments of existing disaster recovery plans against established quality benchmarks, identifying areas for enhancement.
• Facilitate the development of the detailed DR test plan, scope, objectives, success criteria (RTO/RPO validation), and required resources in collaboration with application stakeholders.
• Detect inconsistencies, gaps, and non‑compliance issues within DR documentation and processes, ensuring alignment with regulatory and internal standards.
• Deliver detailed feedback and actionable remediation recommendations to LOB owners, supporting plan refinement and risk reduction.
• Lead the execution of the DR test event, ensuring adherence to the test plan, managing technical teams, and actively tracking all steps, challenges, and deviations.
• Act as the primary escalation point during the live test, resolving critical technical ambiguities and ensuring swift decision‑making to maintain test momentum.
• Document the actual recovery times for key milestones, capture evidence, and record all failures, gaps, and issues encountered during the test.
• Generate a comprehensive Post‑Test Report detailing the overall outcome, validating success against defined objectives and RTO/RPO targets, and identifying non‑compliance issues.
• Conduct regular disaster recovery drills and simulations to validate readiness.
• Develop and maintain comprehensive disaster recovery plans.
• Conduct risk assessments to identify vulnerabilities.
• Test and update disaster recovery procedures regularly.
• Coordinate with IT and business units to ensure recovery plans are aligned.
• Monitor compliance with disaster recovery policies and standards.
• Document and report on all recovery activities and outcomes.
• Assist in the design and implementation of data backup solutions.
• Familiarity with regulatory frameworks (ISO 22301, NIST, GDPR, HIPAA, etc.).
• Analyze disaster incidents and develop strategies to mitigate future risks.
• Participate in disaster recovery drills and strive for continual improvement.

Additional Information

• Understanding of servers (Unix and Windows), databases, mainframe (Z/OS) and cloud platforms & DR tools.
• Experience managing cross‑functional teams during high‑pressure situations.
• Strong writing and organizational skills for clear recovery procedures.
• 8+ years of experience in disaster recovery, IT infrastructure, or business continuity management.