Disaster Recovery Manager

AEP; Columbus (OH); On-site; USD 137,000 - 178,000; Full time

Job summary

AEP is seeking a Disaster Recovery Manager to establish and govern the enterprise DR program, aligning technology recovery with business continuity needs. You will set standards, oversee governance, and drive cross-functional collaboration across Technology, Cybersecurity, and business units to mature resilience.

This role emphasizes readiness, assurance, and continuous improvement within an enterprise emergency response framework.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in IT, CS, Cybersecurity, or related field.
• 8–10+ years in Disaster Recovery, Business Continuity, Technology Resilience, or related disciplines.
• Certifications such as CBCP, MBCP, MBCI, CDRE, CISM, CISSP, CRISC, PMP, ITIL, or equivalent preferred.

Responsibilities

• Establish, implement, and maintain AEP's enterprise Disaster Recovery program and governance framework.
• Set and govern standards for RTOs, RPOs, service recovery requirements, and objective validation.
• Partner with Technology, Cybersecurity, Business Units, Operational Technology, Architecture, Third-Party Risk, and others to align recovery with critical services and risk tolerance.
• Integrate DR requirements into system design, architecture reviews, cloud adoption, and lifecycle management.
• Establish governance and minimum resilience requirements for cloud services and third-party providers.
• Oversee DR testing, validation, and assurance strategy including scope, frequency, and lessons learned.
• Coordinate with Cybersecurity and Technology to include ransomware and cyber recovery considerations.
• Manage KPIs, KRIs, dashboards, and reporting on DR readiness and maturity.
• Define and govern enterprise DR training standards and governance controls.

Skills

Disaster Recovery

Governance

Cross-functional leadership

Risk Management

Cloud

Regulatory compliance

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent

Job description

Job Summary

The Disaster Recovery Manager is responsible for establishing, implementing, and governing AEP's enterprise Disaster Recovery (DR) program. This role develops and maintains recovery policy, standards, governance processes, training, testing, and assurance activities to ensure technology recovery capabilities align with business continuity requirements and enterprise risk tolerance. This position serves as the enterprise accountability for DR governance and drives implementation of a centralized program across Technology, Cybersecurity, Business Units, Operational Technology, and third-party service providers. The role establishes consistent recovery requirements, oversees program effectiveness, and integrates DR expectations into technology lifecycle management, architecture reviews, application onboarding, cloud adoption, vendor resiliency, dependency mapping, and broader operational resilience activities. The position does not directly execute technology recovery activities; it governs readiness, validation, assurance, and continuous improvement and is part of an enterprise emergency response team.

Job Description

What You’ll Do:

Essential Job Functions & Tasks:

• Establish, implement, and maintain AEP's enterprise Disaster Recovery program, including governance framework, policies, standards, procedures, operating model, roles, accountability, control objectives, recovery tiers, and minimum expectations for technology recovery readiness.

• Set and govern standards for technology-related Recovery Time Objectives (RTOs), Recovery Point Objectives (RPOs), service recovery requirements, business criticality alignment, and periodic validation of recovery objectives.

• Partner with Technology, Cybersecurity, Business Units, Operational Technology, Enterprise Architecture, Third-Party Risk, Procurement, and operational stakeholders to align recovery capabilities with critical business services, business continuity needs, and enterprise risk tolerance.

• Integrate DR requirements into system design, architecture reviews, application onboarding, cloud adoption, technology lifecycle management, dependency mapping, ServiceNow/CMDB data governance, and change processes.

• Establish governance and minimum resilience requirements for cloud services, SaaS providers, managed service providers, and third-party technology vendors supporting critical business functions.

• Manage integration of crown jewel, critical data, and cyber resilience requirements into enterprise DR standards, testing and assurance activities.

• Develop and oversee the enterprise DR testing, validation, and assurance strategy, including test scope, frequency, success criteria, pass/fail expectations, scenario design, lessons learned, evidence retention, after-action reporting, and corrective action management.

• Coordinate with Cybersecurity and Technology teams to incorporate ransomware, data corruption, cyber recovery, immutable backup, clean-room recovery, and forensic evidence considerations into recovery standards and exercises.

• Manage KPIs, KRIs, executive dashboards, and reporting mechanisms to communicate DR readiness, program maturity, risks, gaps, exceptions, corrective actions, and audit/regulatory commitments.

• Define and govern enterprise DR training standards, role-based readiness expectations, curriculum requirements, and governance controls to ensure training content aligns with DR policy, testing strategy, exercise outcomes, audit findings, and program maturity needs, while partnering with the designated training team for delivery and completion management.

Additional Requirements:

• Physical Demand Level: S - Sedentary Work

What We’re Looking for:

Education requirements are listed below:

• Bachelor's degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Cybersecurity, Business, Risk Management, Emergency Management, Engineering, or related field, or equivalent combination of education, certifications, and relevant experience.

Work Experience requirement listed below:

• Minimum 8-10+ years of progressive experience in Disaster Recovery, Business Continuity, Technology Resilience, Operational Resilience, Cyber Recovery, Technology Risk, IT Operations, Infrastructure, Cloud, or related disciplines, including demonstrated experience leading enterprise-scale, cross-functional programs, governance initiatives, recovery-readiness activities, or teams across technology, cybersecurity, business, risk, compliance, and third-party stakeholders.

Preferred Requirements:

• Utility industry and NERC CIP familiarity; ServiceNow/CMDB experience; cloud/SaaS resilience experience; audit remediation or regulatory compliance experience; and certifications such as CBCP, MBCP, MBCI, CDRE, CISM, CISSP, CRISC, PMP, ITIL, or equivalent.

At AEP, we’re more than just an energy company — we’re a team of dedicated professionals committed to delivering safe, reliable, and innovative energy solutions. Guided by our mission to put the customer first, we strive to exceed expectations by listening, responding, and continuously improving the way we serve our communities. If you're passionate about making a meaningful impact and being part of a forward-thinking organization, this is the company for you!

Compensation

$136,539.00 - $177,503.00

Physical Demands

The Physical Demand Level for this job is: S – Sedentary Work: Exerting up to 10 pounds of force occasionally (Occasionally: activity or condition exists up to 1/3 of the time) and/or a negligible amount of force frequently. (Frequently: activity or condition exists from 1/3 to 2/3 of the time) to lift, carry, push, pull or otherwise move objects, including the human body. Sedentary work involves sitting most of the time but may involve walking or standing for brief periods of time. Jobs are sedentary if walking and standing are required only occasionally, and all other sedentary criteria are met.

Equal Employment Opportunity

It is hereby reaffirmed that it is the policy of American Electric Power (AEP) to provide Equal Employment Opportunity in all respects of the employer-employee relationship including recruiting, hiring, upgrading and promotion, conditions and privileges of employment, company sponsored training programs, educational assistance, social and recreational programs, compensation, benefits, transfers, discipline, layoffs and termination of employment to all employees and applicants without discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation), national origin, age, veteran or military status, disability, genetic information, or any other basis prohibited by applicable law. When required by law, we might record certain information or applicants for employment may be invited to voluntarily disclose protected characteristics.

“AEP offers an outstanding group of people to be a part of. The AEP culture values your integrity and awards your hard work.”

Consults assigned Business Units (BUs) and Operating Companies in the execution of business continuity and emergency preparedness activities. Aids the enterprise in assessing business processes, in conducting business impact analysis or other risk assessments, in developing business continuity and response plans, and in designing and evaluating of tests, training, and exercises. Individuals must have an ability to analyze a range of tactical problems with moderate guidance and direction, an ability to communicate effectively using appropriate tools and processes, and an ability to remain flexible and adaptable to changing environments or stressful situations. This position is part of a 24/7 on-call team for support during corporate emergencies.

AEP offers generous time off, competitive pay, and educational opportunities to help employees advance their careers.

Our culture is purpose-driven and team-oriented: we combine innovation with a customer-first focus to deliver reliable energy and brighter futures.