Disaster Recovery Testing Lead

001 The Northern Trust Company; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 96,000 - 162,000; Full time

Job summary

The Northern Trust Company seeks a Disaster Recovery Testing Delivery Lead to own end-to-end DR testing strategy, plans, and governance across critical applications and infrastructure. You will ensure recoverability, meet RTO/RPO objectives, and align DR capabilities with regulatory and business expectations.

Lead cross-functional teams, drive continuous improvement, and coordinate enterprise DR exercises with senior stakeholders.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience leading enterprise DR testing programs.
• Strong knowledge of DR governance, compliance, and audit support.
• Experience coordinating cross-functional, geographically distributed teams.

Responsibilities

• Define and own enterprise DR testing strategy, plans, and operating model.
• Ensure alignment with BCP, IT Risk, Cyber Resilience, and regulatory requirements.
• Establish standardized DR test frameworks, runbooks, success criteria and reporting.
• Drive continuous improvement based on tests, incidents and audits.
• Lead DR simulation, failover and failback testing (technology- and business-led).
• Coordinate end-to-end DR exercises across applications, infrastructure, cloud, and third-party vendors.
• Validate RTO, RPO, MTD, and data consistency across DR events.
• Ensure testing coverage for planned, unplanned, and cyber-driven DR scenarios.
• Act as single point of accountability for DR testing delivery.
• Partner with Application, Infrastructure, Security, Network, Cloud, and Business teams.
• Manage executive-level communications, dashboards, and risk escalations.
• Support audits and compliance attestations; drive remediation plans.

Skills

Disaster Recovery Strategies

RTO/RPO/MTD definitions

DR Runbooks & Playbooks

VMware & Storage Replication

Cloud & Hybrid DR (Azure)

Cloud-native DR (ASR, multi-region)

Tier-1/Tier-2 DR

Databases (Oracle, SQL Server, Postgre

DR Automation & Scripting

DR Governance & Audits

Incident Leadership & Stakeholder Mgmt

SOC/IR/Cyber DR Liaison

Tools

Cohesity/Data Domain

Azure Backup Solutions

Cohesity for M365 in Cloud

VMware

Job description

About Northern Trust

As a global leader in innovative wealth management, asset servicing, asset management and banking services, Northern Trust (Nasdaq: NTRS) is proud to guide the world’s most successful individuals, families, corporations and institutions. Since 1889, we have aligned our efforts with our three guiding Principles That Endure: Service, Expertise, and Integrity. Together, they reflect the three cornerstones of business conduct which we strive to instill in our employees, whom we call partners, and to provide to our clients and the communities we serve worldwide. With more than 135 years of financial experience and over 24,000 partners, we serve the world’s most sophisticated clients using leading technology and exceptional service.

Disaster Recovery (DR) Testing Delivery Lead

Experience 10–14 years total IT experience, with 5+ years in DR / IT Resilience / BCP delivery leadership Applicants must be authorized to work in the U.S. without the need for employment-based visa sponsorship now or in the future. Northern Trust will not sponsor applicants for U.S. work visa status for this opportunity (no sponsorship is available for H-1B, L-1, TN, O-1, E-3, H-1B1, F-1, J-1, OPT, CPT or any other employment-based visa)

Role Summary

The DR Testing Delivery Lead is responsible for end-to-end ownership of Disaster Recovery testing strategy, planning, execution, governance, and stakeholder communication across business-critical applications and infrastructure. This role ensures organizational resilience by validating recoverability, meeting RTO/RPO objectives, and aligning DR capabilities with regulatory, audit, and business expectations.

Key Responsibilities

• Define and own enterprise DR testing strategy, testing Plans, and operating model
• Ensure alignment with BCP, IT Risk, Cyber Resilience, and Regulatory requirements
• Establish standardized DR test frameworks, runbooks, success criteria, and reporting
• Drive continuous improvement based on test outcomes, incidents, and audits
• Lead DR simulation, failover, and failback testing (technology-led and business-led)
• Coordinate end-to-end DR exercises across applications, infrastructure, cloud, and third-party vendors
• Validate RTO, RPO, MTD, and data consistency across DR events
• Ensure testing coverage for planned, unplanned, and cyber-driven DR scenarios
• Act as single point of accountability for DR testing delivery
• Partner with Application, Infrastructure, Security, Network, Cloud, and Business teams
• Manage executive-level communications, dashboards, and risk escalations
• Support internal/external audits, regulatory reviews, and compliance attestations
• Identify DR gaps, risks, and dependencies; drive remediation plans
• Provide Automation and Do better plans to reduce manual work
• Ensure audit-ready documentation and evidence management
• Support incident post-mortems and lessons learned integration

Mandatory Technical Skills

• Disaster Recovery & BCP DR strategies (Active-Active, Active-Passive, Pilot Light, Backup & Restore)
• RTO, RPO, MTD definitions and validation
• DR runbooks, playbooks, and recovery sequencing
• Infrastructure & Platforms Data Centers, Virtualization (VMware), Storage replication
• Network DR (DNS, load balancers, firewalls)
• Backup and recovery tools (Cohesity/Data Domain , Native Azure backup solutions & Cohesity for M365 in the cloud)
• Cloud & Hybrid DR DR for Azure workloads
• Cloud-native DR patterns (ASR, AWS Elastic DR, snapshots, multi-region)
• Hybrid DR integrations
• Application & Data DR for Tier-1 / Tier-2 applications
• Databases (Oracle, SQL Server, PostgreSQL, NoSQL)
• Data integrity, consistency, and reconciliation validation
• Good-to-Have Technical Skills Integration with SOC, IR, and Cyber teams DR test automation and orchestration tools Scripting (Python, PowerShell, Bash) CMDB, ITSM, ServiceNow DR modules

Soft & Leadership Skills

• Strong delivery ownership and decision-making
• Executive-level communication and stakeholder management
• Risk-based thinking and escalation judgment
• Ability to manage cross-functional, geographically distributed teams
• Structured problem-solving and incident leadership
• High attention to documentation, compliance, and governance
• Coaching and mentoring DR coordinators and junior leads
• Change management and organizational influence
• Vendor and third-party DR governance

Certifications (Preferred / Nice to Have)

• ISO 22301 / ISO 27001 ITIL, COBIT Cloud certifications (Azure Solutions Architect, AWS Architect) BCP/DR certifications (CBCP, MBCI – preferred)

Salary Range

Salary Range: $95,600 - 162,400 USD

Salary range is a good faith estimate of base pay.

Benefits

Northern Trust provides a comprehensive benefits package including retirement benefits (401k and pension), health and welfare benefits (medical, dental, vision, spending accounts and disability), paid time off, parental and caregiver leave, life & accident insurance, and other voluntary and well-being benefits.

• retirement benefits (401k and pension)
• health and welfare benefits (medical, dental, vision, spending accounts and disability)
• paid time off
• parental and caregiver leave
• life & accident insurance
• other voluntary and well-being benefits

Northern Trust also provides a discretionary bonus program that may include an equity component.

Work Authorization

Applicants must be authorized to work in the U.S. without the need for employment-based visa sponsorship now or in the future. Northern Trust will not sponsor applicants for U.S. work visa status for this opportunity (no sponsorship is available for H-1B, L-1, TN, O-1, E-3, H-1B1, F-1, J-1, OPT, CPT or any other employment-based visa).

Working with Us

As a Northern Trust partner, you will be part of a flexible and collaborative work culture, which has a strong history of financial strength and stability. Movement within the organization is encouraged, senior leaders are accessible, and you can take pride in working for a company committed to an inclusive workplace and assisting the communities we serve. Philanthropy is deeply rooted in Northern Trust’s history and is an essential element of our culture. Employees around the world give their time and talent to work for the greater good of their communities.

Reasonable Accommodation

Northern Trust is committed to working with and providing adjustments to individuals with health conditions and disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the employment process, please email our HR Service Center at [e-mail], or alternatively you can discuss your individual requirements with the recruiter you are working with.

Terms and Conditions

Candidate Privacy Notice California Applicant Privacy Notice Pay Transparency Nondiscrimination Provision (U.S) Transparency in Coverage Disclosure – North America Northern Trust is committed to working with and providing adjustments to individuals with health conditions and disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the employment process, please email our HR Service Center or call 1-800-807-0302 (North America), [phone] (Asia Pacific), 1800-425-0333 (India), [phone] (Europe, Middle East and Africa) and let us know the nature of your request and your contact information.

APAC/INDIA EEO STATEMENT

It is the policy and practice of Northern Trust to provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants. Northern Trust does not discriminate on the basis of race, colour, religion or belief, nationality, ethnic or national origin, sex, marital status, sexual orientation, disability or age. All employment decisions will be made in a non-discriminatory manner in accordance with our obligations under the law and codes of practice. This includes human resources’ decisions relating to recruitment, terms and conditions of employment, transfers, promotions and access to learning and development.

Canada EEO STATEMENT

Northern Trust is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Hiring and other employment decisions at Northern Trust are made without regard to race, colour, religion, sex, ancestry, national origin, ethnic origin, age, disability, citizenship, veteran status, sexual orientation, record of offences, marital status, family status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, provincial, or local law, regulation, or ordinance. Northern Trust does not discriminate on the basis of race, colour, religion or belief, nationality, ethnic or national origin, sex, marital status, sexual orientation, disability or age. All employment decisions will be made in a non-discriminatory manner in accordance with our obligations under the law and codes of practice. This includes human resources’ decisions relating to recruitment, terms and conditions of employment, transfers, promotions and access to learning and development.

EMEA EEO STATEMENT

It is the policy and practice of Northern Trust to provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants. Northern Trust does not discriminate on the basis of race, colour, religion or belief, nationality, ethnic or national origin, sex, marital status, sexual orientation, disability or age. All employment decisions will be made in a non-discriminatory manner in accordance with our obligations under the law and codes of practice. This includes human resources’ decisions relating to recruitment, terms and conditions of employment, transfers, promotions and access to learning and development.

USA EEO STATEMENT

It is the policy of The Northern Trust Company to afford equal opportunity in all phases of employment without regard to an individual's age, race, color, religion, creed, gender, national origin, citizenship status, marital status, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, genetic tests and information, physical or mental disability, protected veteran status or any other legally protected status.

EEO Know Your Rights (U.S.)