Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery Specialist

Agency:  Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois 
Closing Date/Time:  10/25/2024 
Salary:  $84,153-$107,715 
Job Type: Salaried
County:  Sangamon 
Number of Vacancies:  1 
 

****************A RESUME IS REQUIRED FOR THIS JOB POSTING****************

Please attach a DETAILED Resume/Curriculum Vitae (CV) to the MY DOCUMENTS section of your application. You WILL NOT be considered for the position if you attach a CMS100, CMS100b or any other document that is not a Resume or CV.

Job Summary

Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery Lead Specialist (BC/DR Specialist) is responsible for leading the development, testing and implementation of a business continuity plan to ensure resiliency of TRS operations in the event of accidents, disasters, emergencies or threats that disrupt normal System operations.

This position is responsible for leading the business continuity program, including the planning and preparation needed to overcome an incident or disaster that would disrupt normal System operations. Responsibilities include planning for the development, maintenance and testing of all components of the System’s Business Continuity Plan (BCP) to ensure documented procedures adequately prepare TRS to recover operations timely in the event of an outage.  They will translate business operations recovery requirements and organizational priorities into actionable plans. Works with the IT technical resources to identify infrastructure requirements and resilience/recovery testing strategies. The incumbent must be familiar with Disaster Recovery (DR) procedures and processes established by the System and will make recommendations for improvements to better prepare the System.  They will serve as a member of the Information Security Team.  
 

As part of the Information Security Team, the incumbent may assist in developing and creating policies and standards that support and further advance the security posture of the organization.    They may assist in managing the Security Awareness Program that trains staff on security best practices.  Additionally, as part of the cyber resiliency process, they will work closely with internal IT staff to validate and test, for accuracy and completeness, network diagrams, backup processes, and procedures, to ensure TRS would recover successfully in an event.

Essential Functions

• Lead the planning and implementation of the System’s business continuity program to facilitate the System’s response to business interruptions and incident responses. Identify program gaps, vulnerabilities and risks. Research and make recommendations to leadership for improvements including tools, remediation activities, training, staffing and program funding, for all phases of the business continuity management lifecycle
• Maintain a test schedule to ensure the regular testing of all TRS Business Continuity Plan components.  Lead planning sessions and testing exercises to evaluate business continuity procedures and incident response and recovery plans. Maintain documentation regarding test results to track continuous improvement, updating stakeholders as applicable.  Lead post recovery test review and assist in assigning remediation tasks to improve the overall program.
• Collaborate with all TRS departments to identify key business operations, maintain current Business Impact Analysis (BIA) documents and ensure individual department contingency plans for business interruptions are developed, documented, and tested, ensuring resources are available to contribute to plan refinements and testing. 
• Develop and provide training and presentations on business continuity plan awareness, policies and procedures.  Attend department huddles to field questions, educate and maintain awareness of the business continuity program.
• Plan, prepare and lead tabletop exercises that test the plans and procedures in place for a variety of disaster simulations, including natural disasters and cyber security incidents.
• Assist the Information Technology team with disaster recovery objectives, including documentation and communication of procedures and dependencies.
• Identify enterprise-wide Business Process Workflows and develop contingency plans to ensure