Director, Disaster Recovery

at  Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan HOOPP

Why you’ll love working here:

• high-performance, people-focused culture
• our commitment that equity, diversity, and inclusion are fundamental to our work environment and business success, which helps employees feel valued and empowered to be their authentic selves
• learning and development initiatives, including workshops, Speaker Series events and access to LinkedIn Learning, that support employees’ career growth
• membership in HOOPP’s world class defined benefit pension plan, which can serve as an important part of your retirement security
• competitive, 100% company-paid extended health and dental benefits for permanent employees, including coverage supporting our team’s diversity and mental health (e.g., gender affirmation, fertility and drug treatment, psychological support benefits of $2,500 per year, and newly extended maternity/parental leave top of 26 weeks)
• optional post-retirement health and dental benefits subsidized at 50%
• yoga classes, meditation workshops, nutritional consultations, and wellness seminars
• access to an annual wellness reimbursement program for health and wellness-related expenses for permanent and temporary employees
• the opportunity to make a difference and help take care of those who care for us, by providing a financially secure retirement for Ontario healthcare workers

Job Summary
The Director of Disaster Recovery is responsible for managing all aspects of the IT Disaster Recovery (DR) Program, ensuring comprehensive preparation and effective response to potential disruptions. This role includes overseeing the Disaster Recovery Lifecycle, integrating DR governance processes, developing, and reporting metrics, and collaborating with key stakeholders across the organization. The director will lead and mentor a dynamic team, driving continuous improvement and strategic transformation to enhance organizational resilience. Key responsibilities include leadership and oversight for backups, Disaster Recovery, and Cyber Recovery. The ideal candidate will possess strong leadership skills, a deep understanding of disaster recovery and business continuity principles, and the ability to communicate and collaborate effectively with diverse stakeholders.
What you will do:

Disaster Recovery Program Management

• Oversee the Disaster Recovery Lifecycle including business impact analysis, disaster recovery planning, and DR training/testing.
• Ensure integration and evolution of DR processes to keep pace with technological, business, and regulatory changes.
• Develop and maintain relationships with IT and business stakeholders such as BCM, Information Security, PMO, and Governance.
• Work closely with the BCM team to support the Business Continuity Lifecycle, particularly from a DR perspective.
• Develop training and documentation for the DR program in partnership with PMO and Governance team.
• Train leaders and team members on DR processes and best practices.
• Oversee and coordinate technical assessments to ensure DR readiness.
• Ensure alignment of information security requirements with recovery processes.
• Improve and maintain enterprise disaster recovery plans.
• Provide oversight and tracking of DR goals, roadmaps, remediation activities, key milestones, and metrics.
• Provide leadership and direction to the Disaster Recovery team.
• Manage, coach, and mobilize a team of professionals.
• Act as a visionary leader to drive continuous improvement in DR processes.
• Ensure effective execution of DR strategies across the organization.
• Budget and Resource Planning: Identify the necessary resources, including budget, personnel, and technology.

Crisis Management and Response

• Coordinate DR response and recovery during crisis events.
• Work with key stakeholders across the organization to ensure effective crisis management.
• Govern and measure all necessary DR testing annually, reporting results to IT leaders and other governance teams.

Reporting and Metrics

• Provide regular reports to leadership on the health of the DR program, focusing on risk management, mitigation, and resilience.
• Develop and maintain a DR metric dashboard for leadership.
• Oversee the collection, monitoring, and reporting of DR metrics including Key Risk Indicators (KRI) and Key Performance Indicators (KPI).

Project and Change Management

• Lead and champion the implementation of the DR framework.
• Ensure compliance with IT controls, execution, and reporting requirements.
• Manage project deliverables related to the DR program, including change management and incident management.

Our Technology Stack

• Backups, Disaster Recovery, Cyber Recovery: Commvault, Veritas, KeepIT, AWS Backups, AWS Vaults, Microsoft ASR.
• AirGap, immutability, encryption, cleanroom
• Cloud Platforms: Microsoft & AWS Cloud (IaaS).
• Cloud Networking: Azure Networking, AWS Networking, WAN
• On-Premises Infrastructure: Hyperconverged infrastructure for storage and compute.
• Infrastructure as Code: Ansible, Terraform.
• Scripting Languages: PowerShell, Python, ServiceNow, Power Platforms
• DevOps Pipelines: Comprehensive tools for continuous integration and delivery, Azure DevOps and GitHub
• Windows Server Middleware: SQL, IIS, etc.
• Supporting IT systems: Active Directory, EntraID, DNS, etc
• Operational Support Tools: Azure Monitor, Splunk, Azure Advisor, etc.
• Information Security tools

What you bring:

Leadership and Team Management

• Leadership Skills: Ability to provide clear direction, inspire and motivate a team, and lead by example.
• Coaching and Development: Proficiency in managing, coaching, and mobilizing a team of professionals, ensuring their continuous growth and development.
• Visionary Leadership: Capability to drive strategic transformation and continuous improvement within the team and the organization

Disaster Recovery Program Management

• Develops and owns the vision and strategy for HOOPP’s DR Program.
• Creates short-term and long-term roadmaps to ensure program maturity and alignment with IT’s vision and HOOPP’s goals.
• DR Lifecycle Management: Expertise in overseeing the Disaster Recovery Lifecycle, including business impact analysis, disaster recovery planning, and DR training/testing.
• Process Integration: Skills in integrating and evolving DR processes to align with technological advancements, business needs, and regulatory changes.
• Stakeholder Relationship Management: Ability to develop and maintain strong relationships with IT and business stakeholders such as BCM, Information Security, PMO, and Governance.

Crisis Management and Response

• Crisis Coordination: Skills in coordinating DR response and recovery during crisis events.
• Crisis Management: Ability to work with key stakeholders to ensure effective crisis management.
• Testing Governance: Competence in governing and measuring all necessary DR testing annually and reporting results to IT leaders and governance teams.

Reporting and Metrics

• Report Generation: Proficiency in providing regular reports to leadership on the health of the DR program, focusing on risk management, mitigation, and resilience.
• Metric Development: Ability to develop and maintain a DR metric dashboard for leadership.
• Data Monitoring: Skills in overseeing the collection, monitoring, and reporting of DR metrics, including Key Risk Indicators (KRI) and Key Performance Indicators (KPI).

Project and Change Management

• Framework Implementation: Expertise in leading and championing the implementation of the DR framework.
• Compliance Management: Ability to ensure compliance with IT controls, execution, and reporting requirements.
• Project Deliverables Management: Skills in managing project deliverables related to the DR program, including change management and incident management.

Technical and Security Integration

• Technical Assessment: Proficiency in overseeing and coordinating technical assessments to ensure DR readiness.
• Security Alignment: Ability to ensure alignment of information security requirements with recovery processes.
• Standard Compliance: Skills in collaborating with the BCM team to determine test scope and plans to meet standards.

Continuous Improvement

• Plan Improvement: Capability to improve and maintain enterprise disaster recovery plans.
• Effectiveness Assessment: Ability to assess the effectiveness of DR planning and current state.
• Goal Tracking: Proficiency in providing oversight and tracking of DR goals, roadmaps, remediation activities, key milestones, and metrics..

Communication and Stakeholder Management

• Communication Skills: Excellent communication skills to convey complex information clearly and effectively to various stakeholders.
• Stakeholder Influence: Ability to influence and collaborate with stakeholders to maximize and optimize disaster recovery capabilities.

What you bring:

• Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Business Administration, or a related field.
• 10+ years of experience in IT disaster recovery, business continuity, or a related field.
• Proven leadership and team management experience.
• Strong understanding of the DR lifecycle, governance processes, and crisis management.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Ability to drive continuous improvement and strategic transformation.
• Familiarity with regulatory requirements and industry standards related to disaster recovery.
• Ability to translate technical specifications into business benefits to lead cross-functional teams, ensuring projects drive significant value for the organization.
• Strong collaboration skills, demonstrated by building bridges and fostering relationships with IT teams, business stakeholders, and external partners to propel projects to success.
• Analytical mindset and innovative thinking to devise effective and efficient solutions to challenges, including decision-making.

Please refer the Job description for details