DR Test Coordinator and Exercise Lead

The DR Test Coordinator and Exercise Lead will conduct bi-annual DR/COOP exercises, validate RTO/RPO requirements, coordinate cross-team participation, and document all results, findings, and corrective actions. This position contributes directly to enterprise mission assurance by ensuring systems and teams are prepared for failover events., The DR Test Coordinator and Exercise Lead will:

• Plan, schedule, and execute bi-annual DR and COOP exercises for enterprise applications, infrastructure, databases, and cloud systems.

• Ensure exercises comply with NIST, DoD, and federal continuity testing requirements.

• Develop exercise agendas, scenarios, evaluation criteria, and recovery validation steps.

• Coordinate participation across engineering, cloud, database, security, and service desk teams.

• Validate Recovery Time Objectives (RTOs) and Recovery Point Objectives (RPOs) for critical systems.

• Document test results, performance metrics, observed gaps, and recovery timelines.

• Prepare After-Action Reports (AARs), Corrective Action Plans (CAPs), and exercise summary briefings.

• Track the status of remediation activities and ensure closure of identified issues.

• Maintain DR testing documentation, procedures, runbooks, and compliance artifacts.

• Conduct readiness assessments to support DR strategy updates and COOP program improvements.

• Coordinate with continuity, cybersecurity, and compliance teams to ensure alignment with enterprise resilience requirements.

Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Cybersecurity, Risk Management, or a related field.

Experience (Required)

• Minimum 6 years of experience in disaster recovery, continuity testing, IT operations, or risk management.

• Experience planning and executing DR/COOP exercises in enterprise IT environments.

• Experience validating RTO/RPO requirements and assessing recovery performance.

• Experience documenting exercise outcomes, AARs, CAPs, and compliance materials.

• Experience coordinating across engineering, cybersecurity, and operations teams.

Technical Knowledge (Required)

• Strong understanding of DR/COOP frameworks, continuity readiness processes, and NIST/DoD testing requirements.

• Knowledge of systems recovery procedures, failover operations, and resilience planning.

• Familiarity with ITIL v4 processes, especially incident, problem, and change management alignment with continuity events.

• Understanding of cloud-hosted, network, and database recovery dependencies.

Technical Knowledge (Preferred)

• Experience supporting IL5, DoD, or federal IT mission environments.

• Familiarity with DR automation tools, orchestration platforms, or test management software.

Certifications

Required:

• CompTIA Security+

• ITIL v4 Foundation

Preferred:

• Business continuity or DR-related certifications (e.g., CBCP)

• Project Management Professional (PMP)

Skills

• Strong coordination, facilitation, and communication skills for cross-team exercises.

• Excellent analytical abilities for identifying gaps and evaluating DR performance.

• Strong documentation skills for AARs, CAPs, and exercise summaries.

• Ability to manage multiple testing cycles and readiness activities.

• High attention to detail and commitment to mission resilience.