Business Continuity Manager

The Business Continuity Manager will oversee the development and implementation of strategies to ensure the organisation's operations remain resilient. This role in the professional services industry requires expertise in technology and risk management to safeguard business continuity.

Client Details

The company is a well-established, large organisation within the professional services sector. It is committed to delivering excellence and maintaining operational resilience through advanced technology and strategic planning.

Description

• Support incident response and recovery activities where required to enable the firm to manage a crisis event and meet compliance requirements.
• Proactively implement, maintain and document Business Impact Assessments (BIAs) and Business Continuity Plans (BCPs).
• Support the Business Development team with credentials for pitches, tenders and bids as well as proactively implement and continuously improve the process supporting Client Request for Information (RFI) Requests.
• Support the development and implementation of the firm's operational resilience framework, aligning with industry best practice and the expectations of regulated clients (insurance companies and banks).
• Assist in identifying important business services and mapping their supporting processes, systems, and dependencies-focusing on the ability to deliver these services through disruption, not just recovery.
• Contribute to setting and reviewing impact tolerances for important business services, ensuring the firm can continue to deliver these services during disruption.
• Participate in scenario testing and simulation exercises to assess the firm's ability to respond to and recover from severe but plausible disruptions.
• Help coordinate operational resilience risk assessments, focusing on vulnerabilities, dependencies, and third-party risks.
• Work with business units and support functions to develop, document, and maintain response and recovery plans for critical services, with an emphasis on maintaining service delivery.
• Monitor and report on operational resilience risks, issues, and incidents, escalating as appropriate to senior management.
• Engage with clients from regulated sectors to understand their operational resilience expectations and demonstrate the firm's alignment with relevant standards.
• Support the continuous improvement of operational resilience practices by incorporating lessons learned from incidents, exercises, and client feedback.
• Proactively develop and implement innovative operational resilience solutions and capabilities.
• Proactively engage and manage key stakeholders to facilitate operational resilience awareness, requirements and outcomes.
• Provide training and awareness sessions for staff on operational resilience principles.
• Maintain documentation and evidence to support client due diligence and audit requests regarding the firm's operational resilience capabilities.

Profile

A successful Business Continuity Manager should have:

• Minimum 3 years' direct experience assisting in the development and implementation of an operational resilience framework within a complex organisation.
• Deep understanding of operational resilience principles, regulatory expectations, and best practices, with a proven track record of supporting resilience initiatives across business processes.
• Demonstrated ability to contribute to the design, implementation, and continuous improvement of operational resilience strategies, including scenario testing, impact tolerance setting, and response planning.
• Experience working collaboratively within cross-functional teams to deliver operational resilience outcomes, including engagement with senior stakeholders and clients from regulated sectors (e.g., insurance, banking).
• Strong knowledge of relevant frameworks and standards (e.g., ISO 22316, APRA CPS230, FCA/PRA Operational Resilience requirements, or equivalent), with the ability to align the firm's practices to client expectations.
• 7+ years' experience within a business continuity and/or operational resilience environment.
• Knowledge of technology and business concepts, life cycles, and processes.
• Experienced in implementing third party and enterprise risk management principles, frameworks and processes
• Proven project and program management capability in the context of BAU, change and transformation in dynamic work environments
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Experienced in working with global virtual teams.
• Strong advisory and facilitation skills.
• Demonstrated ability to independently coordinate multiple activities with cross-functional groups to achieve a common outcome.
• Strong influencing and relationship skills. Must be able to influence a diverse group of stakeholders at all levels, without the need for direct authority.
• Demonstrate strong leadership skills in managing crises and coordinating response efforts.
• Proven capability to work to deadlines in coordinating document reviews and training schedules.
• Work collaboratively with various departments to ensure a cohesive and effective approach to business continuity and operational resilience.
• Experience of working in a professional services firm (legal, accountancy, management consultancy) seen as an advantage.
• Pays close attention to details in developing and implementing business continuity and operational resilience plans.
• Proactively identify and mitigate risks to minimise the impact of disruptions on business operations.
• Strong knowledge of Service Now (BCM and Operational Resilience modules) ideal.
• Experience with ISO 22301 certification.
• Certified in Business Continuity Management.
• Certified Operational Resilience Professional (CORP) or equivalent.

Job Offer

• Competitive daily rate between £350-400 a day Inside IR35 (maybe negotiable).
• Opportunity to work within a respected professional services organisation.
• Be based in London, a global hub for professional services.