Senior Program Manager – Resiliency

Key Responsibilities:

• Develop and implement the bank’s Data Centre (DC) and Disaster Recovery (DR) strategy, ensuring alignment with business continuity and resilience objectives.
• Lead end-to-end program management for DC/DR initiatives, including planning, risk assessment, testing, and post-implementation reviews.
• Ensure the bank's resilience programs align with and comply with relevant regulations, such as those from the UAE Central Bank.
• Develop and maintain business continuity plans, and ensure the bank can recover critical services following an incident
• A strong understanding of banking operations, control assurance frameworks, and resilience methodologies is crucial.
• Define and monitor Recovery Time Objectives (RTOs) and Recovery Point Objectives (RPOs) for all critical systems.
• Oversee periodic DR drills and failover testing, ensuring readiness and continuous improvement of resilience capabilities.
• Collaborate with technology, operations, cybersecurity, and various business units to identify and mitigate potential risks and integrate resilience practices into daily operations.
• Drive infrastructure modernization and data centre migration projects to enhance scalability, performance, and redundancy.
• Prepare and present status reports, executive dashboards, and audit documentation for senior management and regulators.
• Manage vendors and service providers supporting DC/DR initiatives, ensuring contractual and SLA adherence.
• Establish and maintain robust governance frameworks and escalation protocols for DR and resiliency operations.
• Promote a culture of resilience, ensuring awareness and training across teams on DC/DR processes and responsibilities.

Required Qualifications & Skills:

• 17+ years of experience in IT Program/Project Management, with a strong focus on Data Centre Operations and Disaster Recovery within the Banking or Financial Services sector.
• Minimum 12 years of BFSI experience and 6-7 years of UAE Banking experience is preferrable
• Proven track record in business continuity, operational risk, resilience planning, and regulatory compliance.
• Strong technical understanding of infrastructure, cloud platforms, virtualization, and data replication technologies.
• In-depth knowledge of DC/DR architectures, failover mechanisms, backup strategies, and recovery testing methodologies.
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills, with the ability to influence senior leadership and cross-functional teams.
• Hands-on experience in managing multi-vendor and multi-site environments.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities, with a focus on risk mitigation and operational continuity.
• Professional certifications preferred: PMP, PRINCE2, ITIL, ISO 22301 (Business Continuity Management), or equivalent.

Preferred Attributes:

• Experience in large-scale DC migration, cloud adoption, or hybrid infrastructure programs.
• Strong understanding of cyber resilience, IT security frameworks, and regulatory expectations.
• Ability to thrive in high-pressure environments and lead complex, cross-functional programs.
• Exceptional in coordination, communication, leadership, and analytical skills.
• Excellent documentation, presentation, and communication skills suitable for executive and regulatory audiences.

Job Type: Permanent