Head of Disaster Recovery, Testing & Preparedness

Role Summary

Wells Fargo is seeking a transformational leader to head our Disaster Recovery Testing and preparedness function within the Technology Resiliency Risk and Regulatory Execution (TREX) team. This is a senior leadership role charged with elevating Wells Fargos disaster recovery capabilities commensurate with a world-class strategic resiliency program. As the Head of Disaster Recovery Testing you will facilitate the ongoing evolution of Wells Fargos disaster recovery testing strategy and capabilities defining and executing a vision that ensures Wells Fargos critical systems and business operations can withstand and rapidly recover from disruptions of any scale. This role offers the opportunity to lead enterprise-wide initiatives that safeguard our customers shareholders and team members by strengthening operational resilience across one of the worlds largest financial institutions.

Key Responsibilities

• Strategic Resiliency Leadership: Continuously evolve the firms enterprise disaster recovery strategy and capabilities in alignment with Wells Fargos business priorities and risk management framework.
• Program Development & Governance: Chair governance forum(s) to coordinate technology resiliency testing across all lines of business and technology teams. Oversee the transformation and maintenance of polices standards and playbooks for disaster recovery ensuring clarity in roles decision-making authority escalation paths and communications.
• Cross-Functional Coordination: Work closely with partners in Technology Business Operations Cybersecurity Risk and Compliance to integrate disaster recovery capabilities with broader operational resilience efforts. Serve as the primary liaison to senior leadership (CIO CTO CRO etc.) on DR readiness and regularly report on resilience status gaps and improvements. Influence and inspire a wide range of stakeholders (often in a matrixed environment) to foster a culture of preparedness and timely incident response.
• Innovation & Best Practices: Lead the adoption of industry best practices and next-generation DR solutions. This includes leveraging cloud-based recovery automation and active-active architecture to minimize recovery times; implementing advanced monitoring and failover capabilities; and continuously researching emerging technologies to enhance resiliency. You will set the roadmap for investing in new tools and processes that keep Wells Fargos DR capabilities on the cutting edge.
• Testing & Continuous Improvement: Oversee the firms disaster recovery testing program ensuring that lessons learned from tests and real incidents are captured and translated into enhancements of recovery capabilities plans procedures and infrastructure. You will be accountable for key DR metrics (e.g. RTO/RPO adherence test success rates issue remediation) and use these metrics to drive continuous improvement.
• Regulatory Compliance & Risk Management: Ensure Wells Fargos DR program meets or exceeds all strategic objectives and relevant regulatory requirements for operational resilience. Maintain up-to-date auditable documentation of recovery plans test results and recovery capabilities. Partner with the Enterprise Risk and Regulatory teams to proactively address evolving regulations and provide transparent reporting on Wells Fargos resiliency posture. Act as the lead responder for any regulatory or audit findings related to disaster recovery swiftly closing gaps and fortifying controls.
• Team Development and Leadership: Manage and mentor a team of DR and Resiliency specialists. Foster an inclusive high-performance environment by setting clear objectives providing professional development and promoting best practices. Additionally lead a broader virtual team of subject-matter experts across technology and business units during resiliency planning. You will champion resiliency awareness training and education for all employees reinforcing accountability and preparedness at every level.

Required Qualifications

• 10 years of risk management business controls or compliance experience or equivalent demonstrated through one or a combination of the following: work experience training military experience education
• 6 years of management experience

Desired Qualifications

• 10 years of progressive experience in disaster recovery business continuity and operational resilience within a large complex enterprise (financial services experience strongly preferred).
• 5 years in an executive or leadership role designing and implementing enterprise-wide resiliency or DR programs.
• Demonstrated ability to craft and execute a strategic roadmap for operational resilience or disaster recovery. Track record of evolving and enhancing resiliency programs in alignment with changes in the threat landscape strategic priorities and regulatory expectations. Able to balance big-picture vision with detailed execution plans.
• Deep knowledge of modern disaster recovery technologies and methods including data center architecture backup/restore solutions high-availability systems cloud DR (AWS/Azure/GCP) data replication and automation/scripting for failover.
• Able to interface confidently with internal auditors and regulatory examiners providing credible assurance of the firms recovery capabilities.
• Exceptional leadership skills in a matrixed environment able to lead through influence as well as direct authority. Experience building cross-functional coalitions and working with technology executives business unit leaders and risk/compliance teams to achieve shared resiliency goals. Excellent communication skills with the ability to present complex DR plans and statuses to senior executives and board-level audiences in clear business terms.
• Experience in financial services or other highly regulated industries.

• Familiarity with cybersecurity aspects of DR (cyber recovery vaults ransomware recovery) and emerging trends in resilience
• Strong understanding of operational risk management and regulatory expectations for disaster recovery/BCP in the financial industry. Experience ensuring compliance with standards such as FFIEC IT Handbook ISO 22301 and regional regulations.

Pay Range

Reflected is the base pay range offered for this position. Pay may vary depending on factors including but not limited to demonstrated examples of prior performance skills experience or work location. Employees may also be eligible for incentive opportunities.

Posting End Date:

*Job posting may come down early due to volume of applicants.

We Value Equal Opportunity

Wells Fargo is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race color religion sex sexual orientation gender identity national origin disability status as a protected veteran or any other legally protected characteristic.

Employees support our focus on building strong customer relationships balanced with a strong risk mitigating and compliance-driven culture which firmly establishes those disciplines as critical to the success of our customers and company. They are accountable for execution of all applicable risk programs (Credit Market Financial Crimes Operational Regulatory Compliance) which includes effectively following and adhering to applicable Wells Fargo policies and procedures appropriately fulfilling risk and compliance obligations timely and effective escalation and remediation of issues and making sound risk decisions. There is emphasis on proactive monitoring governance risk identification and escalation as well as making sound risk decisions commensurate with the business units risk appetite and all risk and compliance program requirements.

Applicants with Disabilities

To request a medical accommodation during the application or interview process visitDisability Inclusion at Wells Fargo.

Drug and Alcohol Policy

Wells Fargo maintains a drug free workplace. Please see our Drug and Alcohol Policy to learn more.

Wells Fargo Recruitment and Hiring Requirements:

a. Third-Party recordings are prohibited unless authorized by Wells Fargo.

b. Wells Fargo requires you to directly represent your own experiences during the recruiting and hiring process.