Disaster Recovery Program Manager

Career Guide

A Disaster Recovery Program Manager ensures an organization can restore critical technology services quickly after outages, cyber incidents, or natural disasters. The role builds recovery plans, coordinates testing, and aligns people, process, and technology so the business can continue operating with minimal disruption.

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Key Responsibilities

Own the disaster recovery program roadmap and yearly plan
Define recovery goals such as recovery time and recovery point targets with business leaders
Maintain disaster recovery plans for critical applications and infrastructure
Coordinate recovery testing exercises and document results
Track and close gaps found during tests and real incidents
Partner with security teams on ransomware and cyber recovery readiness
Work with cloud and infrastructure teams to design resilient architectures
Manage dependencies across teams, systems, and external vendors
Create clear runbooks and communication plans for recovery events
Report program status, risks, and readiness metrics to leadership
Support audits and compliance requests with evidence and documentation
Facilitate post incident reviews and continuous improvement actions

Top Skills for Success

Program Management

Stakeholder Management

Risk Assessment

Communication

Change Management

Business Continuity Planning

Disaster Recovery Planning

Disaster Recovery Testing

Incident Management

Recovery Runbook Development

Metrics and Reporting

Regulatory Compliance

Vendor Management

Cloud Resilience

Cybersecurity Fundamentals

Backup and Restore Strategy

Career Progression

Can Lead To

Senior Disaster Recovery Program Manager

Business Continuity Manager

Resilience Program Lead

Operational Risk Manager

IT Service Continuity Manager

Transition Opportunities

Head of Resilience

Director of Business Continuity

Director of Infrastructure Operations

Security Program Manager Enterprise Risk Manager

Common Skill Gaps

Often Missing Skills

Cloud architecture basicsDisaster recovery testing leadershipCyber recovery planningAutomation and orchestration basicsExecutive level reportingApplication dependency mapping

Development SuggestionsBuild hands on experience by leading at least one full recovery exercise from planning through results reporting. Partner with cloud and security teams to document recovery patterns and ransomware recovery steps. Create a simple metric dashboard that tracks readiness, test coverage, and open risks, and practice delivering it in a short leadership briefing.

Market Intelligence Report

Disaster Recovery Program Manager is part of the Program Management category.Explore our market intelligence report to see how AI and hiring demand are shifting for these roles.

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Salary & Demand

Median Salary Range

Entry LevelUSD 95,000 to 120,000

Mid LevelUSD 120,000 to 155,000

Senior LevelUSD 155,000 to 200,000

Growth Trend

Growing. Demand is rising due to higher cyber risk, cloud migrations, stricter uptime expectations, and regulatory pressure in many industries.

Companies Hiring

Major Employers

Amazon Web ServicesMicrosoftGoogleIBMAccentureDeloitteJPMorgan ChaseBank of AmericaCitigroupWells FargoUnitedHealth GroupKaiser PermanenteCVS HealthAT&TVerizonComcastWalmartTarget

Industry Sectors

Financial ServicesTechnologyHealthcareInsuranceTelecommunicationsRetailGovernmentManaged Services

Recommended Next Steps

Inventory the most critical systems and document recovery targets with business owners

Review current recovery plans and identify the top five readiness gaps

Plan a tabletop exercise within the next 60 days and publish a follow up action plan

Shadow an infrastructure recovery test to learn real restore steps and common failure points

Create a standard template for runbooks, test evidence, and post test reporting

Pursue a relevant credential such as PMP, ITIL, or CBCP based on your background