Cyber Exercise Planner Jobs in Chicago, IL (NOW HIRING)

Description

Job Description

The Senior Cyber Recovery Engineer/Architect is a hands-on technical leader responsible for designing, implementing, and continuously validating the organization’s ability to recover critical systems and data in the wake of a cyber event. This role sits at the intersection of infrastructure engineering, cybersecurity, and regulatory compliance within a highly regulated financial services environment.

The successful candidate has direct experience operating within financial institution recovery programs, engaging with banking regulators (OCC, FDIC, Federal Reserve, or equivalent), and executing recovery exercises within isolated recovery environments (IRE) and clean room configurations. This is not a theoretical role — we need someone who has run the drills, written the runbooks, and tested the assumptions.

Tasks & Responsibilities:

> Isolated & Clean Room Recovery

> Design, build, and maintain the Isolated Recovery Environment (IRE) and clean room infrastructure used for cyber recovery exercises and declared events.

> Execute end-to-end recovery testing cycles, validating RTOs and RPOs for Tier-1 and Tier-2 critical applications.

> Develop and maintain recovery runbooks, playbooks, and automation scripts for clean room restoration of core banking systems, trading platforms, and data stores.

> Lead technical forensic validation procedures within the IRE to confirm system integrity prior to production re-entry.

Regulatory Engagement & Audit Readiness

> Serve as a subject matter expert during regulatory examinations, audits, and inquiry responses related to cyber recovery posture (e.g., OCC, FDIC, FFIEC, Federal Reserve, NYDFS).

> Translate regulatory guidance (FFIEC Cybersecurity Assessment Tool, NIST CSF, SR 20-24, DORA where applicable) into actionable recovery engineering requirements.

> Prepare evidence packages, technical narratives, and examination artifacts that demonstrate recovery capability maturity.

> Maintain continuous documentation of control effectiveness, test results, and remediation tracking aligned to regulatory expectations.

Recovery Architecture & Engineering

> Architect and operate air-gapped or logically isolated backup and replication pipelines using immutable storage technologies (e.g., Zerto, Cohesity, Rubrik, NetBackup, Veeam).

> Engineer network segmentation and identity isolation controls within the IRE to prevent lateral movement and re-infection risk during recovery.

> Integrate recovery automation into CI/CD and IaC pipelines using Terraform, Ansible, and scripting (Python/Bash) to ensure reproducible, auditable recovery environments.

> Collaborate with application owners, DBAs, and platform teams to validate application-layer recovery sequencing and dependencies.

Exercise Program & Continuous Improvement

> Own the cyber recovery exercise calendar; design tabletop, simulation, and full-failover scenarios including ransomware, destructive malware, and supply chain compromise.

> Lead post-exercise after action reviews (AARs); track findings to closure and drive measurable improvement in recovery capability.

> Benchmark recovery metrics (RTO, RPO, MTTR) against industry peers and regulatory expectations; report program health to CISO and executive leadership.

> Mentor junior engineers on recovery engineering practices, clean room protocols, and regulatory documentation standards.

Skills

cloud, Architecture, Enterprise architecture, Data, analytics, RPA, automation, data architecture, CMDB, risk management

Top Skills Details

cloud,Architecture,Enterprise architecture,Data,analytics,RPA,automation,data architecture

Additional Skills & Qualifications

Required Qualifications (Must Have):

- 10+ years of infrastructure, platform, or resilience engineering experience, with at least 4 years in a financial institution (bank, broker-dealer, asset manager, or equivalent regulated entity).

- Demonstrated hands-on experience implementing and testing cyber recovery in an Isolated Recovery Environment (IRE) or clean room — not just DR/BC planning.

- Direct experience engaging with financial regulators (OCC, FDIC, Federal Reserve, NYDFS, SEC, or FINRA) in the context of technology examinations or regulatory responses.

- Proficiency with enterprise backup and replication platforms: Cohesity, Rubrik, Zerto, Veeam, Commvault, or NetBackup.

- Working knowledge of IaC tooling (Terraform, Ansible) and scripting (Python, Bash, PowerShell) for recovery automation.

- Strong understanding of network segmentation, identity isolation, and zero-trust concepts as applied to clean room environments.

- Familiarity with ransomware TTPs, destructive malware incident response, and forensic triage in a recovery context.

- Experience with FFIEC guidance, NIST CSF, and/or DORA requirements as they pertain to operational resilience and recovery.

Preferred Qualifications (Nice to Have):

> Experience in a GSIB, SIFI, or Category I–III bank with heightened regulatory scrutiny.

> Certifications: CISSP, CISA, AWS/Azure Disaster Recovery specialty, or vendor-specific backup platform certifications.

> Exposure to DORA (Digital Operational Resilience Act) implementation for EU-facing operations.

> Familiarity with SWIFT, FedWire, or CHIPS recovery considerations for payment system continuity.

> Experience with cyber recovery in hybrid cloud environments (AWS, Azure, or GCP) including cloud-based IRE architectures.

> Background in incident response or cyber threat intelligence with a recovery engineering lens.

Experience Level

Expert Level

This is a Contract position based out of Chicago, IL.

The pay range for this position is $100.00 - $125.00/hr.

Individual compensation offered for this position within this range will depend on many factors, including qualifications, skills, relevant experience, job knowledge, geographic location, internal equity, and other pertinent job-related factors.

Eligibility requirements apply to some benefits and may depend on your job classification and length of employment. Benefits are subject to change and may be subject to specific elections, plan, or program terms. If eligible, the benefits available for this temporary role may include the following: • Medical, dental & vision • Critical Illness, Accident, and Hospital • 401(k) Retirement Plan – Pre-tax and Roth post-tax contributions available • Life Insurance (Voluntary Life & AD&D for the employee and dependents) • Short and long-term disability • Health Spending Account (HSA) • Transportation benefits • Employee Assistance Program • Time Off/Leave (PTO, Vacation or Sick Leave)

This is a hybrid position in Chicago,IL.

This position is anticipated to close on Sep 16, 2026.

We're partners in transformation. We help clients activate ideas and solutions to take advantage of a new world of opportunity. We are a team of 80,000 strong, working with over 6,000 clients, including 80% of the Fortune 500, across North America, Europe and Asia. As an industry leader in Full-Stack Technology Services, Talent Services, and real-world application, we work with progressive leaders to drive change. That's the power of true partnership. TEKsystems is an Allegis Group company.

The company is an equal opportunity employer and will consider all applications without regards to race, sex, age, color, religion, national origin, veteran status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information or any characteristic protected by law.

We’re a leading provider of business and technology services. We accelerate business transformation for our customers. Our expertise in strategy, design, execution and operations unlocks business value through a range of solutions. We’re a team of 80,000 strong, working with over 6,000 customers, including 80% of the Fortune 500 across North America, Europe and Asia, who partner with us for our scale, full-stack capabilities and speed. We’re strategic thinkers, hands-on collaborators, helping customers capitalize on change and master the momentum of technology. We’re building tomorrow by delivering business outcomes and making positive impacts in our global communities. TEKsystems and TEKsystems Global Services are Allegis Group companies. Learn more at TEKsystems.com.

The company is an equal opportunity employer and will consider all applications without regard to race, sex, age, color, religion, national origin, veteran status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information or any characteristic protected by law.

San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance: Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, for all positions located in the city and county of San Francisco, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

Massachusetts Lie Detector: It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI): We may use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to support parts of our hiring process, including sourcing, screening, and evaluating candidates. AI helps assess applications and qualifications, but final decisions are made by our hiring team. By applying, you acknowledge and agree that your application may be reviewed using AI tools.