What are the responsibilities and job description for the Senior Cyber Recovery Engineer position at Softova Inc?
Job Title - Senior Cyber Recovery Engineer
Location - Chicago, IL (hybrid)
Duration - 13 Months
!! Only W2 !!
Preferred Certifications:
CISSP, CISA, or AWS/Azure Disaster Recovery specialty
Required qualifications:
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:
Experience in a GSIB, SIFI, or Category I III bank with heightened regulatory scrutiny
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 Google Cloud Platform) including cloud-based IRE architectures
Background in incident response or cyber threat intelligence with a recovery engineering lens
Senior Cyber Recovery Engineer Summary:
The Senior Cyber Recovery Engineer 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
Job 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.
Required Education:
Bachelors degree