Enterprise Architect (Senior Cyber Recovery Engineer)

Job Summary
Our client, a leading Financial Services provider, is seeking an Enterprise Architect (Senior Cyber Recovery Engineer) to join their team! This position is located in Chicago, Illinois. This role is ideal for a hands-on technical leader with deep expertise in cyber recovery, infrastructure resilience, and regulatory compliance within highly regulated financial institutions. The selected candidate will help design, implement, test, and continuously enhance the organization's ability to recover critical systems and data following cyber incidents, ransomware attacks, or operational disruptions. This position sits at the intersection of cybersecurity, infrastructure engineering, operational resilience, and regulatory compliance, requiring both technical depth and strong stakeholder engagement skills.

Contract Details

• Location: Chicago, IL (Hybrid)
• Schedule: 3 days onsite per week (Wednesday plus 2 flexible days)
• Hours: 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
• Interview Process: 3 Rounds (2 Technical Panels + Final Interview with Hiring Manager)
• Conversion Potential: Opportunity for permanent conversion based on performance, business need, and budget availability

Core Responsibilities

• Design, build, and maintain Isolated Recovery Environments (IREs) and clean room infrastructure used during cyber recovery events and testing exercises
• Execute end-to-end cyber recovery testing and validation exercises for critical business applications
• Validate Recovery Time Objectives (RTOs) and Recovery Point Objectives (RPOs) across critical systems
• Develop, maintain, and automate recovery runbooks, technical playbooks, and restoration procedures
• Lead forensic validation efforts within recovery environments to ensure systems are safe for production re-entry
• Architect and operate immutable backup, replication, and disaster recovery solutions
• Design network segmentation, identity isolation, and zero-trust controls within recovery environments
• Implement infrastructure automation using Terraform, Ansible, Python, Bash, and PowerShell
• Collaborate with application owners, DBAs, infrastructure teams, and platform engineers to validate recovery strategies and dependencies
• Integrate recovery capabilities into infrastructure-as-code and CI/CD pipelines
• Serve as a subject matter expert during regulatory examinations, audits, and cybersecurity reviews
• Interpret and implement guidance from FFIEC, NIST CSF, OCC, FDIC, Federal Reserve, NYDFS, SEC, FINRA, and related governing bodies
• Prepare evidence packages, recovery documentation, technical narratives, and audit artifacts
• Maintain documentation of testing activities, remediation efforts, and control effectiveness
• Translate regulatory requirements into actionable recovery engineering standards
• Own and manage the cyber recovery exercise calendar
• Develop and facilitate tabletop exercises, ransomware simulations, full-failover tests, and recovery scenarios
• Lead post-exercise reviews and drive remediation activities to completion
• Measure and report recovery program effectiveness using metrics such as RTO, RPO, and MTTR
• Present recovery readiness assessments and recommendations to security leadership and executive stakeholders
• Mentor junior engineers and help establish recovery engineering best practices

Required Skills/Experience (Must-Haves)

• 10+ years of infrastructure, platform, cybersecurity, resilience, or recovery engineering experience
• 4+ years of experience within a regulated financial institution, including banks, broker-dealers, asset managers, or similar environments
• Direct hands-on experience designing, implementing, and testing cyber recovery capabilities within Isolated Recovery Environments (IREs) or clean room environments
• Experience supporting regulatory examinations and audits involving cyber resilience, disaster recovery, or operational resilience programs
• Expertise with enterprise backup and recovery platforms such as: Cohesity, Rubrik, Zerto, Veeam, Commvault, NetBackup
• Strong experience with Terraform, Ansible, Python, Bash, and/or PowerShell
• Deep understanding of: Network segmentation, Identity isolation, Zero Trust security principles, and Recovery engineering methodologies
• Knowledge of ransomware tactics, destructive malware, forensic validation, and incident response procedures
• Experience applying FFIEC guidance, NIST Cybersecurity Framework, operational resilience requirements, and recovery standards
• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills
• Ability to operate effectively in highly regulated and audit-driven environments

Preferred Skills/Experience (Nice-to-Haves) 

• Experience within a GSIB, SIFI, or Category I-III banking institution
• CISSP, CISA, AWS, Azure Disaster Recovery, or related certifications
• Experience supporting Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) initiatives
• Knowledge of payment and settlement system recovery considerations, including: SWIFT, FedWire, CHIPS
• Experience building and managing recovery architectures across AWS, Azure, and/or GCP environments
• Background in incident response, cyber threat intelligence, or digital forensics
• Experience with cloud-based isolated recovery environments and hybrid cloud recovery strategies

Key Competencies & Behaviors

• Hands-on technical leadership with strong execution capabilities
• Excellent problem-solving and analytical skills
• Ability to operate effectively under pressure during cyber incidents and recovery events
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Experience working directly with regulators, auditors, and executive leadership
• Attention to detail in documentation, compliance, and operational readiness
• Collaborative leader who can influence across infrastructure, security, application, and business teams
• Continuous improvement mindset focused on resilience and risk reduction

Work Environment

• Location: Chicago, IL
• Working closely with cybersecurity, infrastructure, platform engineering, risk, compliance, and business stakeholders to ensure critical systems can be recovered quickly and safely following cyber events
• Hybrid work model with three days onsite per week in downtown Chicago
• Offers significant visibility across technology and security leadership teams

Compensation & Benefits

• Pay Range: The approximate pay range for this position is between $73.00 and $105.00. Please note that the pay range provided is a good faith estimate. Final compensation may vary based on factors including but not limited to background, knowledge, skills, and location. We comply with local wage minimums.
• Medical, Dental, & Vision Insurance Plans
• Employee-Owned Profit Sharing (ESOP)
• 401K offered

About KellyMitchell
At KellyMitchell, our culture is world class. We’re movers and shakers! We don’t mind a bit of friendly competition, and we reward hard work with unlimited potential for growth. This is an exciting opportunity to join a company known for innovative solutions and unsurpassed customer service. We're passionate about helping companies solve their biggest IT staffing & project solutions challenges. As an employee-owned, women-led organization serving Fortune 500 companies nationwide, we deliver expert service at a moment's notice. 
 
Marketing Disclosure
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