Disaster Recovery and Resilience Expert - September 2026

remote, remote

For on of our clients in the energy industry, we are looking for a freelance Disaster Recovery and Resilience Expert

Project name: Defending the Castle

Project description: “Defending the Castle” is the short-term and immediate phase of the client’s AI threat resilience response. The purpose is to buy time by increasing detection, response, containment and recovery readiness while a broader Phase 2 plan is prepared for the rest of the Business IT units.

Tasks:

Conceptual development and structured implementation of the immediate disaster recovery and resilience workstream for the “Defending the Castle” initiative.
Preparation of documentation and concepts to enable operational recovery of the most viable operations if AI-augmented compromise causes disruption, data damage, ransomware-style encryption, destructive activity or service unavailability.
Identification and definition of recovery priorities, minimum viable operations, restoration sequencing, dependency mapping and backup validation schemes for hybrid Azure and on-premise’ environments.
Creation of practical Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and recovery playbooks covering recovery coordination, data integrity validation, clean-room restoration, crisis handover procedures and post-recovery assurance.
Provision of evidence-based technical analysis and readiness documentation by end of Q1 2027 to facilitate strategic decision-making for Phase 2 planning for broader business IT resilience.
Technical review of Recovery plans across applications, infrastructure, Azure, cyber defense, incident response and business continuity functions.
Evaluation and technical assessment of restore tests assessed against recovery time, recovery point, integrity, dependency and operational hand-back criteria.
Execution and technical documentation, simulations and scenario-based playbook validations, beyond theoretical proof.
Identification, evaluation and documentation of residual risks, mitigation plans and escalation preparations for risk management.
Identification and technical gap analysis of existing processes (too slow, fragmented, undocumented or dependent on informal knowledge) to document optimization potential.
Transformation of risk evaluations into executable playbooks, technical control frameworks, test protocols, backlog items and management evidence.
Provision of a structured handover of a Phase 2 backlog and recommendations for the broader Business IT resilience plan after Q1 2027.
Development of Disaster Recovery (DR) & Resilience Strategy Specifications for hybrid Azure and on-premise’ environments.
Clarification of restoration priorities to preserve minimum viable operations and reduce business disruption.
Validation of backup integrity, restore procedures and dependency assumptions before they are needed in crisis conditions.
Creation of a common recovery model for stakeholder alignment (Disaster Recovery (DR), incident response, security monitoring, infrastructure, application
Creation of comprehensive documentation with all results regarding the above-mentioned tasks with subsequent handover to client for review and approval for further usage.

Required skills:

Minimum 8 years in disaster recovery, IT resilience, business continuity, infrastructure recovery, cloud operations or cyber recovery planning.
Strong expertise in backup and restore, immutable backups, clean-room recovery, Azure resilience, on-premise infrastructure, identity dependencies and crisis recovery coordination.
Experience preparing recovery strategies for ransomware, destructive attacks, cloud compromise or large-scale technology disruption.
Ability to translate technical recovery constraints into management-ready decisions and pragmatic execution plans.
Relevant certifications such as CBCP, MBCI, CISSP, CISM, AZ-305, AZ-500, ITIL or equivalent are beneficial.

Start: ASAP
Duration: till end of March 2027
Capacity: 40h/week
Location: Remote