Principal IT Program Manager (Disaster Recovery & Resilience)

Who We Are

Join a team that puts its People First! Since 1889, First American (NYSE: FAF) has held an unwavering belief in its people. They are passionate about what they do, and we are equally passionate about fostering an environment where all feel welcome, supported, and empowered to be innovative and reach their full potential. Our inclusive, people-first culture has earned our company numerous accolades, including being named to the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For® list for ten consecutive years. We have also earned awards as a best place to work for women, diversity and LGBTQ+ employees, and have been included on more than 50 regional best places to work lists. First American will always strive to be a great place to work, for all. For more information, please visit www.careers.firstam.com.

What We Do

This opportunity is to lead the development, implementation and management of the disaster recovery program, including strategies to ensure continuity of IT services for the enterprise in support of key business value streams in the event of a disaster. The role is accountable for the enterprise disaster recovery program including both planning and operational execution. Through strong leadership, you will establish and maintain world-class disaster recovery programming best supporting our business and clients for years to come. This role requires a proactive strong leader with an understanding of IT cloud infrastructure, risk management, business continuity practices and disaster recovery programming.

What you will do:

Program Management and Strategy:

• You will build strong relationships across technology and risk teams, establishing trusted relationships up to Executive levels in support of maturing enterprise resilience.
• Lead and develop a comprehensive enterprise disaster recovery program and strategy that will define and run our disaster recovery capabilities that incorporates critical business workflows/value streams aligned to business continuity plans.
• Lead risk assessments in partnership with business and technology teams to identify short comings within IT systems and processes surrounding the DR program in support of overall business resilience. 
• Identify resources needed, develop schedules to ensure timely completion of deliverables, communicate status and issues to team and management, act to reduce risks and resolve issues.
• Establish processes to monitor and maintain disaster recovery lifecycle activities.
• Establish and regularly communicate metrics-based reporting on all disaster recovery & key resilience activities with clear success criteria, KPIs/KRIs and continuous improvement opportunities.
• Partner with InfoSec, compliance/governance and audit teams as disaster recovery scope evolves based on regulatory demand (i.e., FFIEC, DORA, etc.) and ensure all appropriate documents and standards remain up to date.
• Stay abreast of emerging technology and industry trends and advancements in disaster recovery and business continuity.

The role will require working across organizational lines to influence and support improved technology related capabilities, addressing competing priorities and achieving results as an individual contributor.  The role will not have direct reports.

Inspire Impact: Inspire and empower matrixed teams through openness and inclusion to think broadly about disaster recovery gaps, informed consultation, and effective challenge to drive end-to-end analysis and testing requirements for enterprise-wide Business Impact Analysis, technical interdependencies, and recommendations for gap remediations.

What you will bring:

• Experience: 10+ years of IT experience with technology and at least 5 years in disaster recovery and resilience for complex and integrated systems with experience in highly regulated organizations.
• Leadership: Strong executive presence with a keen focus on outcomes and velocity.  Demonstration of exceptional work ethic, maintaining perspective, and demonstrating optimism and a “get it done” attitude.
• Strategic Thinking: Demonstrated ability to think strategically and align projects with the organization’s overall objectives.   This involves assessing risks, identifying opportunities, and making informed decisions to drive program success.
• Collaboration and Communication: Partner with cross-functional teams, including Product, Application and Platform Engineering, Business Continuity, and Enterprise Architecture to ensure strategies meet business unit requirements and establish repeatable patterns that may mitigate risk.  Effectively communicate articulation of goals, priorities, and drive alignment between technical and non-technical teams and external vendors.
• Exceptional demonstration of critical thinking, influencing problem-solving techniques, and analytical skills.
• Ownership and Delivery: Deeply understand and performs core duties associated with their role and completes all tasks highly effectively.  Takes accountability for their actions and works to deliver a positive outcome for all parties involved.
• Strong understanding of risk management, IT cloud infrastructure, and business continuity principles.
• Working knowledge of industry standards, regulations, and experience in conducting risk assessments and developing mitigation strategies.

Pay Range: $166,750 - $222,325 Annually 

This hiring range is a reasonable estimate of the base pay range for this position at the time of posting.  Pay is based on a number of factors which may include job-related knowledge, skills, experience, business requirements and geographic location.   

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What We Offer

By choice, we don’t simply accept individuality – we embrace it, we support it, and we thrive on it! Our People First Culture celebrates diversity, equity and inclusion not simply because it’s the right thing to do, but also because it’s the key to our success. We are proud to foster an authentic and inclusive workplace For All. You are free and encouraged to bring your entire, unique self to work. First American is an equal opportunity employer in every sense of the term.

Based on eligibility, First American offers a comprehensive benefits package including medical, dental, vision, 401k, PTO/paid sick leave and other great benefits like an employee stock purchase plan.