Business Continuity Planners

Develop, maintain, or implement business continuity and disaster recovery strategies and solutions, including risk assessments, business impact analyses, strategy selection, and documentation of business continuity and disaster recovery procedures. Plan, conduct, and debrief regular mock-disaster exercises to test the adequacy of existing plans and strategies, updating procedures and plans regularly. Act as a coordinator for continuity efforts after a disruption event.

Median Annual Wage: $67,280

Education: Bachelor's degree (50%); Post-baccalaureate certificate (13%); Some college, no degree (10%)

Projected Growth: Slower than average (3% to 7%)

Related Job Titles: Business Continuity and Crisis Management Director; Business Continuity Coordinator; Business Continuity Manager; Business Continuity Analyst; Business Continuity Global Director; Business Continuity Management Director; Business Continuity Planning Director; Business Continuity Strategy Director; IT Disaster Recovery Manager (Information Technology Disaster Recovery Manager); IT Service Continuity Supervisor (Information Technology Service Continuity Supervisor)

Browse Job Listings

Browse Schools

Source: O*NET OnLine information for Business Continuity Planners.

More Business and Financial Operations Careers

  • Test documented disaster recovery strategies and plans.
  • Analyze impact on, and risk to, essential business functions or information systems to identify acceptable recovery time periods and resource requirements.
  • Develop emergency management plans for recovery decision making and communications, continuity of critical departmental processes, or temporary shut-down of non-critical departments to ensure continuity of operation and governance.
  • Review existing disaster recovery, crisis management, or business continuity plans.
  • Establish, maintain, or test call trees to ensure appropriate communication during disaster.
  • Interpret government regulations and applicable codes to ensure compliance.
  • Conduct or oversee contingency plan integration and operation.
  • Write reports to summarize testing activities, including descriptions of goals, planning, scheduling, execution, results, analysis, conclusions, and recommendations.
  • Identify opportunities for strategic improvement or mitigation of business interruption and other risks caused by business, regulatory, or industry-specific change initiatives.
  • Create business continuity and disaster recovery budgets.
  • Create or administer training and awareness presentations or materials.
  • Maintain and update organization information technology applications and network systems blueprints.
  • Conduct or oversee collection of corporate intelligence to avoid fraud, financial crime, cyber-attack, terrorism, and infrastructure failure.
  • Recommend or implement methods to monitor, evaluate, or enable resolution of safety, operations, or compliance interruptions.
  • Analyze corporate intelligence data to identify trends, patterns, or warnings indicating threats to security of people, assets, information, or infrastructure.
  • Design or implement products and services to mitigate risk or facilitate use of technology-based tools and methods.
  • Prepare reports summarizing operational results, financial performance, or accomplishments of specified objectives, goals, or plans.
  • Create scenarios to re-establish operations from various types of business disruptions.
  • Attend professional meetings, read literature, and participate in training or other educational offerings to keep abreast of new developments and technologies related to disaster recovery and business continuity.
  • Identify individual or transaction targets to direct intelligence collection.

Source: O*NET OnLine information for Business Continuity Planners.

  • Complex Problem Solving - Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
  • Systems Analysis - Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
  • Judgment and Decision Making - Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
  • Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
  • Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
  • Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
  • Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
  • Coordination - Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
  • Active Learning - Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.

Source: O*NET OnLine information for Business Continuity Planners.

Search Local Job Listings