Operational Resilience Manager – Testing

About the role

Oliver James is recruiting an Operational Resilience Manager – Testing for a leading UK financial services organisation. The role will lead the design, execution and continuous improvement of the organisation’s operational resilience testing programme, ensuring critical services can withstand and recover from disruption.

Key responsibilities

• Plan, coordinate and deliver the annual operational resilience testing programme.
• Develop and maintain a library of testing scenarios and methodologies.
• Execute Important Business Service (IBS) testing in partnership with technology and business stakeholders.
• Support broader resilience exercises, including Business Continuity, IT Service Continuity, Cyber Resilience and Workplace Recovery testing.
• Produce post‑exercise reports, capture lessons learned and drive improvement initiatives.
• Contribute to self‑assessments, governance reporting and regulatory compliance activities.
• Collaborate with risk, technology and business teams to ensure a joined‑up resilience lifecycle.
• Participate in crisis and incident management, including an on‑call rota when required.

Required profile

• Proven experience in operational resilience within financial services.
• Strong knowledge of UK regulatory expectations (PRA/FCA) and familiarity with DORA.
• Demonstrated ability to manage cross‑functional initiatives and influence senior stakeholders.
• Excellent analytical, planning and problem‑solving capabilities.
• Degree‑qualified in Business, Risk, Finance or a related discipline.

Required skills

• Operational resilience frameworks and scenario testing.
• Crisis management and incident management processes.
• Business continuity and IT service continuity planning.