Council Administrator

Role Profile to input:

The role involves developing and implementing strategies to enhance the resilience of IT infrastructure, applications, and data against potential disruptions, including natural disasters, cyber threats, and hardware failures. From a capacity perspective, the role involves planning, analysing, and optimising the utilisation of IT resources to ensure optimal performance, scalability, and reliability.

Risk Assessments Business Impact Risk Assessment – (BIRA)

Working with all business units, identify and assess any potential risks and vulnerabilities that could disrupt business operations, including natural disasters, cyber threats, pandemics, reduction in staff, failure of key third-party providers, and other emergencies.

Business Impact Analysis

Using the information collected during the completion of the BIRA, determine the potential effects of various disruptive scenarios on the organisation’s operations, financial stability, and reputation.

Plan Development

Working with all business units, develop and document detailed business continuity plans, outlining procedures and protocols for responding to, and recovering from, disruption. Working with the IT Resilience Analyst, develop and document detailed IT disaster recovery plans outlining procedures and protocols for responding to, and recovering from, disruptions.

Implementation and Testing

Work with relevant stakeholders to implement and regularly test, demonstrate, and record the effectiveness of business continuity planning, ensuring that they align with industry best practices and regulatory requirements for the jurisdictions in which the organisation operates.

Training and Awareness

Collaborate with the various business units to raise awareness of business continuity protocols and provide training to ensure staff understand their roles and responsibilities in the event of a crisis.

Continuous Improvement

Monitor and review existing business continuity plans, identify areas for improvement, and make recommendations for enhancing the organisation’s resilience to potential threats. Conduct horizon scanning and analysis of business continuity regulations relevant to the various jurisdictions.

Communication and Coordination

Establish communication channels and coordinate with internal and external stakeholders (in conjunction with the Vendor Managers) to ensure a coordinated response to disruptions, including maintaining relationships with external partners and emergency services.

Business Incident Management

Work closely with the Head of Operations to help develop and implement a business incident management framework to dovetail with the IT Major Incident Management framework. This should include BIRA, BCP, and the organisation’s Incident Management Control Team.

Response Coordination

Under the direction of the Head of Operations, be a point of contact during incidents, assisting with communications and actions. Liaise closely with the IT Major Incident Management team, taking into account the type of incident and who will lead. Collaborate with relevant departments to ensure a swift and effective response to incidents. Support the Head of Operations in the coordination of the incident response team, ensuring adherence to established protocols.

Post Incident Reviews

With the exception of IT-related incidents, ensure post-incident reviews involving stakeholders from across the organisation. Following the review, produce a detailed report, including actions and recommendations. Ensure all actions and recommendations are completed and introduced as appropriate.

Personal Capabilities Required, e.g. skills, attitude, strengths

• Takes initiative to identify and address potential issues before they escalate.
• Detail-oriented with a strong understanding of business operations.
• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal – able to work and modify communication style as appropriate when dealing with members of staff from across the organisation at all levels and in different locations.
• Adaptable, able to adapt quickly to evolving incidents and changing business environments.
• A good listener, with the ability to understand information provided and identify what is important.
• Strong understanding of business operations and a commitment to ensuring the organisation’s resilience in the face of potential disruptions.
• Resilient, maintains composure under pressure and can effectively manage stressful situations.

People, Budget and Project Scope

• Reports to the Head of IT Operations.
• Works closely with the IT Resilience Analyst, Vendor Management, and representatives from across the organisation.