The pathway
How you actually get there, here
How you become one varies far more by country than what one does. This is the UK route. Most people take one of these ways in; the right one depends on where you're starting from.
- 1
Lead Resilience Strategist (Internal L4)
3-5 years as an L4Skills to master
- At L4, you'd have mastered designing complex, cross-functional resilience strategies and acted as a top subject matter expert. To move to Manager, you'd need to add team leadership, budget management, and executive reporting to your skillset.
You're ready to move on when
- Successfully led multiple complex resilience projects from inception to completion.
- Consistently mentored junior team members and demonstrated informal leadership.
- Taken initiative to present strategic recommendations to senior management.
- Managed a significant project budget (£50K+) and delivered within scope.
- 2
Resilience Manager (from another organisation)
Direct entry (0-3 months onboarding)Skills to master
- You'd bring existing managerial experience, but you'd need to quickly get up to speed on our specific industry regulations, internal processes, and organisational culture. Understanding our existing tech stack (Fusion, ServiceNow) would be key.
You're ready to move on when
- Proven track record of managing a resilience team and programme in a similar-sized organisation.
- Demonstrated ability to quickly adapt to new environments and build relationships.
- Strong understanding of our industry's specific resilience challenges and regulatory landscape.
- Successfully onboarded and integrated into a new leadership team.
- 3
Senior Manager, Risk Management (Internal Lateral)
2-4 years in a senior risk roleSkills to master
- You'd bring a strong understanding of enterprise risk, but you'd need to specialise in the tactical and strategic elements of business continuity, crisis management, and incident response. Deep diving into ISO 22301 and exercise design would be crucial.
You're ready to move on when
- Demonstrated expertise in enterprise risk assessment and mitigation.
- Expressed a clear interest and aptitude for business continuity and crisis management.
- Successfully led cross-functional projects with significant operational impact.
- Completed relevant certifications (e.g., CBCP, MBCI) to bridge knowledge gaps.