Jobs › Northern Trust

Incident Commander

Northern Trust · Chicago, IL · $78,945–$134,235 a year · Full time

Posted Jul 30, 2026 · We last checked this listing on Oct 6, 2026

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Likely interview questions for this role

Written from this job description, not a generic list. Each one notes what the interviewer is really checking.

About your past

Tell me about a significant incident you coordinated. What would you do differently now?

What they are checking: Real incident leadership experience and honest reflection on what went wrong.

Tell me about a time you had to escalate an incident's severity when others thought it wasn't needed.

What they are checking: Willingness to escalate based on impact even when it is uncomfortable.

How do you stay effective during a long incident that runs through the night?

What they are checking: Self-awareness and practical habits for sustaining judgment under fatigue.

What would you do

You get paged for a major incident affecting client payments. Walk me through your first fifteen minutes.

What they are checking: Taking command, getting the right people on the bridge, assessing impact and starting communications fast.

Two senior leaders on the bridge disagree on whether to fail over. As incident commander, what do you do?

What they are checking: Keeping control of the process, getting a decision from the right authority and moving on quickly.

A technical team keeps going quiet on the bridge while they troubleshoot. How do you handle it?

What they are checking: Getting needed updates while protecting engineers' focus during the fix.

About the work

This role covers incidents across technology, facilities, vendors and reputation. How does running a vendor outage differ from a technology one?

What they are checking: Understanding that enterprise incidents need different levers, contacts and communications depending on the cause.

How do you write a status update for executives during an incident when the cause is still unknown?

What they are checking: Clear communication of impact, actions and next update time without speculation.

How do you hand off an ongoing incident to a colleague in another region under the follow-the-sun model?

What they are checking: Structured handover so nothing is lost when ownership crosses time zones.

What makes a post-incident review useful rather than a blame session?

What they are checking: Blameless review practice that produces specific, owned actions that get tracked.

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The full job description

As published by Northern Trust.

About Northern Trust As a global leader in innovative wealth management, asset servicing, asset management and banking services, Northern Trust (Nasdaq: NTRS) is proud to guide the world’s most successful individuals, families, corporations and institutions. Since 1889, we have aligned our efforts with our three guiding Principles That Endure: Service, Expertise, and Integrity. Together, they reflect the three cornerstones of business conduct which we strive to instill in our employees, whom we call partners, and to provide to our clients and the communities we serve worldwide. With more than 135 years of financial experience and over 24,000 partners, we serve the world’s most sophisticated clients using leading technology and exceptional service. Role Overview The Enterprise Incident Management (EIM) Senior Consultant role is responsible for supporting the coordinated, enterprise-wide response to significant incidents impacting business operations, technology, facilities, vendors, and reputation. The role operates within a 24/7 follow-the-sun model and ensures incidents are actively managed through detection, escalation, response, communication, and post-incident review. This position plays a critical role in driving consistent incident handling, enabling rapid response, minimizing business disruption, and supporting overall organizational resilience. Key Responsibilities · Incident Management • • Support real-time monitoring and assessment of potential incidents across the enterprise • Coordinate the triage and escalation of incidents in alignment with established thresholds and severity criteria • Facilitate timely activation of incident response teams and escalation pathways • Coordinate cross-functional teams (Technology, Business Units, Legal, HR, Communications, Third Parties) to drive resolution • Maintain situational awareness and provide ongoing updates on incident status, impact, and risks • Manage incident SWAT calls and communication channels • Ensure incidents are logged, tracked, and managed through the full lifecycle · Communication and Stakeholder Management • Facilitate clear, timely, and consistent communication to stakeholders, including leadership and impacted business units • Engage with regulatory, vendor, and client communication processes when required · Incident Governance, Reporting, and Documentation • Ensure adherence to enterprise incident management policies, standards, and procedures • Maintain accurate documentation of incident timelines, decisions, and actions • Support governance reporting, metrics tracking, and performance analysis • Contribute to the continuous improvement of incident management processes and controls · Post-Incident Review and Continuous Improvement • Support and/or facilitate Post-Incident Reviews (PIRs) and After-Action Reviews • Track remediation activities through completion and validate effectiveness · Process and Framework Support • Contribute to the development and enhancement of incident management methodologies, playbooks, and templates • Support testing exercises, simulations, and scenario planning • Partner with resilience, risk, and control teams to strengthen preparedness Required Skills & Experience • Strong understanding of incident management and operational functions across Northern Trust • Ability to manage multiple incidents simultaneously in a high-pressure environment • Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills • Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities • Experience working across cross-functional teams in a large, complex organization • Familiarity with incident management tools (e.g., ServiceNow) and reporting frameworks preferred Experience :• A College or University degree and/or relevant proven work experience is required • 5-7 years of related experience in Business Continuity, Disaster Recovery, Incident Management, Risk, or Controls. Please note that Northern Trust operates on a hybrid work model, with three days in the office each week as the standard. Due to the nature of the work and the follow-the-sun model used by this team, remote work may be approved for the selected candidate. This role is part of a global team responsible for managing critical incidents on a 24x7 basis. Partners in this role are expected to lead incident response efforts outside standard business hours, including rotating holiday and weekend coverage. Salary Range: $78,945 - 134,235 USD Salary range is a good faith estimate of base pay. Northern Trust provides a comprehensive benefits package including retirement benefits (401k and pension), health and welfare benefits (medical, dental, vision, spending accounts and disability), paid time off, parental and caregiver leave, life & accident insurance, and other voluntary and well-being benefits. Northern Trust also provides a discretionary bonus program that may include an equity component. Work Authorization Applicants must be authorized to work in the U.S. without the need for employment-based visa sponsorship now or in the future. Northern Trust will not sponsor applicants for U.S. work visa status for this opportunity (no sponsorship is available for H-1B, L-1, TN, O-1, E-3, H-1B1, F-1, J-1, OPT, CPT or any other employment-based visa). Working with Us As a Northern Trust partner, you will be part of a flexible and collaborative work culture, which has a strong history of financial strength and stability. Movement within the organization is encouraged, senior leaders are accessible, and you can take pride in working for a company committed to an inclusive workplace and assisting the communities we serve. Philanthropy is deeply rooted in Northern Trust’s history and is an essential element of our culture. Employees around the world give their time and talent to work for the greater good of their communities. Reasonable Accommodation Northern Trust is committed to working with and providing adjustments to individuals with health conditions and disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the employment process, please email our HR Service Center at MyHRHelp@ntrs.com , or alternatively you can discuss your individual requirements with the recruiter you are working with.

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