diff --git a/code/service/src/main/scala/com/namely/chiefofstate/readside/ReadSideJdbcHandler.scala b/code/service/src/main/scala/com/namely/chiefofstate/readside/ReadSideJdbcHandler.scala
index abf3cc31..85c81c49 100644
--- a/code/service/src/main/scala/com/namely/chiefofstate/readside/ReadSideJdbcHandler.scala
+++ b/code/service/src/main/scala/com/namely/chiefofstate/readside/ReadSideJdbcHandler.scala
@@ -11,11 +11,15 @@ import akka.projection.eventsourced.EventEnvelope
 import com.namely.protobuf.chiefofstate.v1.persistence.EventWrapper
 import akka.projection.jdbc.JdbcSession
 import com.google.protobuf.any.{Any => ProtoAny}
+
 import scala.util.{Failure, Success, Try}
 import org.slf4j.{Logger, LoggerFactory}
 import com.namely.protobuf.chiefofstate.v1.common.MetaData
 import com.namely.protobuf.chiefofstate.v1.readside.HandleReadSideResponse
 
+import java.time.Duration
+import scala.annotation.tailrec
+
 /**
  * Implements the akka JdbcHandler interface and forwards events to the
  * provided remote read side processor
@@ -26,19 +30,36 @@ import com.namely.protobuf.chiefofstate.v1.readside.HandleReadSideResponse
  */
 private[readside] class ReadSideJdbcHandler(eventTag: String,
                                             processorId: String,
-                                            remoteReadProcessor: RemoteReadSideProcessor
+                                            remoteReadProcessor: RemoteReadSideProcessor,
+                                            backOffSecondsMin: Long,
+                                            backOffSecondsMax: Long
 ) extends JdbcHandler[EventEnvelope[EventWrapper], JdbcSession] {
 
   private val logger: Logger = LoggerFactory.getLogger(this.getClass)
 
+  val backOffMultiplier: Double = Math.random()
+
+  /**
+   * @param session a JdbcSession implementation
+   * @param envelope the wrapped event to process
+   */
+  def process(session: JdbcSession, envelope: EventEnvelope[EventWrapper]): Unit = {
+    recursiveProcess(session, envelope)
+  }
+
   /**
    * process an event inside the jdbc session by invoking the remote
-   * read processor
+   * read processor. In the failure state, backs off and tries again.
    *
    * @param session a JdbcSession implementation
    * @param envelope the wrapped event to process
+   * @param numAttempts the number of attempts
    */
-  def process(session: JdbcSession, envelope: EventEnvelope[EventWrapper]): Unit = {
+  @tailrec
+  private[this] def recursiveProcess(session: JdbcSession,
+                             envelope: EventEnvelope[EventWrapper],
+                             numAttempts: Int = 0
+  ): Unit = {
     // extract required arguments
     val event: ProtoAny = envelope.event.getEvent
     val resultingState: ProtoAny = envelope.event.getResultingState
@@ -56,18 +77,23 @@ private[readside] class ReadSideJdbcHandler(eventTag: String,
       // handle successful gRPC call where server indicated "successful = false"
       case Success(_) =>
         val errMsg: String =
-          s"read side returned failure, processor=${processorId}, id=${meta.entityId}, revisionNumber=${meta.revisionNumber}"
+          s"read side returned failure, attempt=${numAttempts}, processor=${processorId}, id=${meta.entityId}, revisionNumber=${meta.revisionNumber}"
         logger.warn(errMsg)
         throw new RuntimeException(errMsg)
 
       // handle failed gRPC call
       case Failure(exception) =>
         logger.error(
-          s"read side processing failure, processor=${processorId}, id=${meta.entityId}, revisionNumber=${meta.revisionNumber}, cause=${exception.getMessage()}"
+          s"read side processing failure, attempt=${numAttempts}, processor=${processorId}, id=${meta.entityId}, revisionNumber=${meta.revisionNumber}, cause=${exception.getMessage}"
         )
         // for debug purposes, log the stack trace as well
         logger.debug("remote handler failure", exception)
-        throw exception
+
+        val backoffSeconds: Long = Math.min(backOffSecondsMax, (backOffSecondsMin * Math.pow(1.1, numAttempts)).toLong)
+
+        Thread.sleep(Duration.ofSeconds(backoffSeconds).toMillis)
+
+        recursiveProcess(session, envelope, numAttempts + 1)
     }
   }
 }
diff --git a/code/service/src/main/scala/com/namely/chiefofstate/readside/ReadSideProcessor.scala b/code/service/src/main/scala/com/namely/chiefofstate/readside/ReadSideProcessor.scala
index 3461bd67..7ac6c38a 100644
--- a/code/service/src/main/scala/com/namely/chiefofstate/readside/ReadSideProcessor.scala
+++ b/code/service/src/main/scala/com/namely/chiefofstate/readside/ReadSideProcessor.scala
@@ -60,6 +60,7 @@ private[readside] class ReadSideProcessor(
     )
   }
 
+  // TODO: Pass in the back off seconds min and max from config
   private[readside] def jdbcProjection(tagName: String): ExactlyOnceProjection[Offset, EventEnvelope[EventWrapper]] = {
     JdbcProjection
       .exactlyOnce(
@@ -68,7 +69,7 @@ private[readside] class ReadSideProcessor(
         // defines a session factory that returns a jdbc
         // session connected to the hikari pool
         sessionFactory = () => new ReadSideJdbcSession(dataSource.getConnection()),
-        handler = () => new ReadSideJdbcHandler(tagName, processorId, remoteReadProcessor)
+        handler = () => new ReadSideJdbcHandler(tagName, processorId, remoteReadProcessor, 1, 30)
       )
 
   }