JOB DESCRIPTION

SUMMARY

The Defence Investment (DI) Division is responsible for facilitating the development and adoption of cutting-edge, innovative and interoperable capabilities, critical to ensuring the Alliance’s ability to undertake the full spectrum of missions and operations. Key lines of effort include:

• developing and implementing policies and programs to ensure the Alliance can rely on a capable and competitive transatlantic defense industrial base;
• facilitating and promoting multinational cooperation through a series of specific initiatives tackling critical capability requirements;
• leading the development and implementation of projects and major capability programmes in the land, maritime, air and space domains and in doing so addressing all policy, political-military, technical and practical aspects;
• leading NATO’s policy and engagements in the aviation domain;
• pursuing interoperability through standardization and developing with Allies new approaches to operational challenges, supported, among others, by operational experimentation and innovation;
• maintaining the Alliance’s technological edge through exploring and driving adoption of emerging and disruptive technologies, with a particular focus on autonomous systems;
• understanding, adapting to, and pro-actively addressing climate change’s implications on armaments;
• informing and responding to the Alliance’s evolving capability needs through the NATO Defence Planning Process (NDPP) implementation;
• providing oversight to NATO Agencies involved in capability development and delivery (in particular NATO Communication and Information Agency and NATO Support and Procurement Agency);
• working with a range of key stakeholders within NATO including the Strategic Commands and externally with NATO Partners and relevant international and regional organisations including the EU, as well as with industry and academia.

The NATO Digital Staff (NDS) is an integrated staff composed of members of the International Military Staff (IMS) and International Staff (IS) Defence Investment Division at the heart of NATO’s Digital Transformation. The staff maintains digital subject matter expertise for providing the highest quality advice, policy and leadership to ensure the Alliance’s technological edge, enable data-driven decision-making and release the potential of multi-domain operations. The NDS is responsible for the establishment, maintenance and evolution of NATO as a digital, data-driven decision-making organisation where the power and potential of interoperable digital technologies and a data-centricity are fully exploited for the benefit of the Alliance. Led by the Director NDS, the Staff supports different NATO senior policy committees and in particular, the Military Committee, the Digital Policy Committee (DPC) and the Cyber Defence Committee. It functionally operates under the co-ordinated executive management authority of the Director General of the IMS and the Assistant Secretary General for Defence Investment.

The Cyber Defence (CD) Branch acts as the Staff lead for cyberspace operations, information assurance, and cyber defence. This includes: supporting the Military Committee in its governance roles for cyberspace as a domain of operations and for cryptography; supporting the DPC and its substructure in the expertise domains of Communications and Information Systems (CIS) Security, cyber defence, cryptography, as well as Identity and Access Management (IAM), including Public Key Infrastructure (PKI); and the improvement of knowledge within these domains.

The Digital Transformation Security Architect leads Strategy and Policy development in support of the DPC’s governance on technical Cyber Defence, specifically on establishing CIS security for the Digital Backbone and other initiatives supporting Digital Transformation. The incumbent enables the implementation of new security concepts such as Zero Trust by developing strategies, policies, as well as technical and implementation directives that define CIS security standards through the DPC. Moreover, the incumbent supports the branch in accelerating the development of interoperability standards in the field of CIS security and technical Cyber Defence in support of a security by design approach (e.g. secure cloud, secure information sharing, data centric security).

2. QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

ESSENTIAL

The incumbent must:

• possess a Masters’ degree or equivalent qualification in computer science, software engineering, systems engineering, or electronics engineering or in another relevant field from an university or institute of recognised standing;
• have  at least 5 years of recent experience working in a professional IT systems or software engineering environment with a focus on CIS security;
• possess strong analytical and conceptual skills with the ability to create original concepts and theories on CIS security;
• have demonstrated experience in analysing complex issues, developing concepts, advising senior management and presenting results to non-technical audiences;
• have an up-to-date knowledge of current techniques and advances in computer or software engineering, particularly in the area of state-of-the art and emerging CIS security technologies and frameworks, to include, but not limited to, Zero Trust and Data Centric Security;
• have comprehensive knowledge of the principles of computer and communications security, networking, and the vulnerabilities of modern operating systems and applications;
• possess the following minimum levels of NATO’s official languages
  (English/French): V (“Advanced”); I (“Beginner”) in the other.

DESIRABLE

The following would be considered an advantage:

• demonstrated experience in coordinating teams and/or chairing committees/working groups;
• formal Information Assurance qualifications (e.g. Certified Information Systems Security Professional, Certified Advanced Security Practitioner, Security, SANS Institute certifications);
• a programme or project management certification or equivalent experience (e.g. PRINCE2, PMP, MSP).

3. MAIN ACCOUNTABILITIES

Expertise Development

Apply expertise, consider options and provide recommendations for continued improvement in CIS security strategy, standardisation and design, and policy development for the adoption of modern security principles such as Zero Trust. Assess financial soundness of cost estimates and business cases in CIS security capabilities and solutions.

Knowledge Management

Manage the content of NDS web pages and associated repositories dedicated to communications. Ensure that the corporate expert domain knowledge required to support communications is retained through appropriate information management and training.

Information Management

Ensure the effective management of communications information within the Branch, Staff and associated committee structures.

Policy Development

Facilitate NATO C3 strategy, policy and standards development in CIS security and Cyber Defence to meet the security standards needed, to persist future and current threats and to defend against peer adversaries in line with NATO strategic objectives.

Project Management

Oversee the management of committees and groups supporting the development of CIS security directives and standards and support the work of these committees and groups. Coordinate related activities within the NATO Enterprise and manage any supporting contracted work.

Representation of the Organization

Represent the interests of NATO when interacting with external bodies.

Stakeholder Management

Represent the Cyber Defence branch in committees and working groups and participate in meetings at NATO Staff level, NATO committee level and with relevant external bodies. Develop and enhance a network of key stakeholders in the CIS security and Cyber Defence communities both within and outside NATO. This includes other International Organisations and industrial and standardisation bodies. Assess, manage and consolidate the network within the broader interests of the NDS. Support the management of stakeholder relationship within NATO Enterprise, including the NATO Military Authorities and the Office of the Chief Information Officer.

Perform any other related duty as assigned.

4.  INTERRELATIONSHIPS

The incumbent reports to the Head of NDS/Cyber Defence. The incumbent liaises with, and provides technical support and expertise, as directed, to NATO Bodies in their work, in areas related to CIS security and Cyber Defence. The incumbent also liaises with other national and international bodies dealing with CIS security or Cyber Defence.

Direct reports: N/A

Indirect reports: N/A

5. COMPETENCIES

The incumbent must demonstrate:

• Analytical Thinking: Makes complex plans or analyses;
• Clarity and Accuracy: Checks own work;
• Conceptual Thinking: Applies learned concepts;
• Customer Service Orientation: Takes personal responsibility for correcting problems;
• Impact and Influence: Takes multiple actions to persuade;
• Initiative: Is decisive in a time-sensitive situation;
• Organisational Awareness: Understands organisational climate and culture;
• Teamwork: Solicits inputs and encourages others.

Level of Education: Bachelor Degree

Work Hours: 8

Experience in Months: No requirements