Officer, Security Architecture and Cyber Capabilities, Brussels

1. SUMMARY 

The Cyber and Digital Transformation Division (CDT) leads NATO’s digital transformation, cybersecurity and cyber defence efforts, translating NATO priorities into coherent strategies and coordinated delivery across the Alliance to strengthen interoperability, resilience, cybersecurity and operational effectiveness.
The incumbent leads and coordinates the activities related to Capability Architecture within the Cyber Plans and Capabilities Section. They support the Section Head in establishing, maintaining and exploiting security by design in the development of relevant Capability and Solution Architectures. In addition, the incumbent will interact with Industry and academia in order to keep abreast of latest developments in cybersecurity.

2. QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

The incumbent must:
•  hold a university degree from an institute of a recognised standing in computer science, cybersecurity, or a similar related field;
•  have a minimum of 4 years' experience in information technology, IT application, technology and system architecture, and integration;
•  have substantial experience with security architecture projects, designing and/or implementing Communications and Information Systems (CIS) security;
•  be able to prepare and present complex information technology issues in simple terms to non-technical audiences; and
•  have the following minimum levels of NATO’s official languages (English/French): V (“Advanced”) in one; I (“Beginner”) in the other. 

The following are considered an advantage:
•  have experience with IT risks, cybersecurity, services security techniques and auditing, open system architectures and technology evaluation (related security protocols, standards and technologies);
•  relevant certifications in Enterprise Architecture, IT service management and regulatory security standards & compliance frameworks (such as CISSP, Zero Trust, TOGAF, ITIL, ISO27001, NIST, CIS, OWASP, etc.); and
•  experience in operating within both, on-premise and cloud-based, environments.

3. MAIN ACCOUNTABILITIES

Planning and Execution: Lead the development of Capability Architecture products and artefacts to follow strategic goals and other guidance set by NATO senior governance committees. Develop and maintain cyber capability architectures, including CIS-Security and cryptography. Provide security architecture support for the assessment of Capability Programmes and Plans for Cyber Defence, CIS Security and cryptography. Draft background briefs, progress reports, prepare presentations, and other items, as tasked, including for high-level meetings and management.

Project Management: Provide architecture and interoperability assessments for cyber standalone projects and urgent requirement requests. Maintain control of project and program plans, identify and monitor project implementation risks, provide expertise and leadership in the resolution of exceptions and issues. Assess the security perspective of capability programs in place in NATO nations, as well as NATO civil and military bodies.

Stakeholder Management: Ensure close collaboration with Allied Command Transformation (ACT) and NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCIA) during the development of Capability Architectures and the development of Solution Architectures. Engage with national cyber engineers and industry cyber engineers to ensure capability architectures are technically sound and interoperability is built in by design. Closely coordinate with staff working on the IT security and cybersecurity issues across the NATO enterprise. Represent and speak on behalf of the division, as appropriate, in committees, panels or working groups with industry and academia on matters pertaining to the domain of expertise.

Knowledge Management: Provide support and recommendations, be the point of reference for the NATO Enterprise architectural approach. Ensure relevant architectures conform with all relevant NATO Reference Architectures and applicable regulatory documents. Keep abreast with the latest technology developments in the area of responsibilities and expertise and provide appropriate advice.

Perform any other related duty as assigned.

4. INTERRELATIONSHIPS

Reporting line: The incumbent reports to the Head, Cyber Plans and Capabilities Section. 
Interactions: The incumbent works in close cooperation with other team members in the cyber cluster, across the division and HQ, as well as experts in the same field, across the NATO enterprise.

Direct reports: N/A
Indirect reports: N/A

5. COMPETENCIES

The incumbent must demonstrate:
•     Analytical Thinking: sees multiple relationships.
•     Flexibility: adapts to unforeseen situations.
•     Impact and Influence: takes multiple actions to persuade.
•     Initiative: is decisive in a time-sensitive situation.
•     Organizational Awareness: understands organisational climate and culture.
•     Teamwork: cooperates.

6. CONTRACT

Contract to be offered to the successful applicant (if non-seconded): Definite duration contract of three years; possibility of renewal for up to three years, during which the incumbent may apply for conversion to an indefinite duration contract.

Contract clause applicable:

In accordance with the contract policy, this is a post in which turnover is desirable for political reasons in order to be able to accommodate the Organisation's need to carry out its tasks as mandated by the Nations in a changing environment, for example by maintaining the flexibility necessary to shape the Organisation's skills profile, and to ensure appropriate international diversity.

The maximum period of service foreseen in this post is 6 years. The successful applicant will be offered a 3-year definite duration contract, which may be renewed for a further period of up to 3 years. However, according to the procedure described in the contract policy the incumbent may apply for conversion to an indefinite contract during the period of renewal and no later than one year before the end of contract.

If the successful applicant is seconded from the national administration of one of NATO’s member States, a 3-year definite duration contract will be offered, which may be renewed for a further period of up to 3 years subject also to the agreement of the national authority concerned. The maximum period of service in the post as a seconded staff member is six years.

Serving staff will be offered a contract in accordance with the NATO Civilian Personnel Régulations. 

7. USEFUL INFORMATION REGARDING APPLICATION AND RECRUITMENT PROCESS

Please note that we can only accept applications from nationals of NATO member countries. Applications must be submitted using e-recruitment system, as applicable:

For NATO civilian staff members only: please apply via the internal recruitment portal ( link );

For all other applications:

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More information about the recruitment process and conditions of employment, can be found at our website (

Appointment will be subject to receipt of a security clearance (provided by the national Authorities of the selected candidate), approval of the candidate’s medical file by the NATO Medical Adviser, verification of your study(ies) and work experience, and the successful completion of the accreditation and notification process by the relevant authorities.

NATO will not accept any phase of the recruitment and selection prepared, in whole or in part, by means of reference documents without proper quotes (plagiarism), or any tools available on internet, including but not limited to translation facilities, or generative artificial-intelligence (AI) tools. NATO reserves the right to screen applications to identify the use of such tools. All applications prepared, in whole or in part, by means of such tools will be rejected without further consideration, and NATO reserves the right to take further steps in such cases as appropriate.

8. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

NATO is committed to diversity and inclusion, and strives to provide equal access to employment, advancement and retention, independent of gender, age, nationality, ethnic origin, religion or belief, cultural background, sexual orientation, and disability. NATO welcomes applications of nationals from all member Nations, and strongly encourages women to apply.

NATO is committed to fostering an inclusive and accessible working environment, where all candidates living with disabilities can fully participate in the recruitment and selection process. If you require reasonable accommodation, please inform us during your selection process.

Candidates will be required to provide documented medical evidence to support their request for accommodation.

Building Integrity is a key element of NATO’s core tasks. As an employer, NATO values commitment to the principles of integrity, transparency and accountability in accordance with international norms and practices established for the defence and related security sector. Selected candidates are expected to be role models of integrity, and to promote good governance through ongoing efforts in their work.

Due to the broad interest in NATO and the large number of potential candidates, telephone or e-mail enquiries cannot be dealt with.

Applicants who are not successful in this competition may be offered an appointment to another post of a similar nature, albeit at the same or a lower grade, provided they meet the necessary requirements.

The nature of this position may require the staff member at times to be called upon to travel for work and/or to work outside normal office hours.

The organization offers several work-life policies including Teleworking and Flexible Working arrangements (Flexitime) subject to business requirements.

Please note that the International Staff at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium is a non-smoking environment.

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