NNCCRS SW Engineer - MTF Message Monitoring App for NATO...

The contractor shall be responsible for the end-to-end delivery of the Military Text Format (MTF) message monitoring application, in accordance with the defined requirements.

1. Design and Development: Design the overall system architecture aligned with the prescribed technology stack; Develop backend services for message ingestion, processing, validation, and storage; Develop frontend components for user interaction, including dashboards and detailed views; Implement message parsing and validation logic for MTF messages; Ensure extensibility of configurable elements such as message categories

2. Integration: Integrate the application with Microsoft Exchange using EWS to monitor the registry mailbox; Implement authentication and authorization via Keycloak and Active Directory;Implement and manage X.509 certificate usage where required; Ensure proper interaction between frontend, backend, and database components

3. Data Management: Design and implement the database schema; Ensure efficient storage and retrieval of message data and delivery status information; Implement user and group-based access control within the application

4. Delivery Status and Monitoring Features: Implement tracking of message delivery, read, and acknowledgement status; Develop mechanisms to calculate and display status metrics and percentages; Provide visualization components for operational awareness, including dashboards

5. Validation and Compliance: Implement validation of MTF messages against both generic and type-specific structures; Implement validation of message exchange workflows; Identify and highlight missing actions and inconsistencies

6. DevOps and Deployment: Configure and maintain Amazon Azure DevOps pipelines for build and release; Produce deployable RPM packages; Implement and maintain software deployment automation; Ensure the application can be deployed on Oracle Linux environments

7. Documentation: Produce and maintain documentation in LaTeX format, including User manual, Installation guide and Deployment plan; Ensure documentation is complete, accurate, and aligned with the delivered system

8. Testing and Quality Assurance: Perform unit, integration, and system testing; Support user acceptance testing; Ensure compliance with security and performance requirements

9. Support and Collaboration: Collaborate with stakeholders to refine requirements and priorities; Translate operational needs intopractical technical and user interface solutions; Provide technical guidance and recommendations where appropriate; Support troubleshooting and issue resolution during development and deployment

Requirements:

The contractor shall demonstrate proven expertise in the design, development, and delivery of secure, enterprise-grade web applications in a defence or similarly regulated environment.

1. Technical Skills:

The contractor shall possess strong, demonstrable experience in: Backend development using Java;

Frontend development using React;

Database design and implementation using PostgreSQL; Object-relational mapping using Java Persistence API (JPA); Integration with Microsoft Exchange using Exchange Web Services (EWS) or IMAP;

Implementation of authentication and authorization using Keycloak, including integration with Active Directory, Working with X.509 certificates, including handling, validation, and secure usage;

Deployment and configuration on Linux environments, preferably Oracle Linux (versions 9 or higher); Configuration and use of Apache as a reverse proxy; Version control using Git.

The contractor shall have experience in:

Designing scalable and maintainable system architectures; Implementing role-based access control and fine-grained authorization models; Developing applications with secure coding practices

2. DevOps and Tooling:

The contractor shall demonstrate

experience with: Amazon Azure DevOps, including repository management, pipelines, and build automation; Creation and maintenance of CI/CD pipelines;

Packaging applications in RPM format;

Software deployment automation; G

enerating technical documentation using LaTeX and automated build pipelines;

Experience working within controlled or restricted DevOps environments is highly desirable.

3. Domain Knowledge:

The contractor should have: Understandingof Military Text Format (MTF) messaging standards, or the ability to rapidly acquire such knowledge;

Experience with message parsing, validation, and structured data processing;

Familiarity with messaging workflows, delivery tracking, and audit requirements;

Previous experience working within NATO environments is highly desirable.

4. Security and Compliance: The contractor shall demonstrate:

Experience in developing applications compliant with strict security standards;

Familiarity with NATO Web Application Security Directive or equivalent security frameworks;

Ability to implement secure authentication, data protection, and audit logging mechanisms

5. User Experience and Requirements Translation: The contractor shall demonstrate a strong ability to: Translate user requirements into effective and usable web-based user interfaces; Balance user expectations with web design best practices, ensuring usability across different screen sizes and avoiding overly complex layouts, such as multiple panels or independent scroll areas

6. Methodology, Communication and Collaboration: The contractorshall: Have proven experience working in Agile SCRUM environments;

Be capable of participating in sprint planning, reviews, and retrospectives;

Be able to conduct all work, communication, and documentation in English; Demonstrate strong communication skills and ability to collaborate with stakeholders, including technical and operational users