Deadline Date: Wednesday 5 February 2025
Requirement: Support to NATO HQ IT Projects
Location: Brussels, BE
Full Time On-Site: Yes
Period of Performance: 2025 BASE: As of 31 March 2025 – 31st December 2025 with possibility to exercise the following options:
2026 Option: 1st January 2026 until 31st December 2026
2027 Option: 1st January 2027 until 31st December 2027
Required Security Clearance: NATO SECRET
1 INTRODUCTION
This is a position within the NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCIA), an organization of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
NCIA CSU Brussels – Coherence Branch
Within the Agency CIS Support Unit (CSU) Brussels provides consistent, reliable and cost-effective ICT service delivery to all NATO customers located in the NATO compound in Brussels, including understanding and managing the interface with the Secretary General and Deputy Director General International Military Staff (DG IMS), through his/her delegated representatives ICTM/EXCO IMS, who act in the role of Intelligent Customer.
The Coherence (COH) Branch supports the Agency’s Demand Management (DM) organization, and is responsible for liaison with all customers in the CSU’s AoR and supports the Commander CSU in the role as NCI Agency representative and provides a single entry point for customers. The Coherence Branch contributes and/or conducts monitoring and measurement of customer satisfaction. SMB supports the management of all agreements concerning Service Provision, Operations and Exercises within the CSU AoR. The Coherence Branch supports Service Lines in the implementation and improvement of service management processes.
NCIA CSU Brussels – Coherence Branch – Service Transition Team
Within the Coherence Branch, the Service Transition Team is responsible for the Change Management, Configuration Management and Project Coordination and Project Management.
Under the direction of the Head of the Branch and the Service Transition Manager, the Project Manager (PM) leads the entire lifecycle on project with low/moderate complexity for projects related to CSU Brussels and NATO HQ within scope, schedule and budget. The PM is responsible for overseeing the planning, implementation and tracking of project. Depending the project, the PM leads project teams, and communicates with stakeholders and reports on project progress in various meeting.
2 OBJECTIVES
The main objectives of this statement of work can be summarized as follows:
* Manages projects with low/moderate complexity;
* Identifies, assesses and manages risks to the success of these projects;
* Works according to predictive (plan-driven) or adaptive (iterative/agile) approach;
3 SCOPE OF WORK
3.1 The following deliverables are expected from this statement of work:
1) Create and maintain project plan according the ongoing project implementation
2) Prepare the Monday’s planning meeting to display and present the activities of the week to the staff.
3) Create the Slides for the weekly Operations Meeting with feedback of all ongoing projects.
4) Create the documentation for the in processing of the material of project deliverables.
5) For each ongoing project, create and file the minutes of the periodic (weekly/fortnightly) project meetings.
3.2 Under the direction / guidance of the Head of Coherence Branch and Head of Service Transition Team will be supporting the following activities:
1) Project management:
a) Defines, documents and carries out small projects or parts of a projects, alone or with a small team, actively participating in all phases.
b) Identifies, assesses and manages risks to the success of the project.
c) Applies appropriate project management methods and tools.
d) Agrees project approach with stakeholders, and prepares realistic plans (including quality, risk and communications plans) and tracks activities against the project schedule, managing stakeholder involvement as appropriate.
e) Monitors costs, timescales and resources used, and takes action where these deviate from agreed tolerances.
f) Ensures that own projects are formally closed and, where appropriate, subsequently reviewed, and that lessons learned are recorded.
g) Identifies where changes are required, evaluates the impact, and informs/advices stakeholder about the implications and consequences;
h) Adheres to and uses the Change Management process for changes to baseline requirements;
i) Allocates tasks and project work to staff outside the team.
2) Continuous Improvement:
a) Identify areas for improvement in documentation and processes;
b) Contribute to the knowledge base for Coherence & CSU Brussels;
c) Ensure information is accurate and up-to-date.
3) Collaboration with IT Teams:
a) Work closely with other CSU Brussels IT teams and other NHQ/NCIA/Enterprise stakeholders to ensure alignments across the enterprise,
b) Collaborate on projects and initiatives,
c) Participate in P3M forums and discussions to stay aligned with general Agency directives.
3.3 The work shall be carried out in sprints whereby each sprint is independent. The content and scope of each sprint will be agreed with the project manager and technical staff during the sprint-planning meeting, in writing.
3.4 The measurement of execution for this service is sprints, with each sprint planned for a duration of 1 week.
4 DELIVERABLES AND PAYMENT MILESTONES
4.1 The following deliverables are expected from this statement of work:
1) Complete the activities/tasks agreed in each spring meeting as per sections 2 and 3 above.
2) Produce sprint completion reports (format: e-mail update), which include details of activities performed and the list of the deliverables of the week.
3) The Contractor will participate in the daily reporting and planning activities (daily stand-ups) as well as the required participation in workshops, events and conferences related to the supported services, as requested by the Service Delivery Manager.
4.2 Payment Schedule will be according to payment milestones upon completion of 4 consecutive sprints. Upon completion and validation of each sprint and at the end of the monthly milestone, following the acceptance of the sprint report.
4.3 The NCIA team reserves the possibility to exercise a number of options, based on the same scrum deliverable timeframe, at a later time, depending on the project priorities and requirements.
4.4 The payment shall be dependent upon successful acceptance of the sprint report and the Delivery Acceptance Sheet (DAS) – (Annex A) including the EBA Receipt number.
4.5 Invoices shall be accompanied with a Delivery Acceptance Sheet (Annex A) signed by the Contractor and the NCIA POC.
2025 BASE: 31 March 2025 to 31 December 2025:
Deliverable: 37 Sprints of Provision of CIS Security Services Contractor. Number of sprints is calculated considering a starting date 31 March 2025. This will be adjusted based on actual starting date.
Payment Milestones: Upon completion of each fourth sprint and at the end of the service. Completion of each milestone shall be accompanied documented in Delivery Acceptance Sheet (DAS) – (Annex B), signed for acceptance by the Purchaser’s authorized point of contact and the Contractor
2026 OPTION: 01 January 2026 to 31 December 2026:
Deliverable: Up to 46 sprints of Provision of CIS Security Services Contractor
Payment Milestones: Upon completion of each fourth sprint and at the end of the service. Completion of each milestone shall be accompanied documented in Delivery Acceptance Sheet (DAS) – (Annex B), signed for acceptance by the Purchaser’s authorized point of contact and the Contractor
2027 OPTION: 01 January 2027 to 31 December 2027:
Deliverable: Up to 46 sprints of Provision of CIS Security Services Contractor
Payment Milestones: Upon completion of each fourth sprint and at the end of the service. Completion of each milestone shall be accompanied documented in Delivery Acceptance Sheet (DAS) – (Annex B), signed for acceptance by the Purchaser’s authorized point of contact and the Contractor
5 COORDINATION AND REPORTING
5.1 The Contractor shall deliver services 100% on site at NCI Agency, Brussels Belgium.
5.2 At the NCI Agency or other NATO sites, the highest level of classification that contractor may need to access is NATO SECRET (NS). As a result of this contractor must hold a valid NATO SECRET Security Clearance.
5.3 The contractor shall report to the Head of Coherence Branch
5.4 The contractor shall participate in weekly status update meetings, activity planning and other meetings as instructed, physically in the office, or in person via electronic means using Conference Call capabilities, according to the Team Leaders instructions.
5.5 For each sprint to be considered as complete and payable, the contractor must report the outcome of his/her work during the sprint, first verbally during the retrospective meeting and then in writing, within three (3) working days after the sprint’s end date. A report in the format of a short email shall be sent to NCI Agency POC briefly mentioning the work held and the achievements during the sprint.
6 SCHEDULE
6.1 It is expected the service starts as soon as possible but no later than 31 March 2025 and ending no later than 31st December 2025.
6.2 If the 2026 option is exercised, the period of performance is 01st January 2026 to 31st December 2026
6.3 If the 2027 option is exercised, the period of performance is 01st January 2027 to 31st December 2027
6.4 The work will be conducted during normal office hours following the NCIA Brussels calendar, as well as outside office hours and on weekends, if necessary.
7 CONSTRAINTS
7.1 All the documentation provided under this statement of work will be based on NCI Agency templates or agreed with project point of contact.
7.2 All support, maintenance, documentation and required code will be stored under configuration management and/or in the provided NCI Agency tools.
7.3 All developed solutions, tools and code under this project will be property of the NCI Agency.
8 SECURITY
8.1 The performance of these services require a valid NATO SECRET security clearance.
8.2 The expected classification level of the deliverables is NATO SECRET.
8.3 The execution of the services may require the consultants to access information, as well as CIS systems, classified up to NATO SECRET
9 PRACTICAL ARRANGEMENTS
9.1 This is a deliverables-based contract.
9.2 The contractor will be required to provide the service 100% on-site at NCIA, NATO Head Quarters – Brussels - Belgium. Exceptional off-site activities to support service delivery can also be arranged with the line manager’s coordination and approval.
9.3 The contractor will provide the service on-site and there is a possibility to work 1 day per week teleworking from Belgium, providing services during NATO HQ working hours.
9.4 NCIA will provide access to relevant networks and resources as required by the project.
9.5 The work depicted in this SOW is expected to be carried by a single contractor.
9.6 Contractor will be part of the NCIA Service Delivery and CIS Security (SD&CS) team.
10 TRAVEL
10.1 There may be requirements to travel to other sites within NATO for completing these tasks.
10.2 Travel costs are out of scope and will be borne by the NCI Agency separately in accordance to the provisions of the AAS+ Framework Contract.
11 QUALIFICATIONS
[See Requirements]
Requirements
8 SECURITY
* 8.1 The performance of these services require a valid NATO SECRET security clearance.
11 QUALIFICATIONS
The consultancy support for this service requires following qualifications:
1) Essential qualifications
* University Degree and 3 years function related experience or Higher Secondary Education and completed advanced vocational training leading to a professional qualification or professional accreditation with 4 years post related experience.
* Experience and knowledge in cyber security testing, security audits and cyber security compliance frameworks.
* Experience in vulnerability management, vulnerability assessments tools, cyber security hygiene and cyber security compliance frameworks.
* General experience in all lifecycle aspects of Communication Information Systems (CIS) aimed at achieving effective system development and deployment. Sound technical knowledge on wide area networks and local area networks.
* Ability to manage, coordinate and supervise as leadership skills in team leadership and building.
* Experience in the development and use of Information Technologies (e.g. servers, switches, web technologies, encryption equipment, etc.). This must include the range of activities involved in planning, organizing, coordinating, and assessing the CIS related activities to accomplish assigned functions and tasks.
* Detailed knowledge of CIS architectural design as applied to computer systems.
* Experience in developing technical policy level documents; in CIS and in services management.
* Experience in implementing CIS security criteria and associated applications, assessing the effectiveness of security software, resolving problems.
2) Desirable qualifications:
* Previous work experience in international organizations, such as NATO, or specialized Defence Industry,
* Knowledge of NATO CIS Security Policy, Directive and Guidance,
* ITIL Certification,
* Project Management certification.