Deadline Date: 27 February 2025
Requirement Title: Technical Support on Spectrum Management
Location: REMOTE
Full time on-site: Yes
Not to Exceed: 208,170 EUR
Required Start Date: 31 March 2025
Required Security Clearance: NATO Secret
Purpose:
This statement of work (SoW) describes the work to be contracted for Subject Matter Expert (SME) support to develop concepts, proposals, architecture, requirements and technical studies for military spectrum management. This SoW is to be executed by a contractor or a team of contractors under NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCIA) technical guidance and oversight.
Background:
Within its mission, the NATO Digital Staff (NDS) is actively driving forward a number of specific areas in conjunction with the nations, specifically:
* Ensuring that NATO and nations have access to sufficient electromagnetic spectrum (EMS) for military usage;
* Working with NATO Commands and the nations to understand their spectrum requirements;
* Identifying opportunities, methods and tools to support more dynamic forms of spectrum management and use;
* Understanding the spectrum related threats and opportunities of emerging 5G/6G systems;
* Implementing the objectives of the Electromagnetic Spectrum Strategy (EMSS) and the transition to Electromagnetic Operations (EMO);
* Developing and supporting the Spectrum Management Information Repository – OnLine (SMIROnLine).
Scope of Work:
The work shall cover analysis, writing, reviewing, holding discussions, modifying documents after each discussion, preparing briefs, presenting results and attending meetings and conferences.
The contractor shall support the below activities with guidance from the NCIA Point of Contact or delegated staff:
* The selected contractor will be responsible to assist the NCIA PoW teams and the NDS sponsors in providing programmatic coordination and management of the different work strands, including:
* Developing the necessary supporting artefacts and dashboards; 3.1.2. Supporting the PoW project manager and the various technical leads;
* Proactively coordinate activities with other NCIA PoW teams (working
* in related topic areas and sub-programmes in the overall NDS PoW); and,
* Exercising technical leadership and management of work packages within the Spectrum work strands as necessary.
* Participate in portfolio management, programme management and associated coordination activities with a view to improve the situational awareness at portfolio and programme levels, identify links between the NDS PoW and other NATO programmes of work and initiatives, develop technical and non-technical dashboards, and liaise with non-technical staff.
* Organize and engage in scoping discussions with sponsors and project team members on PoW activities, elaborate work plans, and act as technical manager and/or senior contributor to the work to be conducted.
* Prepare, organize and lead scoping and coordination meetings with the different PoW external and internal stakeholders, and contribute to overall coherence and awareness in PoW execution.
* Provide technical briefings and presentations on the progress of the various work activities, making sure that work plans are followed and meet internal and external milestones.
* Elaborate high-quality technical reports and briefs to be circulated as NATO technical documents and inputs to NATO committees and other forums. 3.7. Perform other duties as required, including deputizing for the senior NCIA project team members as required.
Coordination and Reporting:
Due to the agile approach of this project, there is a need to define a set of specific arrangements between the NCI Agency and the contractor that specifically defines the deliverables to be provided for each sprint as well as their associated acceptance criteria.
Roles And Responsibilities:
* NCIA staff will provide oversight and inputs that shall be taken into account in the conduct of the work but which shall not waive the contractor’s responsibility for the deliverables.
* The work to be addressed by the selected contractor will entail technical risk, uncertainty, and intrinsic challenges, such as unclear initial scope of activities, many variables and involved stakeholders, frequent need for clarifications and for engagements, etc.
* The contractor will have a proactive and constructive approach to the work and to the project tasks, for which he/she will make use of his/her broad technical and managerial experience.
* The selected contractor will be part of various project teams, will work on project topics as required, and will proactively engage with project stakeholders such as sponsors and NCIA project teams.
* The selected contractor will work offsite with ad-hoc business travel to NATO premises in Brussels or The Hague as agreed and per required (travel and subsistence costs will be borne separately by the Purchaser).
* Any physical meeting that may be required shall be agreed between the contractor and the project manager and any additional travel and subsistence costs are to be invoiced to the Agency as extra costs to this contract.
* The Contractor staff should in principle be available during the Agency's core working hours (local time): Monday to Thursday: 0900 to 1200 and 1300 to 1600 Friday: 0900 to 1200 and 1300 to 1500, and observe Purchaser’s official holidays. Part time working (reduced working time arrangement) will be agreed on a case-by-case basis and is always subject to line management approval.
Required Qualifications:
The contractor must have demonstrated skills, knowledge and experience in the following areas:
* A senior profile matching the level of a principal engineer with a solid scientific background and with a proven track record of technical management work in the area of Spectrum Management in the context of complex programmes.
* With limited guidance, coordinate activities with the different stakeholders and organize meetings and discussions to discuss and/or present interim results; 9.3. Engaging with stakeholders, understanding their needs, problems and requests, and proposing constructive ways ahead;
* Planning, coordinating and execution of technical and scientific work for defence projects involving multiple stakeholders, including development of project management artefacts and documentation like plans, status reports, briefs, etc.;
* Collecting disparate information from multiple sources and building bodies of knowledge;
* Conducting analysis and developing concepts in the areas of Spectrum Management and Policy and Electromagnetic Operations, including applying architecture methodologies where relevant;
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* Communicating effectively in English both in writing and orally, with excellent writing and briefing skills to different types of audiences (including senior technical and non-technical stakeholders), with presentations at conferences and NATO venues and writing high-quality technical reports for NATO circulation;
* Expert knowledge of NATO’s spectrum management framework, its policy documents, stakeholders and organizational structure;
* Expert knowledge of the international spectrum management framework and the organisational structure and processes;
* Expert knowledge of the military spectrum impacts, threats and opportunities of 5G/6G systems;
* Demonstrated experience in supporting the development of military positions for World Radio Conferences;
* Demonstrated experience in developing and presenting Spectrum Management concepts, including but not limited to Dynamic Spectrum Management; 9.13. Demonstrated experience of participating in NATO / military scientific research in the field of spectrum management and/or electromagnetic operations.
Security and Non-Disclosure Agreement:
* The contracted individual (or team lead, in case of a team) must be in possession of a security clearance of NATO S*ecr*et or above. The signature of a Non-Disclosure Agreement between the contractors contributing to this task and NCIA will be required prior to execution.
* NCIA will provide one NATO R*STRICT*D REACH laptop computer to the contractor during the execution of the Contract. The contractor shall return this laptop computer back to NCIA after completion of the Contract.