SUMMARY:

The Executive Management (EM) Division, International Staff (IS), has the lead role in the overall management of the NATO Headquarters (HQ). The EM Division covers the following directorates: HQ Support and Transformation (EM-HQST), Human Resources (EM-HR), and Information Communication, and Technology Management (EM-ICTM). The ICTM Directorate provides support in the areas of Information, Communications and Technology Management, and archives information and knowledge management to the North Atlantic Council (NAC), its Committees and to the IS. Archives and Information Management (AIM) is the principle information and records management service at NATO Headquarters.

AIM ensures the accessibility, availability and integrity of all official information produced by the NAC, its Committees and the IS. AIM supports the IS Information and Knowledge Management (IKM) Strategy through its role in the IKM governance structure and by providing a coherent and effective IKM framework consisting of tools, procedures and best practices in order to ensure the efficient flow of information and knowledge to enable IS decision making and tasking.

Within EM-ICTM-AIM, the NATO Archives is responsible for the identification of information with permanent value, the overall management of the NATO Archival holdings and the implementation of the Public Disclosure Policy. As such, the NATO Archives provide guidance on records and archives management matters NATO-wide; collects NATO information of permanent value throughout NATO civil and military bodies, operations and missions; organises and preserves this information regardless of its format; and provides access to publicly disclosed NATO information.The NATO Archives are led by the NATO Archivist and acts under the authority of the Archives Committee.

The Assistant, Archives is assigned to the NATO Archives and reports to the Digital Preservation Officer. They provide archival and records management support to collections derived from NATO’s operations, missions and activities. They will assist the Digital Preservation Officer in the functional support of the NATO wide application for long-term preservation of digital records, Preservica. They will work to upload and ingest large volumes of digitized and born-digital operational records into Preservica; user administration; data and file migration management.

The Assistant is expected to work closely with the Retention and Disposition Officer, the Acquisitions and Holdings management Unit, and with Command Archivists in the NATO Command Structure. In the execution of their function, the incumbent may need to travel to other NATO bodies to ensure requirements for operational and digital recordkeeping are fulfilled correctly.

They will also provide logistic, technical and presentational support to the meetings and workshops of the Archives Committee, and other events organized by the NATO Archives. As directed, the Assistant ensures that support is provided in an effective manner, responsive to customer needs and in line with the NATO records, archives and Information Management (IM) policy and procedures. This includes ensuring reference for customers, answering questions on work procedures and accepting retention and disposition paperwork from across the NATO Organization. The incumbent is responsible for the correct and uniform application of relevant working procedures and of information security regulations.

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE:

Essential

The incumbent must:

• Have a good general education, at least to higher secondary level;


• Possess at least 4 years of relevant work experience;


• Have knowledge and experience of international best practices and standards in the field of archives and records management, and have experience in the life-cycle management of records;


• Have knowledge of digital preservation software applications;


• Have experience in project management;


• Have knowledge of modern communication and office technologies and systems including security aspects;


• Have technical aptitudes and demonstrate proactivity in keeping abreast of new technologies and standards in digital preservation;


• Possess the following minimum levels of NATO’s official languages (English/French): V (“Advanced”) in one; II (“Elementary”) in the other;

Desirable

The following would be considered an advantage:

• Experience with digital preservation software packages (ex. Preservica, Archivematica, Adlib);


• Experience with archiving of military, operational or security based collections;


• Have experience in providing support or coaching senior officials in preserving operational archives;


• Experience working in an ICT environment with high security requirements such as classified military or government systems or within a financial institution;


• Experience working in an international organization;


• Experience in providing onsite and online training in digital preservation;


• Possess the following minimum levels of NATO’s official languages (English/French): V (“Advanced”) in one; II (“Elementary”) in the other.

Desirable

The following would be considered an advantage:

• Experience with digital preservation software packages (ex. Preservica, Archivematica, Adlib);


• Experience with archiving of military, operational or security based collections;


• Have experience in providing support or coaching senior officials in preserving operational archives;


• Experience working in an ICT environment with high security requirements such as classified military or government systems or within a financial institution;


• Experience working in an international organization;


• Experience in providing onsite and online training in digital preservation.

MAIN ACCOUNTABILITIES:

Information Management

Collect semi-current and inactive records from various originators, particularly as they relate to NATO’s operations, missions and activities. Organise and register new acquisitions and holdings and write preliminary descriptions for them in accordance with applicable procedures and guidance. Maintain the semi-active and inactive records of NATO until their final disposition. Identify and appraise records possessing long-term value while facilitating the destruction of information of temporary value. Ensure the completeness and long-term reliability of documents held by the NATO Archives in all formats.

Planning and Execution

Understand and interpret governing policies and procedures and relate them correctly to the execution of tasks. Contribute to the storage and preservation of semi-active and inactive records in all formats (paper, audiovisual, microfilm and digital).

Stakeholder Management

Respond to NATO-wide requests for information and provide quality service. Have the ability to identify and describe clients' needs and to comment on possible solutions. Have the personality to work with diverse staff and with users of different levels of experience and expertise. Help prepare NATO Archives’ responses to release, declassification and public disclosure requests related to operational records.

Knowledge Management

Upload and ingest large volumes of digitized and born-digital content. Research and write descriptions of archival holdings in accordance with international archival standards. Prepare inventories, finding aids and other reference tools in paper and electronic forms. Facilitate access to semi-active and inactive records by internal users. Conduct research, and write draft reports and summaries.

Project Management

Provide support to digital preservation projects by designing, planning and implementing in a structured, consistent and timely manner. Oversee operational recordkeeping projects across the NATO enterprise, ensuring that proper processes and procedures are being followed by the originators and successor bodies. Oversee the final disposition of operational records.

Expertise Development

Implement work procedures and guidelines related to the NATO Information Management Policy (NIMP), the NATO Records Policy, the Policy on Retention and Disposition of NATO Information, the Directive on the Management of Records Generated on Operational Deployments, and to NATO Security Policy. Remain up to date on any new developments within the digital media preservation and access domains, adapting to evolving technical as well as managerial methodology as necessary.

Organisational Efficiencies

Provide quality service and suggest improved means of service delivery. Perform any other related duty as assigned.

INTERRELATIONSHIPS:

The incumbent reports to the Digital Preservation Officer and are in close collaboration with the Head of the Acquisition and Holdings Management Unit. They will have frequent contact with staff across the NATO Enterprise to deliver routine information and records management support and provide advice on related practical and procedural aspects; in this context they also work closely with internal and external stakeholders.

COMPETENCIES:

The incumbent must demonstrate:

• Clarity and Accuracy: Checks own work;


• Customer Service Orientation: Takes personal responsibility for correcting problems;


• Empathy: Listens actively;


• Flexibility: Acts with flexibility;


• Initiative: Is decisive in a time-sensitive situation;


• Organizational Awareness: Understands the Organization’s structure;


• Teamwork: Expresses positive attitudes and expectations of team or team members.

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.

Contract clause applicable

This post is required for a limited period to support the Archives Project. As employment in this post is of limited duration, the successful applicant will be offered a definite duration contract of three years’ duration, which may be renewed for a period of up to three years if required to support this project.

If the successful applicant is seconded from the national administration of one of NATO’s member States, a 3 years definite duration contract will be offered, which may be renewed for a period of up to 3 years if required to support this project, and subject also to the agreement of the national authority concerned.

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

Note: Irrespective of previous qualifications and experience, candidates for twin-graded posts will be appointed at the lower grade. Advancement to the higher grade is not automatic, and will not normally take place during the first three years of service in the post. Under specific circumstances, serving staff members may be appointed directly to the higher grade, and a period of three years might be reduced by up to twenty four months for external candidates. These circumstances are described in the IS directive on twin-graded posts.

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: www.nato.int/recruitment.

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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 generative artificial-intelligence (AI) tools, including and without limitation to chatbots, such as Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer (Chat GPT), or other language generating 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 generative or creative AI applications may be rejected without further consideration at NATO’s sole discretion, and NATO reserves the right to take further steps in such cases as appropriate.

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.

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 nonsmoking environment.

For information about the NATO Single Salary Scale (Grading, Allowances, etc.) please visit our website. Detailed data is available under the Salary and Benefits tab.