SUMMARY:

The NATO Chief Information Officer (CIO) function brings Information and Communications Technology (ICT) coherence across NATO Enterprise’s civil and military bodies. The NATO CIO is empowered to realize the Allies’ vision for the NATO Enterprise, is accountable to the Secretary General and is responsible for the development of Enterprise directives and advice on the acquisition and use of information technologies and services. The NATO CIO provides Enterprise oversight on cybersecurity issues, and, in close coordination with all relevant NATO civil and military bodies, works towards the continual improvement of the cyber hygiene and cybersecurity posture in the NATO Enterprise.

The Office of the NATO CIO (OCIO) has an integrated staff comprised of International Staff (IS) and International Military Staff (IMS) members.

The incumbent is the executive assistant for the NATO CIO / Director of the CIO Office. They are accountable for the efficient handling of a wide range of administrative and organisational support duties in order to ensure the smooth operation of the Office.

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE:

Essential

The incumbent must:

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


• Have at least 6 years of professional experience in administrative and organisational work;


• Be familiar with various software packages, in particular the Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, and SharePoint) or similar;


• Have experience in organising conferences or programme administration;


• Know of, and experience in budget administration;


• Demonstrate strong interpersonal skills, resilience, flexibility, drive for teamwork and capacity to work under pressure;


• Demonstrate clear and effective oral and written communication skills;


• Be self confident and discreet and be comfortable in dealing with a wide range of senior staff and visiting VIPs; and


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

Desirable

The following would be considered an advantage:

• Possess a higher education degree in a field relevant for this position;


• Experience working with high level officials;


• Have fluency in both NATO’s official languages;


• Experience in an Information and Communications Technology environment; and


• Have knowledge of the process and procedures at NATO Headquarters, or a national civil/ military or joint organisation.

MAIN ACCOUNTABILITIES:

Assist with the day-to-day administration of the NATO CIO’s schedule: arrange meetings and handle related details, such as necessary travel arrangements and mission coordination and administrative tasks. In coordination with the Executive Officer, organise official and social engagements attended by the NATO CIO in his/her official capacity. Organise own workload to ensure the accurate and timely execution of duties. Ensure the smooth and efficient operation of the Office, working in close coordination with other staff in the Front Office.

Information Management

Manage the schedules of the NATO CIO and her/his Deputies, proactively prioritising their time to best effect. Answer enquiries and incoming calls. Screen and organise all incoming correspondence and documents, maintaining an effective system for followup and reminder of classified and unclassified documentation. Draft memoranda and cover letters for documents. Review and format documents, including tables of figures requiring careful presentation, using the standard software packages used by NATO (Word, Excel and PowerPoint). Take minutes at meetings as necessary.

Knowledge Management

Collect, categorise, and track relevant information required for various tasks and projects. Maintain well-structured paper and electronic filing systems.

Stakeholder Management

Build relationships with key points of contact across the Enterprise and act as a reliable and effective point of entry for all matters. Maintain lists of internal and external contacts and liaise with them to ensure efficiency in the daily management of workload and processes. Serve as first point of contact for requests of various nature directed to the NATO CIO, as well as be prepared to receive and assist visitors of all levels on behalf of the NATO CIO.

Organisational Efficiencies

Provide constructive suggestions to improve office procedures. Find ways to be faster, better and more effective in managing information and using office tools.

Financial Management

Ensure that proper financial procedures are followed. Prepare the necessary financial documents, follow-up on activities to ensure that financial files are correctly processed and maintain records of all financial transactions.

Expertise Development

Proactively develop skills in areas such as planning and organising, new technology, languages, budget handling and effective communication. Liaise with other staff to leverage knowledge.

Perform any other related duty as assigned.

INTERRELATIONSHIPS:

The incumbent reports to the Director of the CIO Office / NATO CIO, and maintains close working relationships with the NATO CIO deputies, the Executive Officer, the Administrative Officer and other Assistants throughout the Office. They may be called upon to substitute for other administrative assistants of the Office when they are absent.

The incumbent also works in close cooperation with the Office of the Secretary General (SG). They will interact with senior members of national delegations and partner missions, as well as other NATO divisions and directorates, the International Military Staff, strategic commands, NATO agencies, industrial representatives and conference members, and therefore must be discreet at all times.

• Direct reports: N/a;


• Indirect reports: N/a.

COMPETENCIES:

The incumbent must demonstrate:

• Clarity and Accuracy: Monitors others' work for clarity;


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


• Empathy: Reads non-verbal cues and understands meanings;


• Flexibility: Acts with flexibility;


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


• Organisational Awareness: Understands organisational climate and culture; and


• Teamwork: Solicits inputs and encourages others

CONTRACT:

Contract to be offered to the successful applicant (if non-seconded): Definite duration contract of three years’ duration; possibility of an indefinite duration contract thereafter.

Contract clause applicable

In accordance with the NATO Civilian Personnel Regulations, the successful candidate will receive a definite duration contract of three years, which may be followed by an indefinite duration 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 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 Regulations.

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.

Before you apply to any position, we encourage you to click here and watch our video providing 6 tips to prepare you for your application and recruitment process. Do you have questions on the application process in the system and not sure how to proceed? Click here for a video containing the information you need to successfully submit your application on time.

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 Pretrained 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 totravel 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.

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.