Staff Officer (Contracting Officer), Norfolk

Post Context

ACT contributes to preserving the peace, security and territorial integrity of Alliance member states by leading, at Strategic Command level, Warfare Development required to enhance NATO’s posture, military structures, forces, capabilities and doctrines.

The Command Group provides general support, coordination, management, administrative service and specialist advice to SACT, DSACT and COS.

Chief of Staff (COS) is responsible to SACT and DSACT for the staff activity necessary to execute ACT’s mission. It is the focal point for the implementation of the Commander’s direction and guidance as well as the initiation and co-ordination of all ACT staff efforts.

The Staff Advisory Group (SAG) is comprised of different competencies grouped into several offices (Political Advisor, Legal Advisor, Gender Advisor, Financial Controller, Command Auditor, Communication Branch and Pentagon Liaison). It works under the direction and guidance of COS and provides general staff support, coordination, management, administrative service, and specialists’ advice to SACT.
As part of the Staff Advisory Group, the Office of Budget and Finance (BUDFIN) is the executive agent for ACT in all matters of budget and finance policy and execution. Responsibility includes all matters pertaining to Budget and Finance at HQ SACT, JALLC, JWC, JFTC and subordinate SACT elements (STRE and SEE).

The incumbent serves as an HQ SACT Contracting Officer.

Principal Duties:

Performs the duties of ACT Purchasing and Contracting Officer to plan, negotiate, award and administer contracts on behalf of ACT directly relating to the Command’s transformational mission in relation to military structure, forces, capabilities and doctrine for non-Research and Development requirements. Implements acquisition strategy on assigned projects, develops acquisition plans, provides oversight on all contractual matters in the competitive bidding process including issuing Notification of Intent to invite bids from member nations, establish bidders list, draft release of IFIB, evaluate Technical and Price proposals, conducts pre-negotiation discussions, provides debriefs to industry and award contracts. Acts as a Contracting Officer with a limited warrant for contracted services for Headquarters SACT mission support. The incumbent will bear the full authority and responsibilities and discharges his/her duties to enter into contracts and liability on behalf of ACT IAW warrant assigned. Performs contract administration tasks including monitoring past performance, issuing contract amendments, stop work orders, settling claims and contract termination. Coordinates, negotiates and administers contracts for authorized NSIP programmes. Performs all administrative and contractual updates in CIRIS reporting system. Performs duties with comprehensive knowledge of NATO Financial Regulations, NATO Procurement Policy and the ACT Financial Manual. Performs all necessary actions for effective contracting ensuring compliance with the terms of the contracts and safeguarding the interest of the Nations in contractual relationships. Applies knowledge of the uniform commercial code, knowledge of business and industry practices, agile procurement processes, sources of supply, cost factors, cost and price analysis, and price analysis techniques. Ability to work independently and directly with senior international military staff.

Essential Qualifications / Experience:

University Degree  and 2 years function related experience in accounting, business finance, law, contracts, economics, business management or similar field or equivalent, or Higher Secondary education and completed advanced vocational training  leading to a professional qualification or professional accreditation with 4 years post related experience. Acquisition University Contracting certification, degree may be substituted by equivalent education or experience. Five years’ experience as a governmental or international organization contracting specialist with job titles such as contract specialist, contract administrator, cost and/or price analyst, contracting officer or procurement analyst. Demonstrated ability to formulate, negotiate and administer contracts from simple supply purchase orders to foreign military sales contracts, and various forms of agreements using innovative and agile procurement methodologies. Experienced in the interpretation of laws, executive orders and directives and the formulation of policies and implementation rules and procedures on matters of procurement and acquisition. Specialized training in management of contracts, economic, statistical and/or financial analysis. Comprehensive understanding of competitive, sole source and agile procurement procedures and industry best practices. International contracting experience working with contracts in foreign currencies, various intellectual property rights clauses, a variety of cost estimating techniques. Effective communication skills both oral and written.

Language:

English – SLP 3333 - (Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing)

Desirable Qualifications / Experience:

Experience with NATO procurement policies. Experience with Agile procurement methodologies and practices. Project Management experience. Experience with NATO Security Investment Program (NSIP) funding, procurement, and reporting requirements. Experience with CIRIS. Experience with Oracle Financial Software.

Attributes/Competencies:

Personal Attributes:

Personal integrity & sense of responsibility. Professionalism and ability to structure, organize and prioritize work. Ability to take initiative and to work independently. Ability to focus and deliver outputs. Ability to work on short notice taskings and deal with multiple tasks simultaneously. Ability to work and coordinate in the diverse international environment – horizontally and vertically.

Professional Contacts:

The post holder must be able to liaise effectively, both internally and externally, with military and civilian personnel at all levels. The incumbent must develop and maintain professional contacts, often at a higher level, both within HQ SACT but also across subordinate HQs, HQ NATO, ACO, as well as external suppliers. Excellent interpersonal skills are required.

Contribution To Objectives:

The ability to accomplish the Commands’ goals, objectives and priorities rests with the ability of the Purchasing and Contracting Section to execute its mission in the most efficient manner possible. The Purchasing and Contracting’s actions must be in the highest regard for safeguarding the Nation’s financial interests, ensuring the best value for their resources, and accomplishing the mission of the Strategic Command.

Security Clearance

The successful applicant will be required to apply for and receive a NATO SECRET Security Clearance prior to final confirmation of contract and commencement of employment.

Contract

This position is linked to a specific NATO project and is for a limited duration of 3 (three) years only.
Serving NATO International Civilian staff will be offered a contract in accordance with the NATO Civilian Personnel Regulations.  Newly recruited staff will be offered a three year definite duration contract.

Notes for Candidates

The HQ SACT web site gives full details on the eligibility criteria and application processes to be adopted by all candidates.  However, candidates should particularly note:

Please answer each of the pre-screening questions completely in English. Expressions such as: “please see attached CV, please see annex, please see enclosed document, etc” are not acceptable; this is a cause of immediate rejection of the application.

Particular attention should be given to Education and Experience section of your application form, which should be populated with details of your career to date and educational achievements and certifications as they relate to your application.

The candidature of NATO redundant staff at grade G15 will be considered with priority.

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.

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

This vacancy will close on 27 July 2026 @ 17:59hrs (EDT)/11:59hrs (CEST).