Assistant Secretary General, Operations

1.  SUMMARY

The mission of the Operations Division (OPS) of the International Staff is to prepare NATO for the defence of Alliance territory, to respond to crises at home and abroad, and to strengthen the capabilities of partners. The Operations Division advances the core tasks of the Alliance (Deterrence and Defence, Crisis Prevention and Management and Cooperative Security) by providing situational awareness, advance planning, well-exercised and executed crisis response, and outcome-oriented defence and related security cooperation programmes. The Assistant Secretary General (ASG) for Operations is also the NATO Secretary General’s Special Coordinator for the fight against terrorism. The Division consists of two directorates. 

The Operations Directorate provides comprehensive advice and support to the Secretary General, the North Atlantic Council, Allies and partners to facilitate the decision-making process relating to NATO’s defence plans as well as the entire spectrum of crisis management. This advice and support cover strategic political, civil and military aspects of current and potential operations, missions, assistance and exercises.

The Defence and Security Cooperation Directorate (DSCD) facilitates political-military decision-making, programme design and programme implementation with partner nations – including Ukraine - to enhance their defence capabilities and institutions, strengthen resilience, promote integrity, transparency, accountability and good governance in the defence and related security sector. 

The ASG/OPS manages the Operations Division (approximately 140 staff members) and is supported in this task by the Deputy ASG, one director who is in charge of the Operations Directorate and one Director who is in charge of the DSCD. 

There are 6 Assistant Secretaries General, all of whom report to the NATO Secretary General through the Chief of Staff and are also accountable to the North Atlantic Council. As a member of the Secretary General’s senior leadership, each Assistant Secretary General is also expected to contribute to overall policy development and delivery, including in areas beyond their direct set of responsibilities.

 2.  QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

ESSENTIAL

 The candidate must: 

• have at least 15 years of experience working on political-military issues, preferably at a large security policy and defence-related national or multi-national organisation;
• hold a university degree (Master’s level preferred) or equivalent level of qualification in a relevant field for this position;
• have experience working in a multilateral environment or an environment with a variety of stakeholders from multi-cultural backgrounds;
• have a proven track record of experience in progressively senior leadership positions and significant professional experience in managerial positions;
• have extensive people management experience and the capacity to lead, motivate and engage diverse and multidisciplinary teams;
• have extensive experience in the integration of complex political and military issues, ideally to include the politico-military aspects of crisis management or military operations;
• have a proven track record in facilitating high-level dialogue and consensus;
• be an innovative, strategic, conceptual thinker and be able to design and use complex influencing strategies to fulfil the required objectives;
• possess the following minimum levels of NATO’s official languages (English/French): VI (“Proficiency”) in one; II (“Elementary”) in the other.

DESIRABLE

 The following would be considered an advantage: 

• a higher level of proficiency in NATO’s second official language (English/French);
• experience in leading change management projects/programmes;
• experience in theater operations;
• an advanced degree, postgraduate studies, or equivalent level, in a relevant field.  

3.  ACCOUNTABILITIES

The ASG/OPS deals directly with NATO members and partners, as well as other International Organisations, on issues relating to operations and missions. S/he works extensively with other NATO bodies, other International Staff Divisions and the International Military Staff, employing cross-cutting approaches on topics relevant to the core areas. 

The ASG/OPS is responsible for chairing several senior NATO committees, including the Operations Policy Committee, and the Council Operations and Exercise Committee. Experience of facilitating high-level dialogue and consensus is therefore essential. The incumbent will also be called upon to represent the Secretary General at high-level meetings and will speak in public fora on behalf of the Secretary General. There is a substantial representation function associated with this appointment. As a Senior Leader, the incumbent will aim to achieve the following objectives:

• Vision and Direction: Develop, communicate and implement a vision for the future development of the Division to face the challenges of the future in an ever-changing environment; champion change and federate the teams around common objectives, ensuring that vision guides their mid and long-term programme of work; act as a role model of inclusive leadership and promote integrity, resilience and innovation.

• People Management: In their role as manager of the Division, lead and oversee a large team of international staff working under the direct supervision of Directors and Heads of Sections. More specifically:

• Talent attraction: Ensure recruitment panels for posts in her/his Division are fair and objective; make selection recommendations with the best interests of the Organization in mind;

• Talent development: Adhere to sound management principles with staff, and provide in-depth mentoring, coaching and training opportunities; be available for guidance at critical moments; ensure that all divisional staff are clear on organisational and divisional objectives; provide regular and fair feedback on performance, informally as appropriate and via the performance management system;

• Performance Management: Participate in a collegial review of performance at divisional level to discuss possible development and mobility opportunities for individuals, identify high potentials and help ensure common standards are applied in the process across the Organization; make contract renewal or conversion recommendations with the best interests of the Organization in mind;

• Continual improvement culture: Actively contribute to the improvement of the Organizational policies and processes; participate in leadership learning and development Programmes, related to the successful execution of her/his duties.

4. COMPETENCIES

The candidate must demonstrate the following: 

• Achievement: Demonstrates decisiveness based on solid considerations and trade-offs.
• Change Leadership: Champions change.
• Conceptual Thinking: Creates new concepts
• Developing Others: Provides in-depth mentoring, coaching and training.
• Impact and Influence: Uses complex influence strategies.
• Initiative: Plans and acts for the long term.
• Leadership: Communicates a compelling vision.
• Organizational Awareness: Understands underlying issues.
• Self-Control: Stays composed and positive even under extreme pressure.

5.         KEY CHALLENGES

Key challenges facing the successful candidate for ASG/OPS during the next 3 years will likely include: 

• Developing policy advice on NATO’s collective defence plans, current and future NATO operations and missions, including NATO Support to Ukraine (NSATU), NATO’s maritime operations, NATO’s KFOR operation, NATO’s Mission in Iraq, and NATO’s participation in the fight against terrorism;
• Designing and implementing a large rapidly growing programme of capacity building assistance to Ukraine, in close cooperation with relevant NATO bodies and Allied stakeholders;
• Developing the Alliance’s ability to respond rapidly threats and challenges to Allies’ security and other crisis management situations that might arise in the current security environment;
• Overseeing and further developing relationships with other International Organisations on operational issues. 

Candidates are asked, as part of this application, to attach one MS Word document, summarising their views on these key (and possible other) challenges and how they would address them if selected for the position. This essay, which should be no more than 2 A4 pages long, will be evaluated as part of the longlisting assessment.

6.   CONTRACT

The successful applicant will be employed for an initial period of 3 years. Exceptionally, there may be possibility of a one-year extension thereafter.

7.  RECRUITMENT PROCESS  

Applications must be submitted using one of the following links, as applicable:

• For NATO civilian staff members only: please apply via the internal recruitment portal (for more information, please contact your local Civilian HR Manager);
• For all other applications: www.nato.int/recruitment

Selection of candidates for NATO posts is based upon the merit principle.

Candidates are requested to attach their essay to their application on Taleo, by latest 16 September 2025.

The title of the attachment must include the vacancy reference and the words “Key challenges”.

Shortlisted candidates will have to be available for the selection process, which is expected to take place in Brussels, Belgium at the end of October 2025.

COMPENSATION: candidates shortlisted will be provided with a simulation of the financial package for this post.

Appointment will be subject to receipt of a security clearance (provided by the national Authorities of the selected candidate) and approval of the candidate’s medical file by the NATO Medical Adviser.

More information about the recruitment process and conditions of employment, can be found at our website (http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/recruit-hq-e.htm)

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.

8.  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. NATO is committed to fostering an inclusive and accessible working environment, where all candidates living with disabilities can fully participate in the recruitment and selection process. If you require reasonable accommodation, please inform us during your selection process. Candidates will be required to provide documented medical evidence to support their request for accommodation. 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 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. NATO does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process. For more info please click here.