Head, Staff Services

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 Resources and Management (RM) Directorate acts on behalf of SACT on all internal management and resource-related issues. It monitors the coherency of ACT plans to ensure that ACT remains an effective and efficient organization and improves continuously.

The Human Resources Management Branch is responsible for maintaining ACT's Peacetime Establishments (PE) on behalf of SACT as PE Authority; providing administrative and personnel customer service to all NATO and Partner Nations; and performing human resource management and recruitment functions with respect to HQ SACT and JALLC civilian staff. The Branch is comprised of three sections: Workforce, Military Personnel and Civilian Personnel.

The  Head, Staff Services works in the Civilian Human Resources Section of the HRM Branch. This section is responsible for Civilian Human Resources Management including civilian personnel administration, , fund management and policy.

Principal Duties: 

• Supervises and manages the implementation of NATO civilian personnel policy, procedures and rules in HQ SACT, SACT SEE, STRE, JALLC, JATEC, NCIA CSU Norfolk and JFC-Norfolk in accordance with ACT, SHAPE and NCIA policies and directives, ensuring compliance of personnel actions with internal guidelines and regulations pertaining to NATO personnel practices.
• Assists in policy analysis and formulation, both internal to HQ SACT and NATO-wide through membership of the Advisory Panel of Administration. Proposes changes to Civilian Personnel Policies and Directives; interprets Civilian Policies and Directives.
• Performs periodic HR audits at subordinate commands.
• Provides advice and support to staff and supervisors regarding conditions of employment and interacts up to Branch Head level on topics related to the management of civilian personnel.
• Manages internal communications to staff on Civilian HR issues.
• Maintains day-to-day consultation with Civilian Staff Association on personnel issues.
• Researches and develops informative material for civilian staff on new, revised or pending policy, and oversees the Civilian Human Resources SharePoint portal.
• Oversees the development of briefing and training programs for managers on civilian personnel policies and administration including leave and contractual obligations.
• Co-Chair Person of the HQ SACT Diversity and Inclusion Working Group and responsible for implementing the NATO-wide Diversity and Inclusion policy within HQ SACT.
• Responsible for the HQ SACT implementation of the NATO-wide policy on the prevention, management and combating of harassment, bullying and discrimination in the workplace.
• Responsible for counselling, coaching and mediation in staff conflicts, providing guidance and support to all parties involved, planning and executing communication strategies. Ensuring the HQ has a trained “Person of Confidence” to assist as and when required.
• Administers Temporary Staff personnel.
• Oversees and administers US-based participants in the NATO Young Professional Programme.
• Serves as main POC for all HQ administrative work assigned to the Branch.
• Authorizes pay and allowances for HQ SACT, SACT SEE, STRE, JALLC, JATEC, JFC-Norfolk, STRIKEFORNATO customer funded posts and NCIA CSU Norfolk. Authorizes initial entitlements and subsequent payroll changes. Verifies monthly civilian personnel payroll and calculation of other payments.
• Makes routine HR decisions on eligibility for allowances and prepares recommendations on novel/exceptional requests requiring policy assessment.
• Prepares and coordinates the budgetary inputs relating to HQ SACT and JALLC civilian workforce resources and other personnel requirements, including the budget planning figures. Proactively performs monthly review and assessment of Chapter I related expenditure and liaises with Budget and Finance regarding the routine profiling of expenditure. Serves as Fund Manager for preparation and execution of civilian personnel budget.
• Provides the Section Head with planning assumptions of salary and allowance budgets for the medium-Term Resource Plans.
• Manages the Allianz insurance program and serves as primary point of contact for United Health Care in North America. Liaises with insurers in North America and Europe on a monthly or ad-hoc basis regarding unique policy matters related to medical coverage, disability, and invalidity benefits. Engages directly with insurers to resolve disputes.
• Corresponds at managerial level with National Security Authorities on civilian security clearances as required.
• Corresponds at managerial level with U.S. Immigration Authorities on the visa program for HQ SACT, NCIA, NSPA civilian staff and HQ SACT interns.
• May support the civilian staff selection and recruitment process, when required by the Head, Talent Acquisition

Committee Participation:

• Advisory Panel on Administration - Member/Representative
• Representing ACT as member of the JCB Working Group on Medical Insurance Matters

Essential Qualifications / Experience:

• University Degree  in human resources management, business administration, law, social sciences, or related field, information technology, public administration or related discipline  and 6 years post related experience, or Higher Secondary education and completed advanced vocational training  in that discipline leading to a professional qualification or professional accreditation with 5 years post related and 2 years function related experience
• A minimum of 6 years experience in human resource management (benefits administration, employee relations, compensation and benefits administration, HR data management, and policy implementation) in progressively responsible professional positions, preferably including experience in administration of expatriate personnel.
• Practical experience with at managerial level of human resource management information systems.
• A minimum of 6 years managerial and supervisory experience, including oversight of a medium-sized team.
• High level of written and oral communication skills demonstrated in previous positions. You will be expected to write proposals, reports, point papers for issues being submitted to ACOS/COS, to edit drafts and to produce finished written products.
• Experience in budgeting and accounting.

Language:

English - SLP 3322 - (Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing)

Desirable Qualifications / Experience:

Professional Experience

• Experience in an international organization or prior NATO experience and knowledge of NATO organization and civilian personnel policies.
• Experience in ORACLE database systems and SQL.

Attributes/Competencies:

Personal Attributes:

• High level of inter-personal and supervisory skills.
• Excellent analytical skills.
• Ability to exercise discretion, tact and sound judgement in performance of duties.
• Capable of working harmoniously in a multi-national environment

Managerial Responsibilities:

• The incumbent is responsible for the day to day management of Staff Services staff.  In addition, the incumbent is responsible for the professional oversight of 1 JALLC staff member and for providing peer group advice and mentoring to the Staff Officer (Civilian HR) at JFTC.

Professional Contacts:

• Internal: Staff members and their supervisors, Civilian Staff Association Chair, Financial Controller’s Branch, Legal Office, Workforce Section.
• External: counterparts in other NATO Headquarters and Agencies and SACT subordinate commands, U.S. Mission to NATO, U.S. State Department and Immigration Service, U.S. Civil Service Human Resource Office, National Security Authorities.
• Required to attend meetings to represent HQ SACT.
• Purpose of contacts range from exchange of information to negotiation without committing the organization

Contribution To Objectives:

• Direct contribution to the Organization’s objectives by ensuring compliance with NATO regulations, meeting organization staffing needs and ensuring effective functioning of the human resource management programs. 

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

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 G17 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 14 September 2025 @ 17:59hrs (EDT)/11:59hrs (CEST).