Officer, Resilience Policy and Planning
🔍 Belgium
1. SUMMARY
The Defence Policy and Planning (DPP) Division leads work in the NATO International Staff on the defence-related aspects of the Alliance’s fundamental security tasks at the political-military level. The Defence Policy and Capabilities Directorate in DPP addresses a wide range of issues related to the Alliance’s deterrence and defence policies and strategies, including the policy aspects of Alliance capabilities.
The Resilience Section (RS) develops, facilitates and supports the development of high-quality professional advice to NATO and national authorities at the political level. The Section contributes to the Alliance’s efforts to ensure support for national and collective resilience through civil preparedness, both of which support NATO’s core functions of deterrence and defence; crisis prevention and management; and cooperative security.
The incumbent of this post serves as the principal Staff Officer responsible for resilience policy coordination. The incumbent develops policy position papers, agendas (short-, mid- and long-term) and speaking notes concerning strategic-level civil preparedness and resilience matters. The incumbent is also responsible for the management of the four-year RC ‘planning and review cycle’ and programme of work, and for ensuring that these are in line with NATO’s political, strategic and policy guidance and requirements. In addition, the incumbent contributes to the analysis of the resilience aspects of the NATO Defence Planning Capability Survey.
As directed by the Head of Section, the incumbent develops, coordinates and ensures the inclusion of strategic-level civil preparedness and resilience input into the Division’s contribution to the Alliance’s deterrence and defence agenda, as well as in support of NATO’s Leadership engagements and vision.
The incumbent also supports the Head of Section, deputising in the implementation of selected administrative and oversight functions and representing the Head of Section in the event of their absence.
The incumbent will work in a Division which considers diversity and inclusion as essential to the way it works. At DPP, Diversity and Inclusion is considered to be as important as our programme of work and the number of staffs who support it. DPP is a workplace which values each staff member for their contributions, perspectives and potential. At DPP, staff members feel equally involved in and supported in all areas of the workplace.
2. QUALIFICATIONS
ESSENTIAL
The incumbent must:
- possess a university degree or equivalent level of qualification;
- have at least 5 years relevant experience in civil preparedness and resilience matters;
- have knowledge and understanding of NATO civil preparedness and resilience policy and guidance;
- have experience in drafting policy and in conducting studies and analyses of complex documents and reports;
- be conversant with the Alliance’s political and military consultative processes and the key defence and security policy issues on its agenda;
- possess previous experience working with multiple and diverse stakeholders;
- demonstrate good political judgement;
- possess excellent written and oral communications skills;
- possess the following minimum levels of NATO’s official languages (English/French): V (“Advanced”) in one; I (“Beginner”) in the other;
- be flexible to travel and to work outside of normal office hours, if required.
DESIRABLE
The following would be considered an advantage:
- familiarity with the NATO Defence Planning Process;
- experience working for a national administration on civil preparedness, defence and security policy or multilateral security affairs;
- familiarity with the interrelationships between NATO HQ, NATO’s Strategic Commands, national, civilian and military authorities in the capitals of member countries of the Alliance;
- familiarity with the civil preparedness and resilience mandates and roles of other International Organisations.
Information Management
Share information on the Resilience Committee’s work with NATO and Partner delegations, following set procedures and according to need.
Expertise Development
Lead and support efforts to develop and coordinate the RC’s planning and review cycle and programme of work, collaborating with colleagues within NATO and nations to ensure a coherent agenda is delivered over the short, medium and longer terms. Develop and maintain knowledge and expertise on resilience and civil preparedness, particularly through national/regional assessments. Contribute to the development of relevant policies, seminars, workshops, exercises and other activities for NATO colleagues, national civil and military civil planners and the training of civil experts. Contribute to and support the analysis of the resilience aspects of the NATO Defence Planning Capability Survey, in particular in support of the planning, drafting, and oversight of national, regional and collective civil preparedness analyses and assessments, including through effective consultations with other NATO and national, civil and military stakeholders.
Knowledge Management
Evaluate the accuracy and proper dissemination of RC products. Ensure the widest distribution of relevant RC work to the NATO Military Authorities and nations. Develop, plan and execute the RC programme of work, as well as the planning and review cycle. Ensure the timely completion of RC documents meeting necessary timelines to result in follow-on actions.
Stakeholder Management
Offer support to Allies, coordinate meetings and share resulting information with various planning groups addressing the RC programme of work. Provide direct interface with the NATO Military Authorities on RC meetings and activities. Plan and arrange the meetings of the RC in both permanent and plenary formats. Together with the Chairs, propose to the Committee short, medium and long-term goals. Support and coordinate with relevant DPP stakeholders on resilience and civil preparedness aspects of the NATO Defence Planning Process. Support activities with selected partners in the field of resilience and civil preparedness.
Representation of the Organization
Represent NATO in various settings, including giving presentations at conferences, workshops and seminars; supporting dialogue with national civil and military officials; and interacting with members of International Organisations or civil society actors.
Project Management
Design, plan and implement the RC programme of work. Support the annual meeting of Senior National Officials for resilience as well as resilience Policy Directors. Engage nations in order to build support for policy initiatives. Contribute to the relevant steps of the NATO Defence Planning Process. Continuously monitor and analyse working methods and the resulting products to ensure they meet customer expectations. Advocate and implement change as necessary.
Policy Development
Provide active support to the development and recommendation processes for the RC programme of work based on Ministerial and Council guidance. Review policy and RC arrangements on a regular basis. Draft, review and submit policy documents on issues related to the operation of the RC and with regard to the civil input to relevant NATO exercises. Participate in round-the-clock management of the RC Crisis Management Element during exercises and periods of tension or crisis.
Perform any other related duty as assigned.
4. INTERRELATIONSHIPS
The incumbent reports to the Head, DPP Resilience Section and through them, to the Director for the Defence Policy and Capabilities Directorate. The incumbent coordinates with other divisions of the International Staff, the International Military Staff, the NATO Situation Centre, the NATO Military Authorities and NATO and national delegations to cooperate and coordinate on resilience matters. The incumbent also establishes appropriate coordination with other non-NATO entities when so directed.
5. COMPETENCIES
- Analytical Thinking: Makes complex plans or analyses;
- Clarity and Accuracy: Checks own work;
- Conceptual Thinking: Applies learned concepts;
- Customer Service Orientation: Takes personal responsibility for correcting problems;
- Impact and Influence: Takes multiple actions to persuade;
- Initiative: Is decisive in a time-sensitive situation;
- Organisational Awareness: Understands organisational climate and culture;
- Teamwork: Solicits inputs and encourages others.
7. 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 (http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/recruit-hq-e.htm)
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.