Staff Assistant (Field Studies)

The NATO Defense College (NDC) provides senior-level education, on transatlantic security issues, enabled by research on matters relevant to the Alliance, and supported by engagement with several stakeholders. 

The Course Support Branch (CSB) is responsible for the general logistic and administrative support of all NDC courses. It provides administration support to all Course Members (CM) and Anciens association and managing funds and resources allocated to dedicated parts of the courses. In relation to the Field studies activity the branch is also responsible to liaise with the appropriate authorities to support the visa processes of the NDC’s students, spouses participating to Field Studies (FS).

The Field Studies Section is specifically dedicated to the organization and management of the Field Studies.

 Principal Duties – The incumbent is responsible for:

·    Supporting the planning and preparation of FS (i.e. 6 SCs FSs, 2 NRCC, 1 GFOAC FSs) as directed and the Field Study Planning Conference.

·    Proposing and supervising travel itineraries, transport, hotel accommodation and programmes for all planned courses and participate in staff meetings as required.

·     Managing the hotels negotiations and booking process in coordination with the hotel broker as well as inputs by nations on the hotels’ selection.

·     Managing all transport related issues in cooperation with Budget & Finance Branch. When necessary, the incumbent should manage the call for bids for charter flights and liaise with travel agency for commercial flights and fast trains.

·    Appropriately informing and preparing the NDC staff participating to the FS to ensure the support needed before departure (mainly finance and logistic, CIS and Graphics and Reproduction support).

·    Ensuring proper dissemination of FS information to Course Members (CM) and all participants through IT programmes provided by the NDC.

·     Accompanying the FS and supporting the Head of Delegation as required.

·    Supporting and advising the Field Studies Officer in the workload management and assure an effective coordination with the other members of the office.

Essential Qualifications

a.       Professional/Experience.

·       At least 5 years of experience in similar position.

·       Supervisory experience in providing customer service.

·     Solid experience in planning, organizing and managing big sized groups travels and complex and high-level events including the   budget information collecting and bid procedures.

·       Experienced in dealing with complex immigration situation.

·       Knowledge of basic protocol rules.

·       Knowledge of visa regulations/requirements.

·       Standard Automated Data Processing (ADP) Knowledge.

·       Expert in the usage of word and power point, operational knowledge of Excel.

b.     Education/Training :

·       Higher secondary diploma, business administration or related discipline.

c.     Language Requirements.

·       English SLP 3333 – STANAG 6001.

·       French SLP 2221 – STANAG 6001.

·       Italian SLP 2221 – STANAG 6001.

Desirable Qualifications

a. Professional/Experience.

·       Administrative experience on staff of a NATO or other large international organization. 

b.        Education training

·       ECDL (European Computer Drive License)

c.          Language Requirements.

·       French SLP 3332 – STANAG 6001.

·       Italian SLP 3332 – STANAG 6001.

Attributes/Competencies

Personal Attributes: The Staff Assistant must have a pleasant personality and be able to receive and deal with course/staff members at all levels. S/he should have good communication skills and be able to work harmoniously with colleagues. Tact and discretion are paramount requirements in view of the nature of the position. The incumbent must also possess a high degree of initiative and sense of responsibility, ability to prioritize workload and be sufficiently flexible to respond reliably and competently to changing requirements.

Uses judgement to prioritize responsibilities, and to plan and organize own workload. Needs discretion in the handling of personal information and needs to be capable of quick and efficient continuous practical learning on the job. Flexibility in work hours and leave planning are essential to cope with periodic work peaks.

Professional Contacts: Ability to maintain professional contact with personnel at any level. It might be involved with embassies and consulates of the hosting country and/or Course Members countries in the management of their visa to attend the Field Studies. Contribution to the objectives: The incumbent contributes to the tasks and activities of the Field Studies Section.

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 will be offered a contract according to the NATO Civilian Personnel Regulations. Newly recruited staff will be offered a definite duration contract of normally 2(two) plus 3(three) years in duration and followed by an indefinite duration contract. If the successful applicant is seconded from a national administration, he/she will be offered a two-year definite duration contract which may be renewed for a further period not exceeding 5 years and/or the length of the approved secondment.

 Additional Information 

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.

Please note that only applications from nationals of NATO member countries can be accepted. Current and previous civilians working for NATO or any Coordinated Organization, shall indicate their last grade and step held (next to job title), and specify the name of employing NATO body or Coordinated Organization.

Candidates are kindly requested NOT to upload their Curriculum Vitae on the NATO Talent Acquisition Platform. Only attachments specifically asked for as part of the application process will be considered.  All applications must include an uploaded copy of the qualification/certificate covering the highest level of education required by the job description.

Click here for useful information on the application and recruitment process.

Click here for a video containing the information you need to successfully submit your application on time.

In order to follow the status of the vacancy please refer to NDC webpage: www.ndc.nato.int/about/jobs.php

For any queries, please contact the NDC Recruitment Team at personnel@ndc.nato.int

NATO is an equal opportunities employer, and does not discriminate on the grounds of gender, race or ethnic origin, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation or age, according to the NATO Civilian Personnel Regulations.

The candidature of NATO redundant staff at grade G10 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.

This vacancy will close on 16 May 2025, at 11:59:00 PM (CET).