Staff Assistant (System and Data Administration) - TSC FEQX 0140

Are you experienced in System and Data administration? If so, this position offers you a unique opportunity to support the NATO Alliance at its Warfare Development Command.

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 Capability Development Directorate (CAPDEV) comprises two Divisions—Requirements and Capabilities. The Directorate supports SACT in his Capabilities Requirement Authority (CRA) role.  It is responsible for a holistic through lifecycle Capability Development approach that infuses innovation and transformative efforts that are an integral part of the Warfare Development.  This includes responsibilities for elicitation, development, capture and collection, quality review, traceability and visibility of capability requirements.

The Requirements Division executes requirements management for NATO capabilities, developing capability requirements by use of innovation and analysis of alternatives. It provides traceability and quality assurance of capability requirements, performs gap analysis and supports interoperability and implementation options across the Doctrine, Organization, Training, Materiel, Leadership, Personnel, Facilities and Interoperability (DOTMLPFI) spectrum.

The Requirements Traceability and Quality Assurance Branch supports Requirements Managers and Capability Programme Directors in maintaining the quality and traceability of requirements throughout the capability development life cycle. The Branch maintains and administers a number of dedicated software toolsets which enable and support ACT’s requirements engineering, requirements management and broader capability development activities.

He/she is a Staff Assistant in the Requirements Traceability and Quality Assurance Branch who manages and administers the requirements management data and tools. He/she also provides training and support to Requirements Division staff and Capability Programme Directors.

Reports to: Section Head (Principal Requirements Traceability Analyst)      

Principal Duties: He/she will

a.         Support the Requirements Management Teams, provide requirements management system and application technical expertise relating to the design, implementation and maintenance of the organization’s requirements and workflow management toolsets (Currently IBM Rational Suite including DOORS Next and Atlassian JIRA).

b.         Perform all system administration activities including, but not limited to, managing user roles and permissions, monitoring, patching and upgrades.

c.         Ensure the availability, integrity, security and confidentiality of systems, applications and data.

d.         Maintain software configuration and version baselines.

e.         Develop and implement operational and preventative maintenance processes, procedures associated with system security and disaster recovery planning, and backup scheduling for database, restoration and recovery.

f.          Work closely with the Network Enterprise Service Providers regarding Resource Allocation & Contention (CPU, Memory, Storage, etc.), Data Backups, Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity.

g.         Monitor and manage concurrent licence usage, file system and database growth.

h.         Review system/application logs and action system error messages, raising incidents with service providers and vendors as required.

i.          Test application and database systems upgrades, as required tracking, logging and resolving all identified problems, prior to implementation to production environment.

j.          Provide specialist tier 1 and 2 support to resolve user incidents and service requests.

k.         Provide expert application support to business analysts (including traceability analysts, quality assurance analysts, requirements managers and programme directors) to ensure the tools continue to enable the organisation’s evolving capability development activities.

l.          Provide technical support to Analysts, Requirements Management Teams and Capability Programme Directors relating to the management of data in the requirements repository.

m.        Import, export, migrate, link, merge data, and design/implement SQL and JQL query/scripting and complex queries and automation across different toolsets.

n.         Design, implement and maintain complex visual and tabular reports based on the data contained in business toolsets, and dedicated user front-ends to facilitate data capture.

o.         Support ongoing efforts to improve NATO’s Requirements Management processes and resolving requirements management issues.

p.         Provide expert support to business analysts (including traceability analysts, quality assurance analysts and requirements managers), communicating and sharing knowledge, and being able to manage multiple responsibilities within tight deadlines.

q.         Assist with the development and delivery of user training.

r.          Be passionate about teaching and learning, support organizational process improvement and enjoy working in a highly collaborative environment.

s.         Be generally self-sufficient and able to perform with limited assistance from peers, product documentation or vendor support services.

t.          Be highly motivated, flexible, organized and detail oriented.

Essential Qualifications

a.         Higher Secondary education and completed higher vocational training leading to a formal technical or professional certification with 3 years function related experience.

b.         Five years’ experience of System Administration of workflow and requirements management tools, preferably IBM Rational Suite including DOORS Next and/or Atlassian JIRA Software, in a complex requirements management environment.

c.         Three years’ experience of designing, configuring, customizing, implementing and maintaining tool workspaces, data links, workflows, scripting and complex queries/reporting.

d.         Specific experience in:

1.         Performing system and data administration duties including the management of user roles and permissions, and ensuring the availability, integrity and confidentiality of tools, systems and data.

2.         Microsoft SQL Server or MySQL Database administration.

3.         Designing, configuring, customizing and implementing workspaces, data links, workflows, scripting and complex queries.

4.         Developing and implementing operational and preventative maintenance processes, procedures associated with system security and disaster recovery planning, and backup scheduling for database, restoration and recovery.

5.         Providing tier 1 and 2 user support to resolve incidents and service requests.

6.         Supporting the development and maintenance of requirements and architecture repositories.

7.         Designing, implementing and maintaining user front ends, and complex visual and tabular reports to facilitate data capture and organizational reporting.

8.         Maintaining concurrent configuration control over data in requirements repositories.

9.         Providing technical and system administration expertise in support of staff using applications and toolsets.

e.         Excellent analytical, problem solving and verbal and written communication skills.

Language

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

Desirable Qualifications

a.         Professional Experience

1.         IBM Certified Specialist – IBM Rational Suite experience including DOORS Next Generation (DNG), IBM Rational Team Concert (RTC), IBM Rational Quality Manager (RQM), IBM Rational System Architect, IBM Rational Publishing Engine (RPE), and IBM Rational License Key Server (RLKS).

2.         LDAP integration experience.

3.         JAZZ Administration.

4.         Strong analytical skills.

b.        Education/Training

1.         ACP-100 JIRA System Administrator.

2.         ACP-500 Atlassian System Administrator.

3.         ACP-600 JIRA Project Administrator.

Attributes/Competencies

• Managerial Responsibilities:

1. He/she might be called to manage project teams which include military and civilian staff members from different organizations as well as contracted resources. He/she may be called to oversee contracted resources.

2. There are financial implications and also significant cost savings for NATO and nations if solutions are cost-effective and efficient and if the implementation of these solutions are successful.

• Professional Contacts:

He/she should be able to liaise effectively both within and outside the HQ with military and civilian personnel. Outside contacts may include officials in NATO HQ, NATO agencies and research centres, and national government agencies and industry.

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.

Work Environment

He/she will be required to work in a normal office environment.

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 candidature of NATO redundant staff at grade NG 12 will be considered with priority.

Notes for NATO Civilian Human Resources Managers

If you have qualified redundant staff at grade NG 12, please advise the HQ SACT Civilian HR Manager no later than the closing date.

For any queries, please contact the HQ SACT Recruitment Team at civilianpersonnel@act.nato.int