Requirement: NCDF Expert and Test Tool Designer/Implementer
Location: Offsite,The Hague, Netherlands.
Cost Not to Exceed: Base: 56,295 EUR
Period of Performance: 1 August 2026 to 31 December 2026
Required Security Clearance: NATO SECRET
Please do NOT apply for any NATO contract positions unless you meet ALL the following criteria:
- Current National or NATO SECRET clearance
- Nationality of one of the NATO member countries
- Current work visa for the specific location if applying for an in-country position
Overall Scope:
The NATO Information and Communication Agency (NCI Agency) is engaged in the development , implementation, and testing of NATO standards that form part of the Command and Control (C2) information exchange specifications for NATO. NCI Agency is also engaged in the support to standardization bodies to provide the technical expertise.
In support of these activities, the Command-and-Control Centre requires the provision of one or more resources experienced in NCDF (STANAG 5659 and STANAG 5653) and NIRIS TITO framework with strong experience in standard definition and SW implementation and test (hereafter referred to as the "Contractor") to deliver defined technical outputs and associated documentation in accordance with the agreed scope, quality standards, and timelines.
Specifically, the Contractor shall be integrated within the project teams responsible for the design, documentation, development , and testing of NATO Core Data Framework (NCDF) and CESMO and their associated software implementations.
Under the overall supervision of the Project Managers (PMs) and the technical direction of the Project's Technical Leaders, the Contractor shall contribute to the development , refinement, and maintenance of the designated NATO standards and associated tools. The Contractor shall also support the planning, preparation, execution, and assessment of validation and interoperability events.
The Contractor's responsibilities shall include, but not be limited to:
- Implement the standards within NATO Tools.
- Editing, reviewing, and contributing to relevant sections of selected NATO standards (e.g. NCDF and CESMO) related information definition and exchange and verification and validation.
- Participating in technical and coordination meetings as required by the PM and Technical Leader.
- Maintaining and updating the development backlog, including progress reporting, comments, risk identification, and issue tracking.
- Producing agreed technical deliverables in accordance with defined acceptance criteria, quality standards, and timelines.
- Ensuring structured knowledge transfer to NCIA personnel and designated stakeholders throughout the contract execution, including preparation of technical documentation, architectural explanations, code walkthroughs, and operational guidance.
- Supporting formal knowledge handover sessions prior to contract completion to ensure continuity, maintainability, and long-term sustainability of the delivered solutions.
- All source code, scripts, configuration items, and documentation produced under this contract shall be stored and maintained under configuration management within the NATO Software Factory environment.
- Coordination and development activities shall be performed remotely through secure access to NCIA systems using an unclassified computer.
Requirements
Security clearance
- Staff employed by the Contractor on this contract require a valid NATO SECRET security clearance.
The following expertise and knowledge is considered essential for this contract:
Required:
- Proven experience in the redaction of NATO standards.
- Proven experience in the test of the ADatP-36 and the STANAG 5659 standards.
- Proven knowledge of, and practical experience in, the operational or technical use of NCDF microservices supported by NCI Agency.
- Proven knowledge of, and practical experience in, modern test engineering and test management methods and paradigms.
- Proven up-to-date knowledge of computer system architectures, systems security, client/server, LAN/WAN and network concepts, test techniques, Database Management Systems (DBMS) and data management concepts.
- Proven recent experience in planning and execution of validation activities within large-scale C2 exercises.
- 2 years of programming experience in one or more of JAVA, JavaScript, Angular, Python , C#.
- Recent experience with XML and JSON technologies.
- Recent experience with the Robot Framework test engine.
- Staff provided by the Contractor must have the nationality of one of the NATO nations.
- Staff provided by the Contractor must have an excellent command of spoken and written English.
