Assistant Secretary General, Defence Policy and Planning

작업 내용

Primary Location

Belgium-Brussels

NATO Body

NATO International Staff (NATO IS)

Schedule

Full-time

Application Deadline

06-Apr-2025, 11:59:00 PM

Grade

Unclassified

• 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 Assistant Secretary General for Defence Policy and Planning (ASG/DPP) leads the Division and is responsible for the development and delivery of NATO’s defence policy and defence capability development, the related defence planning process and for overseeing the production of net assessments, as well as a broad range of political-military policy issues, including nuclear policy, resilience, enablement, and the space domain. They are the principal adviser to the Secretary General on deterrence and defence policy.

The ASG/DPP is responsible for formulating and taking forward all aspects of NATO’s defence policy and planning agenda including:

• Coherent implementation of the Alliance’s deterrence and defence posture;
• NATO Defence Planning and capability development;
• Defence policy aspects of capabilities;
• Resilience and Enablement;
• Coordination and cooperation on defence policy and capability planning matters with the European Union;
• Net assessments.
  

The ASG/DPP manages the Defence Policy and Planning Division (approximately 90 staff members), and is supported in this task by the Deputy ASG, one Director who is in charge of the Defence Policy and Capabilities Directorate, one Director who is in charge of the Defence Planning Directorate and one Director who is in charge of the Nuclear Policy Directorate.

There are 8 Assistant Secretaries General, all of whom report to the NATO Secretary General and are also accountable to the North Atlantic Council. As a member of the Secretary General’s senior leadership, each Assistant Secretary General is also expected to contribute to overall policy development and delivery, including in areas beyond their direct set of responsibilities.

• QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE ESSENTIAL
  

The candidate must:

• have a solid background in defence matters and change management developed through at least 15 years of professional experience;
• hold a university degree (Master’s level preferred) or equivalent level of qualification in a relevant field for this position;
• have experience working in a multilateral environment or an environment with a variety of senior stakeholders from different sectors and backgrounds including for example from the armed forces, defence industry, government, and the science and technology communities;
• have a proven track record of experience in progressively senior posts, recent experience in senior-level leadership positions and significant professional experience in managerial positions;
• have extensive people management experience and the capacity to lead, motivate and engage diverse and multidisciplinary teams;
• have extensive experience in leading change and a proven track record in successfully implementing complex programmes;
• have experience facilitating high-level dialogue and consensus;
• have a proven track record of creating a high-level vision and directing organisations to develop and implement the necessary policies;
• possess the following minimum levels of NATO’s official languages (English/French): VI (“Proficiency”) in one; I (“Beginner”) in the other.
  

DESIRABLE

The following would be considered an advantage:

• a higher level of proficiency in NATO’s second official language (English/French);
• prior experience in working in security and defence issues at a high level.

• Accountabilities
  

The ASG/DPP deals directly with NATO members and partners on issues relating to defence policy, capability development and future force structures, and chairs high-level committees of nations. In particular, the ASG/DPP chairs the Defence Policy and Planning Committee. The ASG/DPP speaks in public fora and to the Press on behalf of the Secretary General. There is a substantial representation function associated with this appointment. As a Senior Leader, the incumbent will aim to achieve the following objectives:

Vision and Direction : Develop, communicate and implement a vision to face the future challenges of the Alliance. Support the team around common objectives, ensuring that vision guides its mid and long-term programme of work. Act as a role model of inclusive leadership and promote resilience, flexibility and innovation. Ensure the proper management and coherent tasking of human resources in the DPP Division.

People Management: In their role as manager of the Division, the incumbent will lead and oversee a large team of international staff working under the direct supervision of the Heads of Section, promoting integrity, professionalism and accountability through a sound and inclusive leadership culture. Specifically, the ASG will aim to achieve the following objectives:

• Talent attraction: Ensure recruitment panels for posts in their Division are fair, objective and inclusive of candidates with diverse backgrounds and that selection recommendations are within the best interests of the Organization;
• Talent development: Adhere to sound management principles with staff, and provide in depth mentoring, coaching and training opportunities; be available for guidance at critical moments; ensure that all Divisional staff are clear on Organizational and Divisional objectives; provide regular and fair feedback on performance, informally as appropriate and via the performance management system;
• Performance Management: Participate in a collegial review of performance at Divisional level to discuss possible development and mobility opportunities for individuals, identify high potentials and help ensure common standards are applied in the process across the Organization; make contract renewal or conversion recommendations with the best interests of the Organization in mind;
  

Continual improvement culture:Act as a member of the International Staff senior leadership; actively contribute to the improvement of the Organizational policies and processes; participate in leadership learning and development Programmes related to the successful execution of their duties.

4. COMPETENCIES

Candidates must demonstrate the following:

• Achievement: Demonstrates decisiveness based on solid considerations and trade-offs.
• Change Leadership: Champions change.
• Conceptual Thinking: Creates new concepts.
• Developing Others: Provides in-depth mentoring, coaching and training.
• Impact and Influence: Uses complex influence strategies.
• Initiative: Plans and acts for the long term.
• Leadership: Communicates a compelling vision.
• Organizational Awareness: Understands underlying issues.
• Self-Control: Stays composed and positive even under extreme pressure.
  

5. KEY CHALLENGES

Key challenges facing the successful candidate for ASG/DPP during the next 3 years will likely include:

• Ensuring that NATO’s Defence Planning Process adapts to the changing security environment and provides the capabilities necessary for effective deterrence and defence of all Allies;
• Continuing to adapt NATO’s deterrence and defence posture, including modernising the NATO Force Structure to meet current and future deterrence and defence needs;
• Establish, assess, review and monitor resilience objectives to guide nationally-developed resilience goals and implementation plans;
• Ensuring that NATO nuclear deterrent capabilities remain safe, secure, and effective;
• Strengthening Cooperation between NATO and the EU in the field of capability development and other relevant fields, including resilience, to ensure complementarity and coherence of respective priorities.
  

Candidates are asked, as part of this application, to attach one MS Word document, summarising their views on these key (and possible other) challenges and how they would address them if selected for the position. This essay, which should be no more than 2 A4 pages long, will be evaluated as part of the longlisting assessment.

• CONTRACT
  

The successful applicant will be employed for an initial period of 3 years. Exceptionally, there may be possibility of a one-year extension thereafter.

• RECRUITMENT PROCESS
  

Applications must be submitted using one of the following links, as applicable:

• For NATO civilian staff members only: please apply via the internal recruitment portal (for more information, please contact your local Civilian HR Manager);
• For all other applications: www.nato.int/recruitment
  

Selection of candidates for NATO posts is based upon the merit principle.

Candidates are requested to attach their essay to their application on Taleo, by latest 06 April 2025.

The title of the attachment must include the vacancy referenceand the words “Key challenges”.

Shortlisted candidates will have to be available for the selection process, which is expected to take place in the second half of May 2025, in Brussels, Belgium.

COMPENSATION : candidates shortlisted will be provided with a simulation of the financial package for this post.

Appointment will be subject to receipt of a security clearance (provided by the national Authorities of the selected candidate) and approval of the candidate’s medical file by the NATO Medical Adviser.

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)

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.

• ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
  

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. NATO is committed to fostering an inclusive and accessible working environment, where all candidates living with disabilities can fully participate in the recruitment and selection process. If you require reasonable accommodation, please inform us during your selection process. Candidates will be required to provide documented medical evidence to support their request for accommodation. Building Integrity is a key element of NATO’s core tasks. As an employer, NATO values commitment to the principles of integrity, transparency and accountability in accordance with international norms and practices established for the defence and related security sector. Selected candidates are expected to be role models of integrity, and to promote good governance through ongoing efforts in their work. Due to the broad interest in NATO and the large number of potential candidates, telephone or e-mail enquiries cannot be dealt with. Applicants who are not successful in this competition may be offered an appointment to another post of a similar nature, albeit at the same or a lower grade, provided they meet the necessary requirements. The nature of this position may require the staff member at times to be called upon to travel for work and/or to work outside normal office hours. The organization offers several work-life policies including Teleworking and Flexible Working arrangements (Flexitime) subject to business requirements. Please note that the International Staff at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium is a non-smoking environment. For information about the NATO Single Salary Scale (Grading, Allowances, etc.) please visit our website . Detailed data is available under the Salary and Benefits tab. NATO does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process. For more info please click here .