Who we are:

For 75 years, NATO’s mission has been to preserve peace and security in the Alliance for nearly one billion citizens. The NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCIA) and its predecessors have worked tirelessly in providing the means that enable the connectedness and togetherness that keep our Alliance strong. We are the NCIA, a team of 3000 civilian and military staff in 29 locations throughout Europe, North America and Asia.

Our technology and cyber experts allow NATO to conduct critical operations, protect NATO’s airspace, make data-driven decisions, defend against cyber-attacks, secure NATO networks and maintain superiority in space. This is all possible because of our greatest force, our people. In order to keep this edge we aim to hire, train and retain the very best staff.

The role:

The Chief Quality Officer (CQO) serves as the NCIA’s authority on Quality Assurance and Quality Control. The CQO is integral to both internal operations as a member of the Executive Committee and external collaborations with strategic partners, including Strategic Commands and governance bodies. The role ensures performance and alignment across a variety of domains including (but not limited to) policy development and implementation, testing and validation, assurance and acceptance, and audit and internal control. The CQO is pivotal to the NCIA’s success in achieving its strategic objectives by ensuring quality and risk management are embedded throughout its operations.

The Chief Quality Officer reports to the NCIA General Manager and leads a geographically dispersed team located in The Hague (NL), Brussels (BE) and Mons (BE).

The Chief Quality Officer will be responsible for delivering the following capabilities:

• Subject Matter Expertise: Develop and oversee policies, directives, processes, procedures, and tools for agency-wide adherence. Lead the NCIA Quality approach, acting as the governing authority on the Quality Management and Risk Management System. Foster a culture of quality and establish management support and quality principles across the organization. Govern testing, verification, and validation activities performed by NCIA, including independent verification and validation of industry deliverables. Oversee independent interoperability assurance in line with the Agency's smart sourcing strategy, which increasingly relies on service-based contracts. Provide assurance for processes, products, interoperability, and user acceptance of NCIA-delivered products and services. Contribute to interoperability assurance activities as per assigned roles and responsibilities within NATO Enterprise, the Alliance, and any Coalition involving NATO.

• Leadership: Support the General Manager and the Chief of Staff with the implementation of the NCIA Strategic Plan and the advancement of the Agency’s strategic outcomes and deliverables. Provide high-level leadership and strategic direction to ensure the efficient and high quality delivery of learning development projects and services. Lead by example, providing the management team and staff with clear and actionable direction. Build, maintain and strengthen relations with internal and external stakeholders to mobilise resources and commitments in support of relevant NCIA strategic priorities.

• Management and Coordination: Lead, motivate and contribute to the professional development and performance management of staff. Ensure delivery of high-quality work within set deadlines, efficient working methods and a constructive working atmosphere. Build and lead a cohesive, multicultural and multidisciplinary team, promoting excellence, the highest professional standards and be responsible for contributing to create a work environment where managers support staff in developing their full potential.

For a full list of duties, please review the job description on the NCIA career site.

Who you are:

The successful candidate will possess the following qualifications and expertise:

• A Master’s degree at a nationally recognized/certified university in a related discipline and 15 years post-related experience. Or a Bachelor’s degree with 20 years post related experience;
• Significant experience in a senior leadership position, involving leading and managing business operations;
• Experience in large-scale organisational change management, innovation and transformation processes;
• Proven experience working as an integral member of an executive level management team charged with developing and implementing policies and plans, programmes and projects;
• Proven experience conducting relations at senior level and within a political decision-making environment,
• Experience in managing large, diverse and multidisciplinary teams;
• Professional certification in quality methodologies (eg. Six Sigma, CMMI, ISO Quality Manager, ISO Quality Auditor);
• Advanced knowledge of modern development practices, including Agile and DevOps and the ability to integrate quality controls into the Continuous Integration (CI)/Continuous Delivery (CD) pipeline;
• Familiarity with occupational health and safety standards.

What do we offer?

• Genuinely meaningful work as part of the most successful alliance in history
• Initial three year contract with a competitive monthly tax-free salary and household and children’s allowances
• Privileges for expatriate staff including expatriation and education allowances (where appropriate) and additional home leave
• Excellent private health insurance scheme
• Generous annual leave of 30 days plus official holidays
• Retirement Pension Plan


To learn more about our mission and goals at the NCIA, please visit our website.

The NCIA prides itself on being an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to fostering an inclusive environment of mutual respect and value uniqueness and differences in gender, gender identity, race, ethnic or cultural origin, age, religion, sexual orientation and physical or neurocognitive ability.

Additional details on the conditions of application can be found via the NCIA career site.