Who we are:

For more than 70 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.

Our staff members represent both the diversity and unity of our Alliance. When you join the NCIA, you will be part of an organization where you can contribute authentically to the mission and purpose of NATO and help us keep our technological edge.

About the job:

Based in The Hague, Netherlands, you will join the Agency as we embark on a journey to transform our IT services to support NATO’s Digital Endeavour. You will join The Joint Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Centre (JISRC). JISRC’s vision is to assure information superiority for NATO. Its Mission is to deliver, support and protect valued ISR capabilities, expertise and services and to maximise operational effectiveness for NATO through a wide range of coherent JISR services, supported by well-trained, highly knowledgeable and uniquely experienced staff, in four key JISR domains: Intelligence Applications, Operational ISR Support, Electronic Warfare/Surveillance Services and Geospatial/Meteorological/ Oceanographic Information Services. JISRC is responsible for the full lifecycle of its services.

We are looking for a driven and enthusiastic Principal Solution Architect (Joint Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance) who will take on the following roles and responsibilities:

• Strategic planning: develop, communicate, and review processes to embed strategic management within the organization’s operational framework;

• Enterprise and business architecture: develop enterprise-wide architecture and processes to integrate strategic change into organizational management;

• Solution architecture: lead the development of architectures for complex solutions, ensuring consistency with agreed-upon requirements;

• Emerging technology monitoring: plan and lead the assessment of emerging technologies, evaluating potential impacts, threats, and opportunities;

• Requirements definition and management: lead scoping and priority setting for complex, strategic programs;

• Stakeholder relationship management: lead the development of comprehensive stakeholder management strategies and plans.

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

About you:

The valuable knowledge and experience that you bring to this role are:

• Master’s degree at a nationally recognised/certified University in a related discipline and 5 years post-related experience. Or a Bachelor’s degree with 8 years post related experience;

• The desired training/certification requirements relevant for the role include The Open Group Architecture Framework (TOGAF), ArchiMate modelling language, model-based systems/software engineering (MBSE), or model-driven architecture approaches ITIL, and COBIT, cloud or data architecture training, or equivalent frameworks, methodologies and modelling languages;

• Extensive experience in Strategic Planning and Enterprise Architecture, utilizing frameworks like TOGAF and the NATO Architecture Framework (NAF) to ensure organizational coherence and interoperability;

• Extensive experience leading and monitoring the development of domain, segment, and solution architectures, including definition of As-Is and To-Be architectures and associated transformation roadmaps;

• Extensive experience leading the implementation of ICT- related programmes or projects, ensuring alignment with enterprise architectures, data-centric design principles, and strategic roadmaps;

• Experience with architectures supporting complex, distributed information environments, including system integration, interoperability, and secure information exchange;

• Experience applying contemporary technologies relevant to enterprise solutions, including cloud architectures, data platforms, AI-enabled capabilities, and model-driven or model-based architectural approaches;

• Demonstrated experience translating strategic objectives into implementable architectural roadmaps, balancing innovation, operational constraints, and legacy system integration;

• Experience managing strategic relationships with senior internal and external stakeholders;

• Desirable: experience contributing to architecture development for JISR, Intelligence, ISR or Command & Control (C2) systems and applications;

• Desirable: experience with ontology-based modelling, semantic data models, or knowledge representation approaches supporting interoperability and information sharing;

• Proven ability to apply analytical and systems thinking to solve complex, large-scale problems;

• Proven ability to moderate architecture-related discussions within multi-disciplinary teams;

• Proven ability to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing, supported by high-level briefing and presentation skills;

• Fluency in English, both written and spoken.

Note that internally the job title is Principal Architect.

What we offer:

• Genuinely meaningful work as part of the most successful alliance in history;

• 5 year contract with competitive 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;

• NATO Pension Scheme;

• Development programs such as professional training, wellbeing, and more.

To learn more about NCIA and our work, 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.