Staff Assistant (Procurement)

Post Context

The mission of the JATEC as one of the strategic pillars of the NATO - Ukraine evolving jointness is to provide for the NATO - Ukraine interoperability, to contribute to the development of NATO and Ukraine’s transformation in defence, deterrence, crisis prevention, crisis management and cooperative security, and helping Ukraine achieve membership of NATO. By fostering a Joint civilian-military and Joint NATO - Ukraine approach, the JATEC aims to strengthen the overall defence capabilities and strategic alignment of NATO and Ukraine, ensuring they are better prepared to face current and future challenges.

The Command Group provides general support, coordination, management, administrative service and specialist advice to Commander JATEC.

The Office of the Commander (O/COM) provides support to the Commander (COM) in order for the COM to carry out roles and missions assigned by the North Atlantic Council (NAC), NATO-Ukraine Council (NUC) and as directed by Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (SACT).

Staff Advisory Group (SAG) provides a functional grouping of different competencies (Legal, Engagement, Finance, Gender Advisor, and Liaison).

The Office of Budget and Finance (O/BUDFIN) is responsible for the oversight and delivery of JATEC financial planning, programming, budgeting and evaluation, as well as for implementing ACT Purchasing and Contracting (P&C) policy in the JATEC to support P&C services delivery.

The Staff Assistant (Procurement) is responsible for all procurement and contracting activities under the JATEC’s remit and for the correct application of rules and regulations governing tax exemption and customs clearance.

Principal Duties:

• Acts as the JATEC Procurement and Contracting Officer with a limited warrant, entering into contractual obligations on behalf of JATEC, within the scope of authority received;
• Conducts market surveys, establishes evaluation criteria for vendor selection and contract awarding;
• Reviews, edits and approves the wording of requirements and technical specifications to be used in all solicitations, market surveys, Statement of Works (SOW), and Requests for Deviation from standard procurement procedures;
• Evaluates bids and proposals under the level of authority delegated, executes award decisions, and enters into contractual obligations on behalf of JATEC, within the scope of the authority received;
• Collects and analyses inputs provided by various JATEC Stakeholders to assist the Head (Budget and Finance) in preparing the in-year Commitment Plan, the annual Budget submission and other commitment related reports as directed;
• Assists the Head (Budget and Finance) in the preparation of internal procedures, instructions and notes on financial matters related to Procurement and Contracting and ensures that Standing Operating Procedures (SOP) are updated as appropriate;
• Serves as Secretary of the JATEC Contracts Award Committee (CAC);
• Screens requests for deviation from normal method of procurement and seeks approval as required from the Head (Budget and Finance);
• Provides contracting support to all official events, to include conferences, seminars, trainings and other events either hosted by the JATEC or for which the JATEC is the supporting entity;
• Monitors contracts performance in terms quality, quantity, price and delivery, and recommends to the Head (Budget and Finance) appropriate actions to protect the interests of the JATEC and NATO;
• Manages and executes the purchasing process in the Centralized NATO Automated Financial System, and adds new suppliers in the system while keeping the database of existing vendors up to date;
• Assists the Head (Budget and Finance) in monitoring the budget execution and funds availability, providing regular reports as directed;
• Ensures that NATO Financial Regulations (NFRs) and Host Nation legal requirements and applicable procedures are observed in all aspects of JATEC’s procurement activities, in particular as regards application of tax exemption and customs clearance, and validates customs forms for Headquarters’ purchases and all attached activities;
• Liaises with the Polish Authorities in what concerns taxation matters in general and matters of importation of tax exempted goods for the JATEC HQ and supports the Head (Budget and Finance) in the correct application of Host Nation rules and regulations governing international privileges;
• Maintains a systematic contract filing system and ensures proper archiving of all relevant procurement and accounting files, making them promptly available to the Head (Budget and Finance) in preparation of internal and external financial audits;
• Reviews supplier invoices for compliance with requirements, seeks for requestor’s certification, performs the receiving function within FINS and recommends administrative and/or contract remedy enforcement as required.

Essential Qualifications / Experience:

• Higher Secondary education and completed higher vocational training  in supply chain management, commercial and mercantile law, logistics, inventory management, procurement, finance, accounting, business administration, economics, public administration or related discipline  leading to a formal technical or professional certification with 3 years function related experience, or Secondary education and completed advanced vocational training  in that discipline leading to a professional qualification or professional accreditation with 5 years post related experience.
• Four years’ experience in a financial position with professional responsibilities.
• Four years’ experience in a purchasing function with responsibilities for negotiating commercial contracts/prices.
• Four years’ experience in international organization financial operations.
• Two years’ experience in Oracle based automated financial systems.

Language:

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

Desirable Qualifications / Experience:

• Practical knowledge of military organization missions, functions, and operations.
• Certified education in Oracle based financial and accounting systems.

Attributes/Competencies:

Personal Attributes:

• Must possess strong interpersonal and verbal/written communication skills;
• Displays initiative in planning ahead and ability to find solutions to problems that arise in the daily conduct of responsibilities including resolution of schedule conflicts, working out details associated with travel plans, and finding solutions to problems with office equipment;
• The ability to adapt to flexible work patterns and work as part of a team;
• Ability to work effectively and harmoniously in fast-paced, multi-national environment;
• The ability to react quickly and without concern to last minute changes and to work independently;
•  Must be able to work under pressure and should have a pro-active approach to his/her duties;
• May be required to assist at functions outside of normal work hours. Travel on temporary duty will not normally be required;
• Must display excellent attention to detail;
• Must be able to liaise effectively, internally with NATO military and civilian personnel, and externally with offices of foreign governments and agencies.

Managerial Responsibilities:

• Enters into legal obligations on behalf of JATEC when placing contracts;
• Provides procurement advice to the Director, managers and the staff;
• Provides advice on procurement decisions;
• Leads supplier negotiations or other special projects as directed.

Professional Contacts:

• The JATEC Budget and Finance Team,
• ACT Head of Accounting,
• ACT Internal Auditor,
• IBAN auditor,
• Fund Managers and Authorized Requestors at JATEC (all areas).

Contribution To Objectives:

• This position deals with a wide range of JATEC staff who have identified procurement requirements. More specifically, it supports the daily work of the HQ as well as all the operations run at and / or by JATEC, which generate expenses or revenues and have influence on JATEC financial position.

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.

Contract

• This position is linked to a specific NATO project and is for a limited duration of 3 (three) years only.
• 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 HQ SACT web site gives full details on the eligibility criteria and application processes to be adopted by all candidates.  However, candidates should particularly note:

Please answer each of the pre-screening questions completely in English. Expressions such as: “please see attached CV, please see annex, please see enclosed document, etc” are not acceptable; this is a cause of immediate rejection of the application.

Particular attention should be given to Education and Experience section of your application form, which should be populated with details of your career to date and educational achievements and certifications as they relate to your application.

The candidature of NATO redundant staff at grade G12 will be considered with priority.

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.

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

This vacancy will close on 15 August 2025 @ 17:59hrs (EDT)/11:59hrs (CEST).