IT Infrastructure Engineer

Spektrum supports apex purchasers (NATO, UN, EU, and National Government and Defence) and their Tier 1 supplier ecosystem with a wide range of specialist services. We provide our clients with professional services, specialised aerospace and defence sales, delivery, and operational subject matter expertise. We are looking for personnel to join our team and support key client projects.

Who we are supporting  

The NATO Communication and Information Agency (NCIA) is responsible for providing secure and effective communications and information technology (IT) services to NATO's member countries and its partners. The agency was established in 2012 and is headquartered in Brussels, Belgium.

The NCIA provides a wide range of services, including:

• Cyber Security: The NCIA provides advanced cybersecurity solutions to protect NATO's communication networks and information systems against cyber threats.
• Command and Control Systems: The NCIA develops and maintains the systems used by NATO's military commanders to plan and execute operations.
• Satellite Communications: The NCIA provides satellite communications services to enable secure and reliable communications between NATO forces.
• Electronic Warfare: The NCIA provides electronic warfare services to support NATO's mission to detect, deny, and defeat threats to its communication networks.
• Information Management: The NCIA manages NATO's information technology infrastructure, including its databases, applications, and servers.

Overall, the NCIA plays a critical role in ensuring the security and effectiveness of NATO's communication and information technology capabilities.

The program

Assistance and Advisory Service (AAS)

The NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCI Agency) is NATO’s principal C3 capability deliverer and CIS service provider. It provides, maintains and defends the NATO enterprise-wide information technology infrastructure to enable Allies to consult together under Article IV, and, when required, stand together in the face of attack under Article V.

To provide these critical services, in the modern evolving dynamic environment the NCI Agency needs to build and maintain high performance-engaged workforce. The NCI Agency workforce strategically consists of three major categorise's: NATO International Civilians (NIC)'s, Military (Mil), and Interim Workforce Consultants (IWC)'s. The IWCs are a critical part of the overall NCI Agency workforce and make up approximately 15 percent of the total workforce.

Role ID - C005492  

Role Duties and Responsibilities   

• Design, planning, implementation, integration, validation, and deployment of Core Services solutions across CIS environments. Services shall be delivered in a structured and controlled manner, ensuring alignment with project objectives, technical requirements, implementation schedules, and stakeholder expectations. 

• Development of technical designs, installation and configuration of Core Services components, system integration, execution of testing and acceptance activities, support to deployment and migration efforts, and the production of all required technical documentation.  

• Contribute to technical coordination, risk identification and mitigation, quality assurance, and project governance activities to ensure the successful delivery of CIS capabilities. 

• Work closely with project teams, architects, security stakeholders, and operational authorities to ensure that delivered solutions are fit for purpose, interoperable, secure, and capable of supporting current and future operational requirements. 

• Provide regular service reports detailing the status and progress of assigned CIS and DCIS project activities. Reports shall provide visibility of project execution, technical achievements, risks, issues, and planned activities to support effective project governance and decision-making. 

• The service reports shall include, as a minimum: 

• Progress against agreed project plans, milestones, and deliverables. 

• Status of design, integration, configuration, testing, deployment, and migration activities. 

• Achievement of key project objectives and technical deliverables. 

• Identification of project risks, issues, dependencies, and proposed mitigation actions. 

• Summary of completed activities during the reporting period. 

• Planned activities and milestones for the upcoming reporting period. 

• Status of technical documentation, design artefacts, and acceptance deliverables. 

• Quality assurance activities performed and any identified non- conformities. 

• Resource utilisation and effort expended against assigned tasks, where required. 

• Escalations, decisions, or support required from NCIA stakeholders. 

• Reports shall be delivered in accordance with NCIA reporting requirements and shall provide sufficient detail to enable effective monitoring of project performance, delivery progress, schedule adherence, and quality objectives. 

Essential Skills, Experience and Certifications  

• A minimum of 5 years of experience in the design, implementation, integration, and deployment of enterprise IT infrastructure and Core Services solutions. 

• Demonstrated experience in the delivery of infrastructure and CIS projects, including planning, design, deployment, migration, testing, and transition activities. 

• Experience working within large-scale, multi-domain, or government/military environments is highly desirable. 

• Experience working within structured project delivery frameworks and governance processes. 

Technical Skills and Knowledge 

• Core Services 

• Microsoft Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS). 

• Group Policy management and enterprise identity services. 

• DNS, DHCP, Certificate Services (PKI), and Federation Services. 

• Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD) and hybrid identity solutions. 

• Authentication, authorization, and access management concepts. 

Infrastructure Services 

• Microsoft Windows Server administration and engineering. 

• Virtualisation platforms (VMware vSphere, Hyper-V, or equivalent). 

• Enterprise storage and backup solutions. 

• High availability and disaster recovery concepts. 

• Server, network, and infrastructure integration. 

• Infrastructure hardening and security best practices. 

Cloud and Automation 

• Experience with Infrastructure as Code (IaC) concepts and tools such as Terraform, Ansible, PowerShell DSC, or equivalent. 

• Experience with automated provisioning and configuration management. 

• Familiarity with hybrid cloud and private cloud environments. 

• Knowledge of containerisation technologies and orchestration platforms is desirable. 

DevSecOps 

• Understanding of DevSecOps principles and practices within infrastructure and platform engineering environments. 

• Experience with CI/CD pipelines and automated deployment processes. 

• Knowledge of source code management and version control systems (e.g., Git). 

• Familiarity with security integration within automated build and deployment workflows. 

• Understanding of automated testing, compliance validation, and security scanning techniques. 

Security 

• Strong understanding of cybersecurity principles, secure system design, and security hardening. 

• Knowledge of identity and access management, privileged access controls, and certificate-based authentication. 

• Familiarity with security accreditation, compliance, and risk management processes. 

• Experience working in environments handling classified or sensitive information is desirable. 

Professional Competencies 

• Strong analytical and troubleshooting skills. 

• Ability to translate business and operational requirements into technical solutions. 

• Excellent documentation and technical writing skills. 

• Ability to work independently while coordinating effectively with project teams, architects, security authorities, and stakeholders. 

• Strong communication and presentation skills. 

• Ability to manage multiple priorities and work effectively under schedule-driven project conditions. 

Desirable Certifications 

• Microsoft Certified: Windows Server Hybrid Administrator 

• Associate. 

• Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate. 

• Microsoft Certified: Identity and Access Administrator Associate. 

• VMware Certified Professional (VCP). 

• HashiCorp Terraform Associate. 

• Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE). 

• Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA). 

• ITIL Foundation. 

• PRINCE2 Foundation or Practitioner. 

• Certified DevSecOps Professional or equivalent 

• DevOps/DevSecOps certification. 

• CISSP, Security+, or equivalent cybersecurity certification. 

Working Location  

• Brunssum, Netherlands 

Working Policy  

• On-site 

Travel  

• Some travel to other NATO sites may be required 

Security Clearance  

• Valid National or NATO Secret personal security clearance