Officer, Defence Planning

The Officer acts as a rapporteur and produces comprehensive, factually consistent and correct reports on the defence and security related plans and policies of individual Allies, contributing to the effective planning and coordination of the bi-annual review of Allied capability delivery efforts. The role requires flexibility and availability to travel frequently (approximately 40% of working time).

Responsibilities

• Draft reports on Allied national plans and policies and assess these against the corresponding NATO capability targets.
• Draft speaking notes and coordinate the preparation of committee meetings.
• Develop defence planning-related policy documents.
• Prepare senior leadership for high level engagements.
• Prepare and coordinate advice to individual Allies as needed.
• Build a network of expert contacts on defence planning issues and encourage a culture of cooperation through developing relations with national defence planning experts and with the relevant defence planning staffs across the NATO Enterprise.
• Regularly represent the Defence Planning Directorate in various meetings with national authorities.
• Keep up-to-date with the different steps of the NATO Defence Planning Process and developments in the different domains, in particular technological developments and how they impact on military capability requirements.
• Contribute to the development of NATO’s capability requirements terminology.
• Keep up-to-date on the development of NATO’s defence policy and plans and their interaction with NATO’s defence policy and the NDPP.
• Plan and manage the execution of NDPP Step 5, including the drafting and negotiation of the Defence Planning Capability Survey.
• Engage with NATO defence planning staffs across the HQ, the International Military Staff and the Bi-Strategic Commands to ensure their coordinated contribution to NDPP Step 5.
• Liaise with Allied delegations to ensure the planning of bilateral and multilateral meetings.
• Drive the evolution of the NDPP through constant adaptation of the Step 5 related products to NATO’s defence policy and plans.
• Perform any other related duty as assigned.

Requirements

• Possess a university degree in a relevant field for the post, or have attended a NATO or national military joint staff college (OF-3 level or higher).
• Have at least 6 years of experience in either land, maritime, aerospace or joint and enabling forces and/or capabilities as well as good knowledge of joint operations.
• Have considerable experience in the field of defence planning or military capability development.
• Have excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Possess the following minimum levels of NATO’s official languages (English/ French): V (“Advanced”) in one; I (“Beginner”) in the other.
• Military staff experience at senior officer level or experience at the joint operational (two stars or above) level is considered an advantage.
• Good general knowledge of NATO, specifically NATO’s defence plans and policies and their relationship with the NDPP is considered an advantage.
• Very good knowledge of the NDPP or national defence planning processes is considered an advantage.

Skills

• Defence Planning
• Military Capability Development
• Joint Operations
• Land Forces Experience
• Maritime Forces Experience
• Aerospace Forces Experience
• Military Staff Experience
• NATO Security Policies
• NDPP Knowledge
• Report Writing
• Oral Communication
• Written Communication
• Military Joint Staff College Training

Languages

English, French