Description:
This is a position within the NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCI Agency), an organization of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
The NCI Agency is made up of teams of dedicated people from 29 different nations who are technology experts in their chosen fields. Our collective role is to help protect the lives of 1 billion people and contribute to maintaining world peace.
The Directorate Air and Missile Defence Command and Control (AMDC2), as part of the NCI Agency, ensures the harmonised planning, implementation, deployment, evolution and support of AirC2 programmes as well as other assigned programmes, in a way that satisfies the operational requirements and minimizes the military risk, taking into account the NATO political, economic and schedule requirements and using the most suitable industrial and technological solutions. The Directorate is the procurement and implementation body of the NCI Agency, charged with the effective planning, execution, delivery into service, evolution and through-life logistic support of NATO’s and assigned national AirC2 systems.
The Mission Assurance Branch defines, establishes and maintains a mission assurance framework, in line with the Agency policy and directives, in order to provide quality and safety assurance, information security services, configuration management, test, validation and verification of AirC2 systems under procurement or support. It ensures that the capabilities delivered by AMDC2 to the operational user are safe and secure and fulfil their functional and non-functional requirements. In line with the Agency’s Quality Management policy and under the direction of the Director, the branch manages the establishment and continuous improvement of AMDC2 Quality Management System.
The Verification and Validation Section plans and executes verification and validation related activities as part of in-house development and maintenance (provision of test directors and test operators). It implements test related guidance and directives and ensures consistent application of test methods, tools and procedures throughout all products, services and projects. The section manages the verification and validation activities for new products/services and products/services modifications acquired through acquisitions.
We are looking for a talented Engineer (Test)
Role Responsibilities
Under the direction of Section Head, Verification and Validation, you will perform duties such as the following:
As Test Engineer:
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Contributes to the analysis of user change requests (formulated through Engineering Change Proposals (ECP) or other relevant documents) from a V&V perspective;
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Reviews product design and requirements documents for completeness, accuracy and testability.
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Maintains test related repositories and populates these with documentation and reusable test cases, test data, pass-fail-criteria and traceability matrices.
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Performs peer-reviews of test plans, cases and reports to ensure that they meet the applicable requirements, standards and conventions.
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Provides second-line support for issues reported by system users.
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Assists in the definition, monitoring and improvement of the V&V processes and working methods.
As Test Operator:
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Collects, selects and generates test input data as required for the execution of test cases.
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Produces test procedures for a particular project.
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Perform the execution of the test Procedure in an NCI Agency location or on-site
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Collects, analyses, reports and archives test results and output data.
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Maintains a defect tracking database, performs trend analysis and follows up on corrective or improvement actions.
As Test Director - in coordination with the Project Leader:
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Plans, organises and supervises the execution of all test related activities for a particular project/product in an NCI Agency location or on-site;
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Produces test plans and procedures for a particular project;
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Manages the test related human and material resources.
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Co-ordinates the timely availability of the correct test system and test environment.
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Co-ordinates any required on-site test and support activities.
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Prepares and conducts test related reviews and attends project milestone and artefact reviews.
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Provides status reports and ensures correct documentation, analysis and reporting of test results.
Person Specification
We are looking for candidates with a Master of Science (MSc) degree or a Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree at a nationally recognised/certified university or exceptionally, the lack of a university/college degree may be compensated by the demonstration of a candidate’s particular abilities or experience that is of interest to the NCI Agency; which is 10 years of extensive and progressive expertise and experience directly related to the function of the post.
Experience Required
- In addition to 2 years of experience (Master’s degree) or 4 years of experience (Bachelor’s degree) in the duties related to the function of the post, we also require the following:
- Professional experience with database management system and related verification and validation activity.
- Professional experience with establishing and maintenance of test environments with external interfaces.
- Experience as test director, test conductor or test operator.
The following will be considered as an advantage
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Operational or technical knowledge or experience within NATO or National Air Command and Control or Air Operations Planning or Decision Support System to include use of aeronautical information;
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Recent experience in test engineering of large-scale, real-time, safety-critical software-intensive system;
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ISTQB certification or equivalent;
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Certification in database administration and/or management (e.g. ORACLE Database SQL Certified Specialist);
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Prior experience of working in an international environment comprising both military and civilian elements.
Competencies Required
We are looking for a person who demonstrates the following behavioural competencies:
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Presenting and Communicating Information - Speaks fluently; expresses opinions, information and key points of an argument clearly; makes presentations and undertakes public speaking with skill and confidence; responds quickly to the needs of an audience and to their reactions and feedback; projects credibility.
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Working with People - Shows respect for the views and contributions of other team members; shows empathy; listens, supports and cares for others; consults others and shares information and expertise with them; builds team spirit and reconciles conflict; adapts to the team and fits in well.
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Deciding and Initiating Action - Takes responsibility for actions, projects and people; takes initiative and works under own direction; initiates and generates activity and introduces changes into work processes; makes quick, clear decisions which may include tough choices or considered risks;
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Delivering Results and Meeting Customer Expectations - Focuses on customer needs and satisfaction; sets high standards for quality and quantity; monitors and maintains quality and productivity; works in a systematic, methodical and orderly way; consistently achieves project goals.
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Writing and Reporting - Writes convincingly; writes clearly, succinctly and correctly; avoids the unnecessary use of jargon or complicated language; writes in a well-structured and logical way; structures information to meet the needs and understanding of the intended audience.
Travel
Business travel to NATO and national (NATO and non-NATO) facilities as well as frequent travel between the NCIA offices;
May be required to undertake duty travel to operational theatres inside and outside NATO boundaries.
Language Skills
A thorough knowledge of one of the two NATO languages, both written and spoken, is essential and some knowledge of the other is desirable.
NOTE: Most of the work of the NCI Agency is conducted in the English language.
Contract
NCI Agency normally offers contracts of employment of a definite duration, not exceeding three years. Contracts may be for less than three years as required to support short-term projects, meet uncertainty with respect to the business outlook, staff performance and other factors.
Definite duration contracts may be extended for further periods. When extending contracts, the following is taken into consideration:
- Renewal is in the interest of the Agency.
- Staff member's desire to remain with the Agency.
- The financial situation provides sufficient funding for the post held.
- The skills, competencies and behaviours, potential and work experience of the staff, versus the requirements of the Agency's work and/or availability of funding.
- Staff member has served the Agency with performance to the required standard as defined by the Agency,
- Staff member's deployability to operational theatre.
Serving civilian members of NATO will be offered a contract in accordance with the NATO Civilian Personnel Regulations.
