IaaS 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 Background

The 'IaaS Engineer' is required to support, contribute, develop and manage Virtualization, Storage, Backup and Data Center Infrastructure and all other related systems in the area of responsibility of IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) for service and project management on aspects related to the entire lifecycle, service delivery, various programs and projects (common funded, multi-nationally or nationally funded), service implementation & maintenance and documentation.

Role Duties and Responsibilities

Daily Operations and Maintenance:

• Guarantee seamless operation and upkeep of NISC IaaS Services, regardless of whether they are hosted on-premises.
• Perform system administration tasks for other IaaS-related assigned systems.

Troubleshooting and Issue Resolution:

• Identify and troubleshoot issues promptly, assisting in their timely resolution.

Change Management and Documentation:

• Follow change management processes diligently.
• Update network topology diagrams and the Configuration Management Database (CMDB) after installing new components or decommissioning old ones.

Strategic Support and Coordination:

• Provide advice and support to the IaaS Service Area Owner (SAO) and Service Delivery Managers (SDMs) throughout the entire capability lifecycle. - Foster close and coordinated ties with IaaS management to ensure harmonized efforts and synchronized outcomes across all activities.

SLA Compliance and Process Development:

• Monitor compliance with Service Level Agreements (SLAs).
• Contribute to the development of processes, procedures (SOPs), and Standard Operating Instructions (SOIs) for IaaS services.

Reporting and Communication:

• Prepare reports, briefings, position papers, and presentations for senior management during project development and implementation phases.

Ad Hoc Responsibilities:

• Undertake ad hoc tasks related to the NISC Business Area's responsibilities.

Essential Skills and Experience

VMware Expertise:

• Hands-on experience with VMware vSphere, vRealize Suite, VMware Cloud Foundation, and VMware NSX.
• Strong knowledge of VMware automation tools, such as Aria Suite (Automation, Standardization) and PowerCLI scripting.
• Experience with VMware SRM for disaster recovery automation would be nice to have.

Automation Tools:

• Proficient in automation scripting using one of VMware PowerCLI, Bash, Python, Terraform.
• Familiarity with Ansible automation and integrating with VMware environments woud be nice to have.

Cloud Computing:

• Experience in deploying and managing cloud infrastructure (AWS, Azure, etc.) and integrating them with on-premises VMware infrastructure would be nice to have.

Networking:

• Knowledge of Software-Defined Networking (SDN) using VMware NSX.

Disaster Recovery:

• Proven experience in designing and implementing DR solutions using VMware technologies.

Datacenter

• Knowledge and experience on how to maintain and improve a datacenter environment (monitoring, inventory, asset management, security, etc)

Desirable Skills and Experience

• Experience in military or civil cooperation environments.
• Previous work experience with NATO or other international organizations.
• Knowledge of cloud security, including forensics and malware analysis.
• Familiarity with Microsoft Active Directory (AD) integration into VMware environments.

Working Location

• Mons, Belgium

Working Policy

• On-Site

Travel

• Some travel to other NATO sites may be required

Security Clearance

• Valid National or NATO Secret personal security clearance