Pending Budget Approval
This requisition will lead to the establishment of a reserve list exclusively for the position of Buyer within NATO IS. Appointments from this list will be made solely based on business needs and the emergence of suitable vacancies.
1. SUMMARY
The Office of Financial Control (OFC) is responsible for the management of financial and budgetary control systems for several NATO entities, primarily the NATO International Staff (IS) and its civil budget.
Within the Procurement Service, the incumbent is responsible for a wide range of procurement transactions and executes the Procure-to-Pay order processes, as well as the upstream sourcing process from internal end-user intake through tendering and/or direct contract, as applicable. The incumbent is also responsible for the demand intake; correct and timely actions and operational support for their respective category; for troubleshooting supplier delays in executing purchase orders and delivering products and services.
2. QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE
The incumbent must:
• possess higher secondary education qualification with 4 years post-related experience in procurement services, non-manufacturing, or public sectors, OR
upper vocational training/ post-secondary degree in a discipline relevant for this position with 2 years of experience in procurement services, non-manufacturing, or public sectors;
• have experience as a buyer or procurement associate, preferably in a multinational or International Organisation;
• have experience with the use of standard Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems such as Oracle E-Business Suite (EBS) or SAP/R3 systems;
• demonstrate strong interpersonal skills and ability to communicate and work with internal customers and external suppliers; and
• possess the following minimum levels of NATO’s official languages (English/French): V (“Advanced”) in one; and II (“Elementary”) in the other.
The following would be considered an advantage:
• be at least Level 2 United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) / Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS) certified or possession of an equivalent level of qualification granted by a national professional association or academic institution;
• a degree or formal training in one of the following domains: commerce, trade, purchasing, contracting, or supply chain;
• experience with current sourcing and procurement technologies.
3. MAIN ACCOUNTABILIES
Financial Management: Be the first person to provide guidance on the procurement process. Ensure that proper financial procedures are followed and that invoices are properly tracked. Follow up on activities to ensure that financial files are correctly processed and maintain records of all financial transactions.
Knowledge Management: Collect, categorise, and track relevant information required for various tasks, projects, and procurement actions. Support the Head of Procurement in documenting and maintaining the related internal control systems and procedures. Execute all procedures for purchases made by Procurement Service.
Stakeholder Management: Negotiate on commercial terms and pricing with suppliers as needed. Liaise with internal clients across International Staff (IS) and NATO Agencies for the clarification of requirements and the coordination and execution of procurement actions. Maintain contacts with external suppliers.
Expertise Development: Provide first-level support for the accounts payable escalations related to payment issues. Proactively develop skills in areas such as planning and organising, the best practices in relevant industrial sectors, general procurement best practices and new technology, NATO official languages and effective communication.
Perform any other related duty as assigned.
4. INTERRELATIONSHIPS
Reporting Line: The incumbent reports to the Senior Procurement Officer (Team Leader).
Interactions: They work closely with colleagues of the Procurement Service. The incumbent also liaises with internal clients across IS and NATO Agencies. They also liaise with external suppliers when directed.
Direct reports: N/a
Indirect reports: N/a.
5. COMPETENCIES
The incumbent must demonstrate:
• Achievement: works to meet standards.
• Analytical Thinking: sees basic relationships.
• Clarity and Accuracy: checks own work.
• Conceptual Thinking: sees patterns based on life/work experience.
• Customer Service Orientation: takes personal responsibility for correcting problems.
• Empathy: reads non-verbal cues and understands meanings.
• Impact and Influence: takes multiple actions to persuade.
• Initiative: is decisive in a time-sensitive situation.
• Teamwork: co-operates.
Contract clause applicable:
In accordance with the NATO Civilian Personnel Regulations, the successful candidate will receive a definite duration contract of three years, which may be followed by an indefinite duration contract.
If the successful applicant is seconded from the national administration of one of NATO’s member States, a 3-year definite duration contract will be offered, which may be renewed for a further period of up to 3 years subject to the agreement of the national authority concerned. The maximum period of service in the post as a seconded staff member is six years.
Serving staff will be offered a contract in accordance with the NATO Civilian Personnel Regulations.
7. USEFUL INFORMATION REGARDING APPLICATION AND RECRUITMENT PROCESS
Please note that we can only accept applications from nationals of NATO member countries. Applications must be submitted using e-recruitment system, as applicable:
- For NATO civilian staff members only: please apply via the internal recruitment portal (link);
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For all other applications: www.nato.int/recruitment
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More information about the recruitment process and conditions of employment, can be found at our website (http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/recruit-hq-e.htm)
Appointment will be subject to receipt of a security clearance (provided by the national Authorities of the selected candidate), approval of the candidate’s medical file by the NATO Medical Adviser, verification of your study(ies) and work experience, and the successful completion of the accreditation and notification process by the relevant authorities.
NATO will not accept any phase of the recruitment and selection prepared, in whole or in part, by means of reference documents without proper quotes (plagiarism), or any tools available on internet, including but not limited to translation facilities, or generative artificial-intelligence (AI) 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 tools will be rejected without further consideration, and NATO reserves the right to take further steps in such cases as appropriate.
8. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
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.
NATO is committed to fostering an inclusive and accessible working environment, where all candidates living with disabilities can fully participate in the recruitment and selection process. If you require reasonable accommodation, please inform us during your selection process.
Candidates will be required to provide documented medical evidence to support their request for accommodation.
Building Integrity is a key element of NATO’s core tasks. As an employer, NATO values commitment to the principles of integrity, transparency and accountability in accordance with international norms and practices established for the defence and related security sector. Selected candidates are expected to be role models of integrity, and to promote good governance through ongoing efforts in their work.
Due to the broad interest in NATO and the large number of potential candidates, telephone or e-mail enquiries cannot be dealt with.
Applicants who are not successful in this competition may be offered an appointment to another post of a similar nature, albeit at the same or a lower grade, provided they meet the necessary requirements.
The nature of this position may require the staff member at times to be called upon to travel for work and/or to work outside normal office hours.
The organization offers several work-life policies including Teleworking and Flexible Working arrangements (Flexitime) subject to business requirements.
Please note that the International Staff at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium is a non-smoking environment.
For information about the NATO Single Salary Scale (Grading, Allowances, etc.) please visit our website. Detailed data is available under the Salary and Benefits tab.
NATO does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process. For more info please click here.