Who we are:
For more than 70 years, NATO’s mission has been to preserve peace and security in the Alliancefor nearly one billion citizens. The NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCIA) and its predecessors have worked tirelessly in providing the means that enable the connectedness and togetherness that keep our Alliance strong. We are the NCIA, a team of 3000 civilian and military staff in 29 locations throughout Europe, North America and Asia.
Our technology and cyber experts allow NATO to conduct critical operations, protect NATO’s airspace, make data-driven decisions, defend against cyber-attacks, secure NATO networks and maintain superiority in space. This is all possible because of our greatest force, our people. In order to keep this edge we aim to hire, train and retain the very best staff.
Our staff members represent both the diversity and unity of our Alliance. When you join the NCIA, you will be part of an organization where you can contribute authentically to the mission and purpose of NATO and help us keep our technological edge.
About the job:
Based in Mons, Belgium, you will join the Agency as we embark on a journey to transform our IT services to support NATO’s Digital Endeavour. You will join NATO Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), which is responsible for planning and executing all lifecycle management activities for cyber security. In executing this responsibility, NCSC provides specialist cyber security-related services covering the spectrum of scientific, technical, acquisition, operations, maintenance, and sustainment support, throughout the lifecycle of NATO Communications and Information Systems (CIS).
We are looking for a driven and enthusiastic Cyber Security Defender who will take on the following roles and responsibilities:
The administration, maintenance, and continuous improvement of enterprise cyber defence tools that support network security monitoring, threat detection, and threat hunting;
Acts as a subject matter expert for network visibility, security monitoring, and packet capture capabilities, ensuring platforms remain reliable, effective, and aligned with organizational security objectives;
Deliver and maintain the network visibility and security monitoring capabilities;
Act as a subject matter expert for the operation, configuration, and lifecycle management of security monitoring and packet capture technologies;
Manage the lifecycle of security monitoring platforms, including deployment, configuration, maintenance, upgrades, obsolescence management, and decommissioning;
Support the design and implementation of security monitoring solutions and support the integration with wider security operations, analytics, and incident management capabilities;
Coordinate maintenance activities, vendor support engagements, and communications relating to platform status, risks, and improvement opportunities.
For a full list of duties, please review the job description on the NCI Agency career site.
About you:
The valuable knowledge and experience that you bring to this role are:
A Bachelor’s degree at a nationally recognised/certified University in a related discipline and 2 years post-related experience. Or exceptionally, the lack of a university degree may be compensated by the demonstration of a candidate’s particular abilities or experience that is/are of interest to NCI Agency, that is, at least 6 years extensive and progressive expertise in duties related to the function of the post;
Expert knowledge of network security monitoring, cyber defence operations, and enterprise security monitoring environments;
Extensive hands-on experience supporting large-scale, distributed security monitoring deployments across multiple networks, sites, segments, or data centres;
Hands-on enterprise experience with security monitoring and packet capture platforms such as Cisco Firepower, Corelight, and NetWitness;
Proven experience in platform health monitoring, performance monitoring, capacity management, troubleshooting, and operational governance;
Strong hands-on experience with network visibility, traffic aggregation, packet brokers, packet capture, and related monitoring technologies;
Advanced understanding of enterprise networking concepts, protocols, architectures, and data flows;
Linux and network troubleshooting experience, including connectivity, packet flow, interface, performance, and system-level diagnostics;
Practical experience supporting cabling, site surveys, and physical deployment activities for monitoring or network visibility infrastructure;
Strong knowledge of security telemetry collection, event correlation, threat detection, and threat hunting concepts;
Fluency in English, both written and spoken.
Note that on-call duties may be required after working hours, on weekends or holidays. You may be required to work on 12 hours pattern during weekdays and in case of an enterprise-level Cyber Incident, you may be required to work extended hours and on shifts, including nights and weekends, to provide a 24/7 Cyber Security Incident Response.
What we offer:
Genuinely meaningful work as part of the most successful alliance in history;
5 year contract with competitive tax-free salary and household and children’s allowances;
Privileges for expatriate staff including expatriation and education allowances (where appropriate) and additional home leave;
Excellent private health insurance scheme;
Generous annual leave of 30 days plus official holidays;
NATO Pension Scheme;
Development programs such as professional training, wellbeing, and more.
To learn more about NCIA and our work, please visit our website.
The NCIA prides itself on being an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to fostering an inclusive environment of mutual respect and value uniqueness and differences in gender, gender identity, race, ethnic or cultural origin, age, religion, sexual orientation and physical or neurocognitive ability.
Additional details on the conditions of application can be found via the NCIA career site.