Staff Officer (ACO Industry Engagement)

Overview

The Staff Officer (ACO Industry Engagement) role coordinates engagements between ACO entities and industry, supporting the development of policies and strategies for interaction with industry.

Key Responsibilities

• Coordinates engagements between ACO entities and industry within the scope of established mechanisms and in accordance with applicable rules and regulations.
• Supports the development and employment of policies, strategies, doctrine and supplemental documents for the interaction with industry.
• Provides situational awareness of developments in policy and high-level direction and guidance, assess implications for ACO and provides relevant courses of action.
• Acts as the ACO interlocutor for NATO enterprise stakeholders, in particular the NATO HQ International Staff (IS) Defence Investment (DI) Division, the NATO Industrial Advisory Group, HQ SACT, the NATO Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA) and the NATO Investment Fund (NIF), for industry engagement matters.
• Represents ACO at working-level and, by delegation from the AIM Branch Head, governance meetings/events regarding industry engagements.
• Oversees and monitors ACO-wide industry engagement activities and provides respective reports to the SHAPE leadership.
• Leads the development of execution of annual ‘ACO innovation talks campaigns’.
• Facilitates the design and conduct of local ACO HQs’ industry engagement events.
• Staffs the preparation, conduct and after-action review of high-profile ACO delegation visits to industry-engagement events.
• Coordinates ACO’s relationship with DIANA as set forth in the DIANA-HQ SACT-SHAPE letter of agreement and the DIANA charter.

Required Experience

Minimum of 4 years’ experience in a role relevant for the responsibilities of the post. Thorough understanding of defence industrial matters, including applicable principles of technology adoption and procurement/acquisition processes. Good understanding of Innovation and Emerging and Disruptive Technologies. Capable of analytical, strategic thought and lateral thinking. Capable of working with little or no established guidance in the context of general policies and goals. Ability to prioritize tasks and allocate resources in a dynamic context and capacity of delivering under pressure and short timelines. Understanding of the NATO Common-Funded Capability Development process. A broad background that can include previous staff experience in a joint or combined staff in a large HQ, Joint Command, NATO HQ or MOD. High level of organisational, coordination and communication skills.

Qualifications

University Degree in business administration, public administration or related discipline and 4 years post related experience, or Higher Secondary education and completed advanced vocational training in that discipline leading to a professional qualification or professional accreditation with 7 years post related experience. NATO recognized project and risk management certifications (e.g. PRINCE2, MoR, ISO31000). Holding ISO 56002:2019 Innovation Management certification course.

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