About this job

Sapienza Consulting is recruiting an Engineer – ACO CIS Acceptance Analyst to join NATO-NCIA, at Mons, Belgium

Responsibilities

1. BACKGROUND

• ACO (Allied Command Operations) J6 Cyberspace Division has assigned the role of Senior Requirements Owner (SRO) for all CIS Capabilities, Projects and services that are delivered to ACO, in support of SACEUR missions. One of the key roles of SRO is to accept delivered projects for entering the in service stage and lead role is assigned to Service Management Branch, Business Change Management Function (SM/BCMF)
• With new governance model, project / service acceptance, requires confirmation of receipt of completed project / service provision verifying operational usability, suitability and sustainability (from O&M affordability point of view) of project based on agreed operational acceptance criteria
• ACO verification of acceptance criteria is conducted via User and Operational acceptance
• The scope of the projects for which ACOS J6Cy is assigned SRO covers whole C3 taxonomy: Core communications services, Core enterprise services, CIS Security and Cyber defense, Service Management and Control and software applications (Operational or Business Functional services)
• The ability of staff to perform the full scope of acceptance activities is constrained by backgrounds and skills of available personnel. Therefore, the ACO J6Cy SM/BCMF) requires access to contractual support that provides Subject Matter Expertise in areas that include: acceptance testing for CIS projects, business analysis and business change, project management (project monitoring and controlling; project closure)

2. PLACE OF PERFORMANCE

Work will be primarily undertaken at SHAPE HQ, Belgium. Some analysis and verification efforts may be undertaken in The Hague, Netherlands. When Services are being deployed to sites other than SHAPE HQ, the contractor may be deployed to those sites to conduct reviews and site testing activities. Additional travel funding will be provided to cover travel costs

3. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

01 September 2020 – 31 December 2020, with the possibility to extend on annual basis

4. CONTRACTOR SUPERVISION

• Contractor shall report to and receive technical guidance for all technical content of SOW, including specific and daily tasking, management of deliverables and technical contractual oversight, from project sponsor, within ACO J6 Cyberspace Division, Service Management Branch, Business Change Management Function
• The project sponsor will notify the Contracting Officer or his/her designated representative of any need to amend, extend, or cancel this SOW/RFP for evolving requirements, new tasking, and/or technical non- performance
• The project sponsor shall:

– Remain main POC for all technical aspects of the SOW

– Review (and approve) all contractor tasking and deliverables for completeness and accuracy

– Have daily interaction with contractor personnel and assess quality, quantity, and timeliness of            their work

• The project sponsor written approval of work reported and deliverables submitted is mandatory for contractor invoices to be successfully processed

5. SCOPE OF WORK

• This Statement of Work (SoW) identifies acceptance assessment services to be provided by contractor supporting Allied Command Operations (ACO) with User Acceptance (UA) and Operational Acceptance (OA) of new or modified systems and projects, services delivered by NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCIA)
• The goal of this acceptance assessment is to ensure that the projects / services meet user and customer’s operational requirements, operational acceptance criteria and that transition to service is performed in a planned and managed manner
• CIS services are End-to-End (E2E) services consisting of systems delivered by NCIA projects and contractors, bundled with various NCIA service management and service operations processes that interact with operational processes. Following successful user and operational acceptance these E2E services are agreed to be included in Service Level Agreements (SLA), primarily the CSLA between NCIA (service supplier) and ACO (customer)

6. TASKS, DUTIES

User Acceptance and Operational Acceptance assessment include the following tasks that will be conducted by acceptance analyst for assigned CIS projects within domain of Core communications and IT infrastructure:

• Support project acceptance for the SHAPE CIS projects as assigned
• Develop Operational acceptance criteria (OAC) based on a thorough analysis of Operational Requirements (functionality, performance and other characteristics) from a stakeholders or usage perspective
• Map Operational acceptance criteria to test cases based on the Requirements traceability matrix
• Establish current baseline for current delivered services (in case of replacement)
• Plan and conduct or witness comprehensive set of tests (validation, pre-migration, post migration, site acceptance, performance, availability, failover) in coordination with NCIA Service lines and SHAPE J6 Service Operational coordinators
• Plan and conduct or witness Service based testing – utility – to confirm if service delivers the required functionality (for each type of service and each type of user)
• Review test cases for Incident management / event management
• Review Test cases and Test Document Package Test Plan, and Test readiness for assigned projects
• Assess the evidence from the tests and KPIs
• Support ACO staff to witness selected tests which are related to the OA
• Support ACO to collect evidence to demonstrate OAC
• Witness and asses results from Quality based testing – Successful test completion is a prerequisite for any transition or migration activity
• Witness and asses results for Site acceptance
• Conduct Operational Test and Evaluation (OTE) in conjunction with ACO as required and agreed with them. This will assure the proper functioning of the E2E service
• Assure that any remaining defects to the technical systems are fixed or have acceptable workarounds or are captured as deficiencies
• Assure that user is ready to use the new service
• Assure that the NCIA will be able to meet the service targets identified in the SLA
• Assure that technical and personnel transition activities such as training, end-user equipment deployment and legacy equipment de-commissioning are completed as required
• Provide support to RFC Evaluation by conducting all quality control steps required of the Agency change management processes
• Performs other tasks duties as may be required

Profile

• Required Security Clearance: NATO SECRET
• Master of Science (MSc) degree at a nationally recognised/certified University in a related discipline (Computer Science or Engineering), with 2 years post-related experience; Or Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree at a nationally recognised / certified University in related discipline, with 4 years post related experience
• Recent experience in planning and execution of acceptance testing activities
• Experience with ITIL v3
• Knowledge of software / system / service lifecycle management and quality management preferably in a Prince 2 & ITIL environment
• Working-level knowledge of MS-Office, Project, Visio and SharePoint
• Ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing with good briefing skills
• Desirable:
• International Software Testing Qualifications Board (ISTQB) certification at the foundation level
• Experience in CIS projects within domain of Core communications and IT infrastructure
• Prior experience of working in international environment comprising both military and civilian elements
• Knowledge of NATO responsibilities and organization including ACO and ACT

Candidates must be eligible to work in the EU

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