Geographic Information System (GIS) Developer

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 ID – NATOIS-0041

Role Background

The mission of the Operations Division of the International Staff is to prepare NATO for the defence of Alliance territory, to respond to crises at home and abroad, and to strengthen the capabilities of partners. Within the Operations Division, the NATO Situation Centre (SITCEN) is the central agency within the Alliance used for the receipt, exchange and dissemination of political, economic and military information.

The Geo & Space Services Section is the focal point for all Geospatial Information matters at NATO Headquarters (HQ). It is responsible for ensuring the provision and designation of geospatial information through the NATO Secret network at NATO HQ, in support of senior decision-makers, intelligence analysts, task forces and exercises. The Geo & Space Services Section ensures the provision, availability and quality of geospatial information essential to the planning and execution of critical activities closely related to the Council, the Military Committee and NATO Delegations. It is also responsible for management of the Section’s IT resources, budget and staff as well as maintaining liaison with the Geospatial Departments of the Strategic Commands and other international organisations.

Role Duties and Responsibilities

• Under the supervision of the GIS Project Manager, follow a predefined implementation plan to design, develop and deploy web-based GIS applications.
• Implement and update existing web mapping functionalities, using modern frameworks, such as ArcGIS Maps SDK for JavaScript.
• Integrate spatial data services via REST APIs and develop geospatial data models, layers and map services.
• Ensure compliance with security, usability and accessibility for the applications developed.
• Provide knowledge transfer to staff of the organization.
• Execute other special projects and activities as directed by Head Geo & Space Services Section.
• Develop and configure GIS web applications using ArcGIS Maps SDK for JavaScript and other modern web development frameworks.
• Manipulate and integrate spatial data coming from classified and unclassified sources into web-based systems.
• Perform data conversion and preprocessing, using Python APIs and other spatial ETL tools.
• Configure and manage map services, feature layers and tiled data for performant web delivery.
• Conduct performance tuning for backend queries and map rendering.
• Develop and maintain documentation for code, service endpoints, and system architecture.

Essential Skills, Experience and Certifications

Experience

• At least 5 years of experience in web development using modern JavaScript/HTML frameworks (e.g React, Vue.js, Angular).
• Practical experience with at least one major web mapping library or SDK (e.g. ArcGIS Maps SDK for JavaScript) including layer management, popups, custom widgets, and client-side spatial operations.
• Proficiency in using Python for geoprocessing, automation, ETL and analysis (e.g. ArcPy, GeoPandas, Shapely, Rasterio, GDAL/OGR).
• Ability to build and maintain backend services or processing pipelines that expose geospatial functionality.
• Excellent communication skills
• Ability to work independently as well as in a team

Education and Qualification requirements

• Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Geography, Information Technology or related fields.

Language requirements

• English: Advanced; French: Beginner

Other requirements

• Familiarity with version control (Git) and Agile project management.
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills.

Working Location

• Brussels, Belgium

Working Policy

• On-time 100%
• A limited amount of teleworking might be granted under special circumstances with the line manager permission
• The work will be conducted during normal office hours following the NATO HQ calendar.

Travel

• Some travel to other NATO sites may be required

Security Clearance

• Valid National or NATO Secret personal security clearance