2025-0079 IT Support for Geospatial Data Production (NS) - MON 24 Mar

Bidding Instructions - Technical Proposal

Bidders shall include in the Technical Proposal:

1. CV of the proposed candidate, clearly indicating relevant experience for the qualifications, section 10 in the Statement of work (SoW).
2. Compliance matrix referring how each candidate meets each of the stated qualifications, section 10 of the SoW, justified by relevant (project) experience.

Time On-Site: 100%

Period of Performance: 2025 BASE: As soon as possible and not later than 1st May until 31 October 2025 with possibility to exercise sprints from the following options:

Required Security Clearance: NATO SECRET

1 INTRODUCTION

This is a position within the NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCIA), an organization of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

It includes IT support to the Alliances’ business processes (to include provision of IT shared services) to the NATO HQ, the Command Structure and NATO Agencies.

The Agency is an innovative and trusted Alliance partner and achieves its short- and long-term goals and objectives through the application of strategy-focused organizational principles, to which this position is directly linked.

This position is assigned to the Joint Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (JISR) Centre within the Agency, where the responsibility rests for accomplishing the full life cycle of assigned JISR services. NCI Agency operations are underscored by the organization’s core values and vision to be an essential, one-team contributor to NATO success.

The GeoMetOc Services Branch within the JISR Centre is responsible for the full lifecycle support of the Core Geographic Information System (CoreGIS) Application Service that provides both ACO customers as well as NATO Nations with a suite of data, services and products that ensure all phases of military operations are conducted on the same geospatial reference.

To support this service, a specialized geospatial data production environment (GeoLab) with custom installations and tailored infrastructure on premise and in the cloud is used by the relevant experts for data processing.

The CoreGIS Application Service as well as the GeoLab are Commercial-of-the-Shelf (COTS) based and use the Esri ArcGIS software product suite as a main component in a NATO-specific configuration.

2 OBJECTIVES

The JISR Centre is looking for an experienced IT administrator with the relevant background in all required areas of computing, hardware, software, (geospatial) data and networking to maintain and manage, administer, fine-tune and update the GeoLab environment.

3 SCOPE OF WORK

Under the direction / guidance of the GeoLab Service Delivery Manager, the Contractor will perform the following activities:

• Support the design of the environment
• Compile required network diagrams and collect and maintain all information regarding connectivity
• Establish required network connectivity
• Build systems and workplaces and assist in the physical setup
• Manage, maintain and update hardware
• Manage, maintain and update software
• Assess security requirements and implement solutions to adapt the security posture of the environment according to relevant NATO regulations
• Manage user access
• Trouble-shoot issues identified by users with priority and facilitate work of Geo technicians
• Resolve issues by analysing cause and suggesting solutions and mitigation
• Create and execute test cases for performance benchmarking
• Investigate innovative changes and improvements to productivity
• Develop scripts for automation
• Create and maintain relevant documentation of all components
• Integrate into an existing multinational team of geospatial domain experts
• Manage tasks and workload effectively
• Communicate efficiently
• Perform ad-hoc geospatial production support tasks

Close coordination of all activities with the NCIA supervisor as well as strict adherence to agreed timelines is mandatory.

Due to the AGILE approach of this project, the specific deliverables and associated acceptance criteria related to the activities described above, will be defined for each sprint between the NCI Agency and the contractor, during SPRINT planning meeting in writing. This includes sprint planning, execution and review processes, which are detailed below:

1. Sprint Planning:

Monthly Kick-off meetings will be conducted to plan the objectives of upcoming sprints and review contractor`s availability to meet the agreed deliverables.

The contractor will produce and share the meeting minutes

Clear, achievable goals for the sprint and associated acceptance criteria will be set, including specific delivery targets, quality standards as well as Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for each task to be recorded in the sprint meeting minutes.

The backlog of tasks, issues, and improvements from previous sprints will be reviewed and prioritised.

1. Sprint Execution

The Contractor will execute the agreed sprint plan with continuous monitoring and adjustments.

Regular meetings between NCI Agency and the contractor will be held to review sprint progress, address issues and make necessary adjustments to the processes or production methodology.

The Contractor will establish a continuous feedback loop to gather input from all stakeholders to suggest improvements and their subsequent implementation depending on NCIA approval.

The Contractor will track the status of sprint deliveries and issues.

The Contractor will establish quality assurance and control mechanisms and ensure their application throughout the sprint.

1. Sprint Review

At the end of each sprint, a meeting between the NCI Agency and the Contractor will review outcomes against the acceptance criteria comprising sprint goals, agreed quality criteria and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).

1. Sprint Payment

A report must be sent by email to the NCI Agency manager, highlighting all work performed against the agreed tasking list set for the sprint.

The contractor's payment for each sprint will be depending upon the achievement of agreed Acceptance Criteria for each task, defined at the sprint planning stage. This will include specific delivery targets, quality standards as well as Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for each task.

The payment shall be dependent upon successful acceptance as set in the above planning/review meetings.

Invoices shall be accompanied with a Delivery Acceptance Sheet (DAS) – (Annex A ) signed by the Contractor and the project authority.

If the contractor fails to meet the agreed acceptance criteria for any task, the NCI Agency reserves the right to withhold payment for that task/sprint.

The content and scope of each sprint will be agreed with the project manager and technical staff during the sprint-planning meeting.

The work shall be conducted in close collaboration between the Contractor and NCI Agency staff as described below:

Contractor: Provider of listed services and deliverables

4 DELIVERABLES AND PAYMENT SCHEDULE

The following deliverables are expected from this statement of work:

1. Completed activities/tasks agreed in each sprint meeting as per section 3.
2. Sprint completion reports (format: e-mail update) or formal documentation required per specific task.
3. Contractor participation in the daily reporting and planning activities (daily stand-ups) as well as the required participation in workshops, events and conferences related to the supported services, as requested by the SDM/PM.

Payment Schedule will follow the payment review milestones at the end of each month, when all completed sprints will be validated and the accepted sprints processed for payment.

The NCIA team reserves the possibility to exercise a number of sprints at a later time, based on the same sprint deliverable timeframe and cost, depending on project priorities and requirements.

Payment Milestones: Upon completion of each sprint following acceptance at the end of each month

5 SCHEDULE

This task order will be active immediately after signing of the contract by both parties.

The BASE period of performance is as soon as possible but not later 1st May 2025 and will end no later than 30 October 2025.

If the 2025 option is exercised, the period of performance is 01st November 2025 to 31st December 2025.

If the 2026 option is exercised, the period of performance is 01st January 2026 to 31st December 2026.

If the 2027 option is exercised, the period of performance is 01st January 2027 to 31st December 2027.

If the 2028 option is exercised, the period of performance is 01st January 2028 to 31st December 2028.

If the 2029 option is exercised, the period of performance is 01st January 2029 to 31st December 2029.

6 SECURITY

Performance of the services described in this SOW require a valid NATO SECRET security clearance prior to the start of the engagement.

Contractor/ shall be aware of all security rules pertaining to the handling of NATO classified information.

Personnel Security Clearance (PSC). Individuals who require access or may have access to information classified NC or above during the course of their duties shall have a PSC at the appropriate level, which is valid for the duration of the authorized access. In addition, such individuals are required to:

• Have a need-to-know;
• Have been briefed on their security obligations in respect to the protection of NATO Classified Information; and
• Have acknowledged their responsibilities either in writing or an equivalent method which ensures non-repudiation.

7 CONSTRAINTS

All the documentation provided under this statement of work will be based on NCI Agency templates and/or agreed with the NCIA project manager.

All support, maintenance, documentation and required code will be stored under configuration management and/or in the provided NCI Agency tools.

All developed solutions, tools and code under this project will be property of the NCI Agency.

8 TRAVEL

The contractor will provide the services under this SOW on site at NCI Agency office The Hague, NLD

Occasional travel in support of the project to NATO sites will be required including the NCI Academy, PT as needed.

Travel expenses will be borne by the NCI Agency separately in accordance to the provisions of the AAS+ Framework Contract.

9 PRACTICAL ARRANGEMENTS

This work will be carried out on site at NCI Agency The Hague, NLD

Meetings will be physically in the office, or in person via electronic means using Conference Call capabilities, according to the NCI Agency staff instructions.

NCIA Hours of Operations: Monday to Thursday 0830 – 1700 and Friday 0830 – 1500 (CET)

Contractor Furnished Services: Contractor shall furnish everything required to perform the contract except for the items specified and covered under NCIA Furnished Property and Services below.

NCIA Furnished Property and Services:

Laptop for business administration including relevant software will be provided by NCIA

Laptop for technical work including relevant software will be provided by NCIA

Access to relevant networks and environments will be provided by NCIA

Contractor will access the networks of the NCI Agency as a member of the JISR Centre under the supervision of the GeoLab manager or delegated staff. Close coordination of all activities with the NCI Agency GeoLab Manager as well as strict adherence to agreed timelines is mandatory.

The work depicted in this SOW is expected to be carried by a SINGLE RESOURCE.

10 QUALIFICATIONS

[See Requirements]

Requirements

• Performance of the services described in this SOW require a valid NATO SECRET security clearance prior to the start of the engagement.

10 QUALIFICATIONS

• MSc degree in an IT related field relevant to this position
• 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
• Minimum 5 years of relevant experience in administration of physical and virtual IT equipment, with all relevant aspects from networking, hardware and software maintenance to virtualization
• Experience in designing the architecture of a complex IT solution
• Solid understanding of relevant network components and configurations
• Understanding of security requirements and solutions in a modern sensitive IT environment
• Proven experience in software installation, updating and maintenance in a multi-user environment.
• In-depth technical knowledge in configuring a cutting-edge IT data environment supporting complex processes efficiently
• Experience in IT support, establishing user access, trouble-shooting issues, benchmarking and improving performance as well as automating processes
• Demonstrated experience in root-cause analysis and problem-solving
• Familiarity with storage solutions and concepts
• Understanding of aspects affecting performance of file interaction and transfer
• Solid understanding of computing concepts
• Familiarity with IT environment documentation tools and methods
• Familiarity with various hardware and virtualization IT platforms
• Familiarity with state-of-the-art IT infrastructure technology related to file processing
• General Office software familiarity (Word, Excel, Outlook, Powerpoint, …)
• Proven ability to integrate and work in a multinational team
• Skilled to manage tasks and workload effectively and communicate efficiently
• Fluent in Business English

• Experience in administration of a geospatial data related IT infrastructure
• Experience in programming, preferably python and batch scripting
• Understanding of geospatial data and processes