Officer, Digital Preservation

Description

1. SUMMARY

The NATO Archives acts under the authority of the Archives Committee. Under the direction of the NATO Archivist, its main responsibilities are the identification of information with permanent value, the overall management of the NATO Archival holdings and the implementation of the Public Disclosure Policy. As such the NATO Archives provides guidance on records and archives management matters NATO wide; collects NATO information of permanent value throughout NATO civil and military bodies; organises and preserves this information regardless of its format; and provides access to publicly disclosed NATO information.

Under the direction of the NATO Archivist and in close co-operation with the Head, Application Delivery & Support Team 2 (ICTM) and Head, Acquisition and Holdings Management (AHU) of the NATO Archives, the officer is responsible for the functional support of the NATO wide implementation of the Organization’s software application for long-term preservation of digital records, Preservica. H/She provides support to upload and ingest large volumes of digitized and born-digital content into Preservica; user administration; data and file migration management; system monitoring, customer functional support on processes and functions; and, functional system configuration. The officer is further responsible for supporting the Organization’s digital preservation programme by providing guidance and hands-on support to customers of the NATO Archives on the handling of different digital content and formats for digital preservation, collecting the requirements and suggesting ways to improve the handling and preservation of digitized and born-digital content of permanent value throughout the Organization. In the execution of her/his function, the incumbent may need to travel to other NATO bodies to ensure their requirements for digital preservation are fulfilled correctly.

The Officer will act as the NATO wide Preservica Point-of-Contact.

2. QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

ESSENTIAL

The incumbent must:

• have a university degree, or an equivalent level of qualification, in the area of (Digital) Archival Science, Information Management, Information Technology or other relevant field;
• possess at least 3 years of relevant work experience;
• have extensive knowledge of digital preservation policies and procedures;
• have extensive knowledge of, and experience with, digital preservation of unstructured and structured data, ingestion process of digital content, development of  metadata schemas, files format migration and data management;
• have extensive knowledge of digital archiving and preservation technology and software systems;
• have knowledge of modern communication and office technologies and systems including security aspects;
• have technical aptitudes and demonstrate proactivity in keeping abreast of new technologies and standards in digital preservation;
• possess the following minimum levels of NATO’s official languages (English/French): V (“Advanced”) in one; I (“Beginner”) in the other;

DESIRABLE

The following would be considered an advantage:

• experience with digital preservation software packages (ex. Preservica, Archivematica,  Adlib)
• proven experience in providing support to an organization’s digital preservation programmes;
• knowledge of international best practices and standards in the field of digital records and archives management and familiarity with the life-cycle management of records;
• have experience in providing support or coaching senior officials in preserving their digital archives;
• ability to create scripts for metadata and digital preservation workflows;
• experience working in an ICT environment with high security requirements such as classified military or government systems or within a financial institution;
• experience working in an international organization.
• experience in providing onsite and online training in digital preservation.

3. MAIN ACCOUNTABILITIES

Knowledge Management

Provide functional support to uploading and ingesting large volumes of digitized and born-digital content. Be responsible for user administration and access management; data and file migration management of content stored in Preservica, as well as regular system monitoring, and functional system configuration based on business requirements. Provide first line customer functional support on processes and functions and analyze their requirements. Conduct functional feasibility studies when requested and report results in a clear and concise manner by documenting designs, procedures, standards and guidelines.

Project Management

Provide support to digital preservation projects by designing, planning and implementing in a structured, consistent and timely manner. Oversee projects within the NATO Archives related to digital preservation, including the preservation of emails of senior officials, webpages,structured and unstructured content.

Information Management

Participate in and support digital preservation process improvement initiatives. Promote the use of digital preservation processes and tools throughout NATO. Provide hands-on, online and classroom training on digital preservation in general, and Preservica workflows and procedures in particular.

Stakeholder Management

Act as the POC for Preservica in NATO. Provide first line functional support to customers throughout NATO civil and military bodies. Coordinate with customers to define requirements for digital preservation. Prepare factually accurate recommendations and discuss these with stakeholders on how to improve their digital preservation processes. Work with customers to review/document existing processes and design/document new processes to address new contents, formats and requirements. Coordinate with ICTM Applications Support and the IT infrastructure provider (NCI Agency CSU Brussels) to communicate customer requirements, and/or determine the technical implications of  addressing customer requirements.

Expertise Development

Be responsible for the quality of customer support. Provide reports, including management reports, indicating suggested actions to deal with current or foreseen shortcomings. Investigate and make recommendations on addressing digital preservation challenges, such as new files formats and technologies. Analyse customer requirements and identify new technologies to exploit and improve the current system. Attend training, seminars and appropriate digital preservation and information exchange platforms and research communities and recommend technologies and preservation approaches of interest for further investigation. Keep up-to-date in digital preservation best practices, and assist the NATO Archivist in translating them into NATO-wide policies/directives.

People Management

Work in close collaboration with the NATO Archivist and Head AHU, to efficiently handle customer requests, deliver projects and organise the workload. Ensure the functional coordination and leadership of system contractors. Offer guidance to the technical teams and ensure quality and timely delivery of the support services to Preservica customers.

Perform any other related duty as assigned.

4. INTERRELATIONSHIPS

The incumbent reports to the NATO Archivist, and will receive direction from Head, Application Delivery & Support Team 2 (ICTM) and the Head, Acquisition and Holdings Management (AHU) of the NATO Archives on technical and functional issues. S/He will liaise with Preservica customers throughout NATO with regard to their support and functional system requirements. The Officer will maintain a close working relationship with NCI Agency CSU Brussels on technical, logistical and operational matters, support and develop staff at Preservica. The Officer also liaises actively with the Officer, Retention and Disposition on the requirements for retention and disposition of NATO civil and military bodies.

Direct reports: N/A

Indirect reports: N/A

5. COMPETENCIES

The incumbent must demonstrate:

• Achievement: Works to meet standards;
• Analytical Thinking: Sees multiple relationships;
• Clarity and Accuracy: Checks own work;
• Conceptual Thinking: Applies learned concepts;
• Customer Service Orientation: Takes personal responsibility for correcting problems;
• Empathy: Is open to others' perspectives;
• Impact and Influence: Takes multiple actions to persuade;
• Initiative: Is decisive in a time-sensitive situation;
• Teamwork: Solicits inputs and encourages others.

6. CONTRACT:

Contract to be offered to the successful applicant (if non-seconded): Definite duration contract of three years; possibility of renewal should the project require.

Contract clause applicable:

This post is required for a limited period to support the "Long Term Preservation of Information" project. As employment in this post is of limited duration, the successful applicant will be offered a definite duration contract of 3 duration, which may be renewed if required to support this project.

If the successful applicant is seconded from the national administration of one of NATO’s member States, a 3 definite duration contract will be offered, which may be renewed if required to support this project, and subject also to the agreement of the national authority concerned.

Serving staff will be offered a contract in accordance with the NATO Civilian Personnel Regulations.

7. RECRUITMENT PROCESS:

Please note that we can only accept applications from nationals of NATO member countries.

Applications must be submitted using e-recruitment system, as applicable:

Please note that at the time of the interviews, candidates will be asked to provide evidence of their education and professional experience as relevant for this vacancy.

Appointment will be subject to receipt of a security clearance (provided by the national Authorities of the selected candidate) and approval of the candidate’s medical file by the NATO Medical Adviser.

More information about the recruitment process and conditions of employment, can be found at our website (http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/recruit-hq-e.htm)

8. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Salary value as per 2020. Subject to future adjustments in accordance with North Atlantic Council decision

NATO is committed to diversity and inclusion, and strives to provide equal access to employment, advancement and retention, independent of gender, age, nationality, ethnic origin, religion or belief, cultural background, sexual orientation, and disability. NATO welcomes applications of nationals from all member Nations, and strongly encourages women to apply.

Building Integrity is a key element of NATO’s core tasks. As an employer, NATO values commitment to the principles of integrity, transparency and accountability in accordance with international norms and practices established for the defence and related security sector. Selected candidates are expected to be role models of integrity, and to promote good governance through ongoing efforts in their work.

Due to the broad interest in NATO and the large number of potential candidates, telephone or e-mail enquiries cannot be dealt with.

Applicants who are not successful in this competition may be offered an appointment to another post of a similar nature, albeit at the same or a lower grade, provided they meet the necessary requirements.

The nature of this position may require the staff member at times to be called upon to travel for work and/or to work outside normal office hours.

The organization offers several work-life policies including Teleworking and Flexible Working arrangements (Flexitime) subject to business requirements.

Please note that the International Staff at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium is a non-smoking environment.