Adoption Officer

NATO; Halifax; On-site; CAD 9,000 - 13,000; Full time

Job summary

A division within NATO is seeking Adoption Officers to enhance innovation for defence uses. Responsibilities include designing strategies and building partnerships that foster growth for dual-use innovators. Candidates must hold a bachelor’s degree and have at least 3 years' experience in managing projects, alongside strong analytical and communication skills. Positions are available in Halifax, Canada, and will involve collaboration across NATO’s member states. This role offers a tax-free salary and excellent benefits.

Benefits

Tax-free salary

Household and children's allowances

Excellent private health insurance

NATO pension scheme

Generous annual leave

Qualifications

• Minimum of 3 years of work experience managing complex multi-stakeholder projects.
• Experience using analytical tools to provide actionable insights.
• Demonstrated experience speaking to a larger audience at events.

Responsibilities

• Design scalable strategies for DIANA’s portfolio of innovators.
• Cultivate high-impact partnerships to accelerate pathways to market.
• Engage with Allied investors and capital partners.

Skills

Analytical mindset

Strong relationship-building skills

Proactive and adaptable

Communication skills

Education

Bachelor’s degree in a relevant discipline

Tools

Excel

Job description

This recruitment is for 4 Adoption Officer posts: 2 in London, UK; 1 in Halifax, CA, and 1 in Tallinn, Estonia.

Salary Pay Basis:

G17/1 London, UK: 7,646.99 GBP

G17/1 Halifax, CA: 12,102.58 CAD

G17/1 Tallinn, ES: 7,968.49 EUR

1. Overview of DIANA

NATO DIANA is the Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic, a NATO body dedicated to finding and accelerating innovation to provide decisive defence and security effects for the Alliance, while fostering deep‑tech innovation.

NATO DIANA is comprised of a Board of Directors, representing all 32 nations, and an operational team referred to as the DIANA Executive (“DX”). Operating from three offices in Europe and North America, the DX leverages a network of military end users, world‑leading accelerator sites, test centres, professional mentors and experts, and Allied expertise to accelerate the most innovative technologies from across the NATO Alliance. DIANA is a dynamic, agile workplace, which strives for innovative thinking, diversity, and performance excellence across all teams. To achieve our mission, DIANA is committed to providing our people with an environment that is positive, inclusive and collaborative.

2. Overview of the Role

As part of DIANA’s Commercial and Adoption team, the Adoption Officers will play a pivotal role in shaping the success of NATO DIANA’s portfolio of dual‑use innovators. They’ll design scalable strategies, cultivate high‑impact partnerships, and accelerate pathways to market, investment, and defence adoption. The positions blend strategic vision with decisive execution to deliver transformative outcomes across three different focus areas:

Adoption Officer (focus: Commercial Engagement)

The Adoption Officer will be instrumental in helping DIANA innovators grow and achieve product‑market fit in commercial and defence markets. They will understand emerging technology trends and work directly with DIANA innovators to build scalable business strategies. They will own the design and implementation of scalable processes and digital workflows for DIANA’s Commercial and Adoption team, driving efficiency and data‑driven decision‑making across the organization.

Adoption Officer (focus: Trusted Capital Network)

The Adoption Officer will own DIANA’s strategic engagement with Allied investors and capital partners, building a secure and trusted network that accelerates innovation across NATO. They will position DIANA innovators for success by shaping funding pathways, forging strategic partnerships, and ensuring investor insights inform programme design and commercialization strategies.

Adoption Officer (focus: Defence Engagement)

The Adoption Officer will own DIANA’s strategic engagement with defence end‑users across NATO Allies, forging meaningful relationships to understand capability needs and shaping adoption pathways for emerging technologies. They will position DIANA innovators for success by aligning commercialization plans with Allied capability priorities and ensuring end‑user insights inform programme design and strategic decisions.

Reserve candidates may be considered for similar posts across all DIANA duty stations, if appropriate.

Reporting to the Chief Commercial Officer.

Duties of the roles include:

• Adoption Officer (focus: Commercial Engagement)
• Adoption Officer (focus: Trusted Capital Network)
• Adoption Officer (focus: Defence Engagement)

3. Role Requirements, Qualifications and Experience

Essential

The incumbent must have:

• Bachelor’s degree at a nationally recognized university in a relevant discipline
• Minimum of 3 years post related work experience in defence operations, startup environments or accelerators, consulting, venture capital, digital operations or related disciplines
• Minimum of 3 years’ work experience managing complex multi‑stakeholder projects or work programs
• Analytical mindset with proven experience using analytical tools (e.g. Excel or others) to track data and provide actionable insights
• Demonstrated experience speaking to a larger audience at conferences, workshops or other events involving external stakeholders
• Strong relationship‑building skills across public and private sectors
• Proactive, adaptable and comfortable working in a fast‑paced environment
• Possess the following minimum levels of NATO’s official languages (English/French): V (“Advanced”) in one; and I (“Beginner”) in the other.

NOTE: Most of DIANA’s internal work is conducted in the English language.

Desirable

The following would be considered an advantage:

• Advanced university degree in a relevant discipline
• Experience in supervising, leading or mentoring junior staff members
• Work experience in dual‑use technology innovation or commercialization
• Work experience in defence capability development
• Knowledge of NATO institutional framework, policies and procedures.

Competencies

The incumbent must demonstrate:

• Organisational and environmental awareness
• Ability to take initiative and responsibility
• Ability to adapt and be flexible
• Ability to inspire and influence others to take action
• Ability to manage stakeholders
• Ability to lead and develop others
• Self‑awareness and learning mindset

4. What We Offer

• Genuinely meaningful work as part of the newest unit within the most successful alliance in history. Tax‑free salary.
• Household and children’s allowances and privileges for expatriate staff including expatriation and educational allowances (where applicable) and additional home leave.
• Excellent private health insurance scheme.
• NATO pension scheme.
• Generous annual leave of 30 days plus official holidays.
• Flexible working conditions and a smoke‑free office in London/Halifax/Tallinn.
• Opportunities for learning and development.

5. Contract

In accordance with the NATO Civilian Personnel Regulations, the successful candidate will receive a definite duration contract of three years, which may be followed by an extension.

If the successful applicant is seconded from the national administration of one of NATO’s member States, a 3‑year definite duration contract will be offered, which may be renewed for a further period of up to 3 years subject to the agreement of the national authority concerned. The maximum period of service in the post as a seconded staff member is six years.

6. Useful Information Regarding Application and Recruitment Process

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

Applications must be submitted using the e‑recruitment system. Applications and other documents will not be reviewed if sent through other formats (including email, social network, etc).

Before you apply to any position, we encourage you to click here and review how to apply. There are helpful videos to watch that describe the recruitment process and provide helpful tips to prepare your application.

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

After review of your online application, successful candidates will be invited to a pre‑recorded video interview. Shortlisted candidates from that will then be invited to the final assessments, which include: a language proficiency test, a written test, and a panel interview. These final assessments are expected to be held approximately 8‑10 weeks after the application closing date.

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.

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.

NOTE: DIANA will not accept any phase of the recruitment and selection prepared, in whole or in part, by means of generative artificial‑intelligence (AI) tools, including and without limitation to chatbots, such as Chat Generative Pre‑trainedTransformer (Chat GPT), or other language generating tools. DIANA reserves the right to screen applications to identify the use of such tools. All applications prepared, in whole or in part, by means of such generative or creative AI applications may be rejected without further consideration at DIANA’s sole discretion, and DIANA reserves the right to take further steps in such cases as appropriate.

7. Additional Information

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 is committed to fostering an inclusive and accessible working environment, where all candidates living with disabilities can fully participate in the recruitment and selection process. If you require reasonable accommodation, please inform us during your selection process along with documented medical evidence to support your request.

All NATO DIANA personnel are expected to conduct themselves in accordance with the current NATO Code of Conduct as agreed by the North Atlantic Council (NAC), and thus display the core values of integrity, impartiality, loyalty, accountability, and professionalism.

The incumbent is required to be a resident in the host nation for the duration of their contract. DIANA has a flexible teleworking policy to permit working in office, at home, and across NATO Allied Nations subject to managerial approval.

For more information on DIANA, please visit our website.