Buyer

North Atlantic Treaty Organization; Wesel; Vor Ort; EUR 40.000 - 60.000; Vollzeit

Zusammenfassung

NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation in Europe is seeking a Buyer for the 1st NATO Signal Battalion to manage procurement from cradle to grave, support international bidding, and advise on contracting.

The role requires at least secondary education with vocational training in procurement or related discipline, 2+ years contracting and supplier management experience, and ERP purchasing systems familiarity; readiness to deploy may apply.

Qualifikationen

• English – NATO Standard Language Proficiency 3322.
• Work in English; NATO environment.
• Secondary education with vocational training in procurement or logistics.
• Minimum 2 years contracting experience.
• Minimum 2 years supplier relationship management experience.
• Experience in procurement/contracting full cycle for simplified procurement.
• Experience in military or international organizations procurement.
• Experience with ERP purchasing systems.

Aufgaben

• Exercise the functions of a Buyer across the procurement workflow.
• Prepare bids and purchase orders; maintain supplier data.
• Support international bidding procedures and contracting events.
• Assist Contracting Officer in evaluating bids and making awards.
• Archive contract files and provide procurement expertise to customers.

Kenntnisse

English proficiency

Negotiation skills

Attention to detail

Team collaboration

Self-starter / work without supervisor

STANAG 6001 familiarity

Ausbildung

Secondary education + vocational training in procurement/logistics

Tools

ERP purchasing systems

Purchasing applications training

Jobbeschreibung

NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation

Closing date for applications: 11 October 2026

NATO is establishing (in 2027) a 4 th NATO Signal Battalion, part of the NATO CIS Group, located in Denmark. The 4 th NATO Signal Battalion also has a Buyer position, identical to this position. Candidates applying for the 1 st NSB position will be asked if they also would be interested in the upcoming 4 th NSB Buyer position.

Our organisation:

1 st NATO Signal Battalion operates, maintains, and sustains Deployable Communication Information Systems (DCIS) to enable command and control (C2) in support of deployed NATO Headquarters and entities during Alliance operations, missions and exercises. The Command Group provides and sustains command and control capabilities, in terms of support, coordination, management, administrative service, and specialists' advice to communication and information systems (CIS), in order to meet the CIS units’ mission. The S8 section plans and executes the 1 st NSB’s budget. The incumbent is responsible for the purchasing activities in support of 1 st NSB and its subordinated entities as well as in support of Missions, Exercises and other operational level tasks, effecting and managing the acquisition and orders administration for the procurement of goods and services. S/he provides purchasing expertise and P&C advisory services to the NSB Commander and subordinate units, in accordance with NCISG P&C Office Head guidance.

The main duties of Buyer are to:

Exercise the functions associated with being a Buyer in support of the procurement process throughout the entire procurement workflow for goods, services and/or engineering works by but not limited to the following:

• Review, edit, and recommend wording of technical specifications to be used in solicitations to ensure it is understandable from a commercial perspective.
• Screen firms as potential bidders, create inputs and maintain supplier data in the Supplier Management Database. Stay abreast of new market trends, e-commerce and technology developments. Support customer requests for deviation, if in the best interest of the Headquarters, from normal method of procurement by participating in basic market research.
• For simplified procurement solicit offers in accordance with established thresholds.
• Suggest and draft bidding instructions and contract clauses to be applied to all solicitations including Invitation for International Bids.
• Support the conduct of international and formal competitive bidding procedures.
• Assist the Contracting Officer in organizing bidders’ conferences, site surveys, inspections, progress review meetings, and other contractual events.
• Support the evaluations of bids and contract award recommendations.
• Investigate the financial viability of vendors/contractors before contracts are awarded (e.g., Dun & Bradstreet evaluations) when considered necessary.
• Provide administrative support to the Contracting Officer’s input to the Contract Award Committee.
• Assist of the Contracting Officer in disputes resolution and proposals for settlements.
• Administer the contract files including into archive and eventual destruction; and
• Participate in the education of customers and bidders to promote good procurement practices, best standard of conduct and efficient contracting tools and methods.

Special requirements and Additional Duties:

The incumbent may be required to undertake deployments in support of military operations and exercises, and/or TDY assignments, both within and without NATO boundaries. Such operational deployment may exceed 30 days duration up to 183 days in any period of 547 days, and may be on short notice. For NATO International Civilian Staff, acceptance of an employment contract linked to this post constitutes agreement to deploy in excess of 30 days if required.

• The employee may be required to perform a similar range of duties elsewhere within the organisation at the same grade without there being any change to the contract
• Prepares invitation for bids and purchase orders on behalf of the NCISG as directed by the NCISG P&C Office Head.
• For requisitions assigned to him/her within limited warrant authority, is responsible for the complete procurement process (from cradle to grave).
• Formulates and executes acquisition strategy through source selection procedures in obtaining minimum competitive quotes in accordance with NATO Financial Regulations and procurement directives and policies. Drafts bidding instructions and routine contract clauses to be applied to solicitations and submits them to the approval of the Contracting Officer. As directed by the later coordinates related matters with the NCISG Legal Office, NCISG HQ Divisions,1NSBs Branches, M&S Coys and DCMs Sections.
• Evaluates bids and executes award decisions within the limited warrant authority
• Creates standard purchase orders and supplementary paperwork for goods and services (including but not limited to Statement of Works, Statement of Requirements)
• Provides expertise and continuity for NCISG Purchase and Contracting activities and other projects as assigned and acquisition planning and management.
• Screens requests for deviation from standard procurement procedures and undertakes appropriate actions to get the necessary approvals to support the requirements.
• Responsible for control of standard purchase orders and both service and supply type contract purchase agreements.
• Serves in the function as assigned in the Purchase Card Programme.
• Promotes customer relations and good business practices by education end-user on efficient procurement methods, tools, procedures.
• Oversees comprehensive/systematic contract filling system and ensures proper archiving and destruction of contract documents/files.
• Provides assistance to database management and proposes (or processes when authorized)inclusions, exclusions, deletions, etc. of vendor data included in the Supplier Database.
• Operates an Automated Accounting/Purchasing Application System for the execution and follow up of requisitions, purchase orders, invoices, receipts, reports.
• Assists the Contracting Officers in settling possible disputes/claims with contractors in a manner consistent with contractual obligations.
• Liaises and coordinates procurement processes within all NSB HQ and its organizational elements staff members as well as NCISG HQ and other NSBs if requested.
• Submits observations in his/her area of expertise and contributes to the Lessons Learned process.
• Under Senior Contracting Officer supervision authorized to negotiate contracts subject to approval.
• Authorized to execute small purchases within delegated authority, authorized to place call order and delivery orders.

The successful candidate has the following qualifications / experience:

• English – good – NATO Standard Language Proficiency 3322.
• (Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing) in accordance with NATO standard agreement (STANAG) 6001 - NOTE: The work both oral and written in this post and in this Headquarters as a whole is conducted mainly in English.
• Secondary education AND completed vocational training in supply chain management, commercial and mercantile law, logistics, inventory management, procurement or related discipline / subject.
• Minimum 2 years professional contracting experience.
• Minimum 2 years professional experience in the field of supplier relationship management.
• Professional experience in the procurement / contracting field including demonstrated ability in executing the full cycle of procurement for simplified procurement.
• Previous experience in contracting for military or international organizations, as a buyer or equivalent.
• Experience using purchasing applications of ERP systems.
• Training in purchasing applications of ERP systems.
• Completion of relevant courses / trainings.
• Able to work without supervision and under minimal guidance;
• Negotiation skills and attention to detail in contract preparation;
• Ability to work in a team and establish effective work relationships.

Thesuccessfullyselected candidate must be able to obtain andmaintaina security clearance andis required topass a medical examination before an employment contract offerisreleased. The medical examination will take place with our medical consultant. Itisrequiredtodetermineif the recommended candidate is fit to perform the duties and is deployable to NATO's areas of operation.

Due date for receipt of applications: Sunday 11 October 2026, 23:59.

Candidates have to apply electronically in NATO Talent Acquisition Program:

Please be aware that aSelection Board willonlyassess the information provided in the job submission form including the answers to the pre-screening questions and description of your work experiences. Your answersmustbe comprehensive and stand alone; do not rely on attached documents foressential information (Attachments are supporting documents and should not be referred to in the job submission). For example, if a pre-selection question asks you to justify how you meet the minimum experience requirement, youmustexplicitly detail in the answer box how your experience directly aligns with, or exceeds, the stated requirement. Simplystatingyou meet the requirement is insufficient; provide concrete examples and quantifiable details. These experiences should also be included in the description of your work experiences.

Only candidates meeting ALLessential required qualifications will be considered and be assessed in competition with other candidates.

Please note that NATO 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-Trained Transformer (Chat GPT), or other language generating tools. NATO reserves the right to screen applications toidentifythe use of such tools. All applications prepared, in whole or in part,by meansofsuch generative or creative AI applications may be rejected without further consideration at NATO’s sole discretion, and NATO reserves the right to take further steps in such cases asappropriate.