Chief Technology Officer

NATO; London; On-site; GBP 100,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Join NATO as the Chief Technology Officer for DIANA, leading technological strategy and overseeing innovation in defense. This senior role focuses on developing the organization's Challenge Programme, managing IT infrastructure, and mentoring a diverse team. Ideal candidates will possess strong leadership skills and a STEM background, contributing to meaningful work in an influential organization. Enjoy a tax-free salary, robust benefits, and opportunities for professional growth in a collaborative environment.

Benefits

Tax-free salary

Excellent private health insurance scheme

Generous annual leave of 30 days

Flexible working conditions

Opportunities for learning and development

Qualifications

• 10+ years of relevant technical experience required.
• Experience in a senior technical leadership role.
• 5+ years in innovation programming within dual-use ecosystems.

Responsibilities

• Lead development of DIANA’s Strategic Direction.
• Oversee technical teams and innovation processes.
• Ensure IT systems align with NATO standards.

Skills

Leadership

Strategic Communication

Networking

Negotiation

Teamwork

Education

Master’s degree in a STEM field

Job description

1. OVERVIEW OF DIANA

The Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA) is NATO’s newest body. From across the Alliance, DIANA brings together innovators and operational end users to foster a transatlantic ecosystem supporting dual-use ground-breaking innovation in deep technologies.
DIANA is an independent NATO body comprised of an Allied Board of Directors and a management team - the DIANA Executive (DX). Operating out of regional offices in Europe and in North America, the DX carries out DIANA’s mission: accelerating deep tech, dual-use solutions to critical transatlantic challenges in defence and security. The DX uses Challenge Programmes in line with a strategic direction as the primary vehicle to accomplish this mission.
We are seeking dynamic individuals who are eager to learn, upskill and bring innovative thinking to our team. Ideal candidates will excel at thinking outside the box and collaborating effectively with a diverse range of colleagues from various backgrounds, including different nationalities and levels of experience. By fostering a collaborative and inclusive environment, you will play a crucial role in supporting and advancing DIANA’s mission.
The DX operates as one team out of three locations, the European Regional Office in London (United Kingdom), the North American Regional Office in Halifax (Canada) and the European Regional Hub in Tallinn (Estonia). DX staff will work in full integration with one another across locations to develop and implement DIANA activities.

2. OVERVIEW OF THE ROLE

The Chief Technology Officer (CTO) is a senior leadership role within DIANA, responsible for leading DIANA’s scientific and technological strategy and implementation.
Reporting to the Managing Director, the CTO plays a central role in shaping DIANA’s Challenge Programme – identifying emerging dual-use technologies, drafting the technical Strategic Direction in consultation with allied stakeholders, and overseeing a team of technical experts who guide startups through DIANA’s innovation process. The CTO will collaborate with the wider NATO Enterprise, including senior stakeholders across the Alliance, to help DIANA navigate the intersection of emerging technologies, geopolitics, and entrepreneurship. This will include building and leveraging a network of STEM-B experts and advisors and creating systems and opportunities that connect innovators with test centres and other critical resources.
The CTO is also responsible for overseeing the information technology systems and platforms that support the Challenge Programme as well as DIANA’s internal functions. Overseeing a team of IT professionals, and working in close coordination with NATO entities, the CTO ensures all IT systems operate in alignment with NATO standards, ensuring interoperability, cyber security, and efficient running of DIANA’s enterprise and collaboration platforms to best serve all internal and external stakeholders.
In addition to their technical leadership, the CTO acts as a cultural leader within DIANA – managing and mentoring a team based across all three duty stations and fostering a culture that is inclusive, diverse, and motivated toward delivering world-class excellence.

Key duties of this role will include:

• Leading the development of DIANA’s Strategic Direction by engaging with technical SMEs, key Allied stakeholders, trusted capital community members as well as end users across the NATO Enterprise.
• Overseeing the design and delivery of the Challenge Statements derived from the Strategic Direction and implementing a technology-enabled selection process that includes technical, military and commercial expertise from across the Alliance.
• Advising the DIANA Managing Director on the development and implementation of Opportune Activities that fall outside the scope of DIANA’s Strategic Direction.
• Helping develop, steward, and leverage the community of technical experts that supports startups as part of the DIANA Challenge Programme to further innovators’ technological development.
• Operationalise and manage DIANA’s network of test centres, chair the TEVV Grant Award Committee, and ensure innovators receive the support and facilities needed for technology validation.
• Provide strategic oversight of DIANA’s IT infrastructure, ensuring secure, interoperable systems that are aligned with NATO standards and capable of supporting an evolving programme delivery needs.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with NATO entities (e.g. NCI Agency, C3 Board, NOS, STO, NIAG) and academic and scientific networks aligned to DIANA’s mandate.
• Hire, manage, and lead a high-performing team of diverse expertise in a hybrid work environment across three duty stations.
• Steward resources responsibly by managing relevant team and project budgets, service agreements, and project milestones to ensure efficient, cost-effective operations.
• Represent the DX on NATO committees, at public events, and engagements with Allied nations, academia, and the innovation ecosystem.
• Perform other duties as may be required.

3. ROLE REQUIREMENTS, QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

ESSENTIAL

The incumbent must have:
• Master’s degree in a STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) field, with at least 10 years of relevant technical experience
• Minimum of 3 years of experience in a similar senior technical leadership role (e.g., Chief Engineer, Chief Scientist, or CTO).
• Minimum 5 years’ experience in innovation programming (incubation, acceleration, and/or start-up focused) within dual-use, deep-tech, or defence ecosystems, including successful tech-to-market transitions.
• Minimum 5 years’ experience in a senior leadership role, overseeing multi-disciplinary technical teams, including responsibility for financial, administrative, and HR management.
• Demonstrated leadership in engaging military and defence stakeholders, with a strong understanding of operational requirements, military capability development, and innovation adoption pathways.
• Familiarity with the management of academic/scientific labs, test centres, or technical evaluation environments.
• Advanced understanding of IT infrastructure design and requirements, with experience managing internal IT teams and systems.
• Strong strategic communication, networking, negotiation, and culture-building skills; demonstrated commitment to fostering teamwork, diversity, and customer-centric innovation.
• Possess the following minimum levels of NATO’s official languages (English/French): V (“Advanced”) in one; I (“Beginner”) in the other.

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

DESIRABLE

The following would be considered an advantage:
• PhD in a STEM field
• Demonstrated experience working with or within Allied military organisations, with insight into defence procurement and stakeholder engagement.
• Familiarity with NATO’s innovation agenda, programmes, and technology ecosystems.
• Demonstrated experience leading in an innovative and/or technological start-up environment.
• Experience in implementing agile management, matrix management and goals setting processes, systems, and best practice within an organisation.
• Project management certification (e.g., PMP, PRINCE2).

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.
• Opportunities for learning and development.

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 a three-year extension. The maximum period of service in this post is six years.
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.

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-trained Transformer (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.

For more information on DIANA, please visit our website.