Wargaming Designer/Developer, NATO-JWC

Yorktown Systems Group; Stavanger; Hybrid; NOK 900,000 - 1,200,000; Full time

Job summary

Yorktown Systems Group is seeking a qualified Wargaming Designer/Developer to support NATO’s Joint Warfare Centre (JWC) in Stavanger, Norway. The JWC serves as NATO’s premier warfare development and training centre, enabling transformation through the design, development, delivery, and analysis of exercises, experiments, and wargames at the operational and strategic levels.

The ideal candidate has proven experience in professional wargames, strong teamwork across disciplines, and a security

Qualifications

• Three years of working experience in designing, developing and delivering wargames in a professional environment.
• Demonstrated experience in designing and delivering serious / professional wargames
• Three years working in multidisciplinary team with at least one year in a leadership role.
• One year working or academia time in multi-disciplinary team.
• Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent.
• Certification in wargame design/development.
• Familiarity with national or NATO military doctrine, policy, processes, arrangements and procedures.
• Competent in MS Office software: Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Publisher and SharePoint.
• Current NATO Secret Security Clearance or National equivalent.
• Proven English proficiency per STANAG 6001.

Responsibilities

• Provide subject-matter-expert advice and contribute to wargame design, development, and delivery tailored to sponsor objectives.
• Design/Develop/Deliver professional wargames within the JWC training environment.
• Develop rules, scenarios, and documentation for wargames and training events.
• Contribute to graphical design and production of wargame materials (charts, tokens, maps).
• Participate in reviews, test plays, and post-conduct analyses.
• Support NATO wargaming capability and interoperability objectives.

Skills

Wargame design

Team leadership

MS Office

English proficiency

Security clearance

Bachelor's degree

Wargame certification

NATO doctrine

Professional wargames

Multidisciplinary teamwork

Education

Bachelor's degree

Wargame design certification

Tools

MS Office suite

SharePoint

Word

Excel

PowerPoint

Job description

Wargaming Designer/Developer, NATO-JWC - (2593)

About the organization Yorktown Systems Group, Inc., and its wholly-owned subsidiaries, are a committed team of dedicated former military and civilian professionals who believe in providing ethical and quality services to Government customers. Our leadership team is composed primarily of Veterans who are now serving in a corporate environment rather than in uniform. Our customer's missions become our own and we are committed to working as a team to achieve success. Because of the depth and experiences of our corporate leadership, we can assure all our customers that "we will do what we say we can do" and will focus on our customer's missions rather than corporate goals. Our business model is based on a personal commitment from our leaders to maintain contact with our customers to continually and consistently gauge our performance. Yorktown Systems Group was founded on the idea that providing quality and ethical services with a laser focus on our customer's goals is an effective long-term business model. Our mission, therefore, is to help our customers meet their requirements and goals. The contractor will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because such employee or applicant has inquired about, discussed, or disclosed the compensation of the employee or applicant or another employee or applicant. This provision shall not apply to instances in which an employee who has access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of such employee's essential job functions discloses the compensation of such other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to such information, unless such disclosure is in response to a formal complaint or charge, in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, or is consistent with the contractor's legal duty to furnish information. The Unconventional, LLC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Yorktown Systems Group, Inc.

Job Title

Wargaming Designer/Developer, NATO-JWC

Job Description

Summary:
Yorktown Systems Group is seeking a qualified Wargaming Designer/Developer to support NATO’s Joint Warfare Centre (JWC) in Stavanger, Norway. The JWC serves as NATO’s premier warfare development and training centre, enabling transformation through the design, development, delivery, and analysis of exercises, experiments, and wargames at the operational and strategic levels. The JWC supports the Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (SACT) and Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) by developing NATO’s cognitive and operational readiness through a comprehensive and integrated training, experimentation, and analysis framework.

The JWC Wargaming Branch (WGB), within the Enablement Division, Operations Directorate, is responsible for the coordination, planning, design, execution, and analysis of professional military wargames and other training events. These wargames are bespoke, analytical or educational in nature, and are tailored to support NATO warfare development priorities, concept testing, decision-making, and the training of military leaders.

The Wargaming Branch (WGB) delivers NATO’s leading-edge professional wargaming capability and functions as the central hub for the Alliance’s wargaming development and integration. It supports NATO’s Warfare Development Agenda by designing and conducting analytical and educational wargames that explore complex problems, test new concepts, and assess decision-making processes in realistic, data-driven scenarios.

The WGB’s multidisciplinary team provides an end-to-end capability from initial concept and game mechanics to execution and analytical reporting. Wargames produced by the WGB inform operational design, concept experimentation, and doctrine development, complementing JWC’s broader mission to enhance NATO’s readiness and interoperability.

Specific duties may include, but are not limited to:

• Provide subject-matter-expert advice, and contribute to the development, refinement, and delivery of JWC strategic- and operational-level wargames tailored to the target audience. Wargames may be developed in conjunction with existing JWC Exercise Program of Work or as separate, stand-alone training or analytical activities. Ensure that both scenario documentation and planning inputs are realistic, supportable by JWC, and are aligned with the wargame objectives;
• Design/Develop/Deliver and refine professional military wargames (serious games) within the JWC 360-degree training environment built around specific scenarios depending on the requirements of the audience. This should incorporate, at a minimum, the following:
  • Information on NATO and its allies as actors in wargame scenarios;
  • Wargame-relevant fictitious actors, systems of actors and historical data;
  • Geostrategic information, based on NATO’s PMESII environment;
  • Necessary associated data, information and documentation related to the environment and conditions relevant to the crises and conflicts in wargame scenarios;
  • Military domains (LAND, AIR, SPACE, MARITIME, CYBER);
  • Levels of command & control (political, military-political, military-strategic, military-operational, military-tactical).
• Gather and assess requirements, aims, objectives and other special considerations from the wargame sponsor(s) and accurately incorporate those into the design in order to ensure wargames are either tailor-made on demand or appropriately modified to suit individual sponsor training objectives. This will include, at a minimum, the following:
  • Provide subject-matter-expert advice on a wide range of wargame styles, techniques, and mechanics;
  • Conduct relevant research to assist in proper design of the wargame (e.g. existing games, commercial or professional, that have a similar theme or relevant designs or mechanics; academic or professional writings or doctrine)
  • Properly develop the wargame to adhere to participation, time and other resource constraints
• Develop and document necessary information describing rules, events, circumstances and conditions leading to the wargame. This will include, at a minimum, the following:
  • Wargame Rules and Rulebooks
  • Wargame adjudication procedures;
  • Wargame scenario material and read-ahead packages
  • Wargame Starting (STARTGAME) conditions;
  • Request for Information (RFI) Responses;
  • Other written material pertaining to individual wargames as requested by the TA;
• Contribute to the graphic design and production of primary and supporting wargame material as required. This will include, at a minimum, the following:
  • Charts, graphs, and other visual player aides;
  • Wargame tokens, counters, chips, and other visual representations;
  • Wargame map design;
  • Playing cards, boards, combat results tables, and any other material that supports the mechanics of game-play;
• Throughout all phases of the wargame development process, participate in required in-progress reviews, conferences, and test-play
• On request during development, conduct and post-conduct of a wargame, support the analysis process including assessment of target audience accomplishment of objectives, as well as feedback and observations for the improvement of JWC and NATO wargaming;
• Contribute to JWC Wargaming Branch conceptual refinement and innovation with subject-matter-area expertise

Job Requirements

Required Qualifications:

• Three years of working experience in the last six years in designing, developing and delivering wargames in a professional environment.
• Demonstrated experience in designing and delivering serious / professional wargames
• Three years working in multidisciplinary team with at least one year in a leadership role.
• One year working or academia time in multi-disciplinary team.
• Have a Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent.
• Have a certification in wargame design/development.
• Familiarity with national or NATO military doctrine, policy, processes, arrangements and procedures.
• Competent in MS Office software: Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Publisher and SharePoint.
• Current NATO Secret Security Clearance or National equivalent.
• Demonstrated proficiency in English as defined in STANAG 6001 (Standardized Linguistic Profile (SLP) 4444 – Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing) or equivalent.

Clearance: Must possess an active NATO or U.S. SECRET or higher security clearance.

Location

Location: NATO Joint Warfare Center, Stavanger, Norway

Travel

Some travel may be required.

CONUS and OCONUS travel may be required.

Job Type

Full-Time

Exemption Type

Exempt

Category

Contractors

EEO STATEMENT

Yorktown Systems Group, Inc., and its wholly-owned subsidiaries, are an Equal Opportunity Employer. No employee or applicant for employment is denied equal opportunity because of race, color, sex, national origin, religion, age, disability, marital status, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, any other non-merit-based factor, or other characteristics protected by law. As part of the company's equal employment opportunity policy, Yorktown Systems Group, Inc., and its subsidiaries, will also take affirmative action as called for by applicable laws and Executive Orders to ensure that minority group individuals, females, disabled veterans, recently separated veterans, other protected veterans, Armed Forces service medal veterans, and qualified disabled persons are introduced into our workforce and considered for promotional opportunities. The Unconventional, LLC. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Yorktown Systems Group, Inc.