Strategic Defence Partnerships Lead

Work Life Group; Norfolk (VA); On-site; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Wlgroup in Norfolk, Virginia, is seeking a senior liaison role to manage multinational partnership activities, policy development, and senior-leader briefings in support of defence collaborations. The position involves coordinating across directorates, preparing strategic documents, and ensuring compliance with security policies.

The role requires a postgraduate degree, extensive experience in international relations or defence, and fluent English.

Qualifications

• Postgraduate degree in international relations, international security, international development or military studies.
• Experience in foreign affairs, international security, international cooperation or defence.
• Experience inside an alliance structure, another international organisation in a defence or security post, or a national defence ministry.
• Working knowledge of partnerships, security sector reform, defence and security capacity building, defence planning, military cooperation.
• Demonstrated experience drafting for and briefing senior leaders - flag officers or their civilian equivalents.
• Fluent professional English.

Responsibilities

• Contributing to the activities, outputs and coordination rhythm of the partnerships branch.
• Acting as a central point of contact for partnership work strands across directorates.
• Developing briefings, point papers, speaking notes, reports and decision-support products for senior leadership.
• Developing and reviewing the policies, directives, concepts and procedures behind military partnerships.
• Identifying, coordinating and tracking activities, programmes of work, exercises, experiments, training and engagements.
• Maintaining corporate memory: information and knowledge management, lessons identified, document traceability and quality assurance.
• Ensuring partnership activities and information sharing follow the applicable security policy.
• Preparing and executing key leader engagements - background papers, engagement strategies, read-ahead material, talking points.
• Travelling to meetings, conferences, workshops and exercises up to about thirty days a year.

Skills

Policy briefing

Defence cooperation

English proficiency

Education

Postgraduate degree in international relations, international security, international development or military studies

Job description

Relocation to the United States — Norfolk, Virginia. We provide the NATO-5 visa for you and your family.

This post is a full employment contract with our delivery partner, with the benefits that go with it — not a contractor or B2B arrangement. Agreeing to be employed is the first condition of the role.

A multinational defence organisation runs a wide programme of partnerships with nations outside the alliance. This role supports that branch end to end — coordination, staff work, policy and the preparation behind senior engagements.

What you would be doing

• Contributing to the activities, outputs and coordination rhythm of the partnerships branch.
• Acting as a central point of contact for partnership work strands across directorates.
• Developing briefings, point papers, speaking notes, reports and decision-support products for senior leadership.
• Developing and reviewing the policies, directives, concepts and procedures behind military partnerships.
• Identifying, coordinating and tracking activities, programmes of work, exercises, experiments, training and engagements.
• Maintaining corporate memory: information and knowledge management, lessons identified, document traceability and quality assurance.
• Ensuring partnership activities and information sharing follow the applicable security policy.
• Preparing and executing key leader engagements — background papers, engagement strategies, read-ahead material, talking points.
• Travelling to meetings, conferences, workshops and exercises up to about thirty days a year.

What you would bring

• A postgraduate degree in international relations, international security, international development or military studies.
• Experience in foreign affairs, international security, international cooperation or defence.
• Experience inside an alliance structure, another international organisation in a defence or security post, or a national defence ministry.
• Working knowledge of at least one of: partnerships, security sector reform, defence and security capacity building, defence planning, military cooperation.
• Demonstrated experience drafting for and briefing senior leaders — flag officers or their civilian equivalents.
• Fluent professional English.

This is a long engagement that renews year on year, not a short project.