Contract & Procurement Specialist

Spektrum supports apex purchasers (NATO, UN, EU and National Government and Defence) and their Tier 1 supplier ecosystem with a wide range of specialist services. We provide our clients with professional services, specialised aerospace and defence sales, delivery, and operational subject matter expertise. We are looking for personnel to join our team and support key client projects.

Who we are supporting

Allied Command Transformation (ACT) is NATO’s leading agent for change: driving, facilitating, and advocating the continuous improvement of Alliance capabilities to maintain and enhance the military relevance and effectiveness of the Alliance. The main objectives of ACT are: providing appropriate support to NATO missions and operations; leading NATO military transformation; and improving relationships, interaction and practical cooperation with partners, nations and international organisations. ACT therefore leads Alliance concept development, capability development, training and lessons-learned initiatives and provides unfettered military support to policy development within NATO.

The program 

Capability Development & Management Support (CDMS)

DCOS Capability Development (CAPDEV) acts as the Supreme Allied Commander Transformation's Director for guidance, direction and coordination of the activities and resources of the Capability Development Directorate.

The Requirements Division will execute all tasks and activities needed to support requirements management for NATO capabilities

The Capability Requirements (CR) Branch will develop the Capability Requirements Brief and recommended courses of action to resolve issues through the life cycle management of requirements using matrixed, cross-functional project-specific Requirements Management teams.

The Requirements Forward Branch (Mons) is responsible for conducting requirements development and management representation and engagement-related functions in Europe.

The Capability Division coordinates the development of capabilities from capability planning through acceptance and then disposal with management entities, NATO Headquarters staff and the NATO Governance Structure

The Capability Forward Branch (Mons) coordinates with ACO, NCIA, NSPA, NATO HQ, territorial Host Nations, and NATO Centres of Excellence (COEs) to support the development of capabilities.

Strategic Plans and Policy (SPP) supports Allied Command Transformation in formalizing military advice to shape future military strategy, political guidance, and other policy documents supporting NATO’s strategic objectives.

Role ID: ACT-CDMS-27-01-A-LC24

Role Duties and Responsibilities

• Support the Contracting Officer across the full procurement lifecycle, including the development of acquisition plans, Statement of Work (SOW) reviews, proposal evaluations, contract reports and documentation, and industry debriefs for competitive solicitations.
• Track and validate industry submissions in response to Requests for Information (RFIs), and coordinate and publish questions and answers from industry.
• Assist the Contracting Officer in tracking and executing contracts and agreements for conferences, workshops and other events.
• Act as contracting specialist for purchases under 40K, requesting quotes and formalising purchase orders in coordination with the Contracting Officer.
• Perform contract administration tasks, including preparing contractor administrative documentation (e.g. visa letters), monitoring contractor compliance, and processing contract amendments and invoicing.
• Create purchase orders for awarded contracts, ensuring all supporting documents are collected and filed in accordance with the contract file management plan.
• Prepare and coordinate requests for deviation from the standard method of procurement when appropriate.
• Maintain contractor databases to support invoicing, tracking, exercising of option periods and other data requests.
• Process invoices and contract close-out for all assigned contracts in coordination with the Contracting Officer.
• Support the Contracting Officer in processing Foreign Military Sales (FMS) cases and Acquisition Cross-Servicing Agreements (ACSA).
• Assist the Contracting Officer with data entry and contract execution for authorised projects under the NATO Security Investment Programme (NSIP).
• Assist the Contracting Officer with annual reviews of active contracts to confirm their currency and continuation.
• Enter procurement information into the organisation’s procurement database as required.
• Perform additional procurement-related tasks as directed by the client.

Essential Skills, Experience and Certifications

• Bachelor’s degree (4-year) in a business-related field, or a degree in an unrelated field combined with a DAWIA Level II contracting certification or equivalent (e.g. NCMA, CIPS). A Master’s degree in a business-related field and a DAWIA Level III certification (or equivalent) are strongly preferred.
• Minimum 5 years’ demonstrable experience working in procurement and/or contracting, conducting a full range of contracting activities (9+ years strongly preferred).
• Minimum 2 years’ demonstrable experience working across the pre-award, award and post-award phases of competitively awarded contracts, interpreting and applying statutes, regulations, policies and procedures (5+ years strongly preferred).
• Minimum 1 year of demonstrated experience in Statement of Work (SOW) development, translating user requirements into tangible, measurable outcomes (4+ years strongly preferred).
• Minimum 1 year of demonstrated experience working closely with cross-functional teams and facilitating collaboration across technical, financial and operational domains (4+ years strongly preferred).
• Demonstrated experience with contract administration and management.
• Minimum 2 years of demonstrated experience translating complex procurement requirements into actionable timelines, strategies and execution (5+ years strongly preferred).
• Fluent in English (written and oral).

Desirable Skills, Experience and Certifications

• Experience conducting procurement within a NATO command.
• Experience with NATO Security Investment Programme (NSIP) procurement.
• Experience with CIRIS or other NATO procurement database systems.
• Experience with the NATO Financial System (Oracle-based) FINs.
• Familiarity with NATO-specific procurement rules and requirements.
• Experience with Agile procurement strategies, including minimum viable products (MVPs), sprints and prototypes.
• Previous experience holding a contracting warrant.

Working Location

• Norfolk, VA, United States.

Working Policy

• On-site.

Contract Duration

• January 2027 – December 2031

Security Clearance

• Valid National or NATO Secret personal security clearance