2025-0146 Support Services for the ITM Recovery Project (NS) - TUE 27 May

Deadline Date: Tuesday 27 May 2025

Requirement: Project Support Services for the ITM Recovery Project

Location: BrainelAlleud BE

Full Time OnSite: Yes

Time OnSite: 100%

Period of Performance: As soon as possible but not later than 2 July 2025 until 31 December 2025 with possibility to exercise the following options:

2026 Option: 1 January until 31 December 2026

2027 Option: 1 January until 31 December 2027

2028 Option: 1 January until 31 December 2028

Required Security Clearance: NATO SECRET

1 INTRODUCTION

The ITM Recovery project is meant to replace the legacy Automated Information Systems (AIS) NS classification network with a modernized ITM Operational Network (ON) at NS across the NATO Command Structure (NCS). The project structure includes 14 Work Packages organized in 4 pillar teams with about 30 people interacting daily with each other and externally too.

2 OBJECTIVES

The objective in this SOW is the NCI Agency to receive specialized support as defined below:

Organize and maintain project activities tracking in JIRA

Support internal and external meetings including tracking actions

Manage SharePoint libraries documentation internal and external portals

3 SCOPE OF WORK

ITM Recovery Increment 1 Project is looking for a consultant to provide support services in the activities of the Project Office (PO). Duties will mainly focus on agile support (JIRA) and typical Project Office activities like dashboards progress reports meeting minutes stakeholder management and secondarily on Information and Knowledge Management (e.g. SharePoint portals).

Under the direction / guidance of the Project Office Manager (POM) or delegated staff the contractor will provide services in the following areas:

Project Office

Help organize and maintain the project activities tracking in JIRA.

Lead the administrative coordination of physical meetings with stakeholders preparing agendas documentation folders and the overall organization including in rare cases social events organization.

Support internal project meetings for the project Pillars

Documenting the action items in meetings and followsup with the relevant members of the project team

IKM

Manage SharePoint libraries internal and external portals and wiki pages;

Support the documentation custodian; maintain documentation configuration baselines and logs; maintain and implements the documentation change management process;

support documentation templates for reports official letters and other project documentation including contractual artefacts

Manages permission levels for project team members to project portals support to SharePoint (SP) utilization.

Enter/update data in SharePoint JIRA ServiceNow.

Manage stakeholder (lists privileges communication)

Reporting

Tracking monitoring and reporting on project progress for various stakeholder reporting.

Construct and maintain data structures for reporting using Microsoft applications (mainly Excel PowerBI)

Assist the PO in tracking and forecasting costs

Reporting to project management team in intervals as requested.

Performs other PO related duties as required.

The contractor will be part of a team and will provide services using an Agile and iterative approach during multiple sprints. Each sprint is planned for a duration of 1 month. The content and scope of each sprint will be agreed during the sprintplanning meeting in writing.

Due to the AGILE approach of this project there is a need to define a set of specific arrangements between the NCIA and the contractor that specifically defines the deliverables to be provided for each sprint as well as their associated acceptance criteria. This includes sprint planning execution and review processes which are detailed below:

Sprint Planning:

Objective: Plan the objectives for the upcoming sprint

Kickoff meeting: Conduct a monthly meeting with the contractor to plan the objectives of upcoming sprints and review contractors manpower to meet the agreed deliverables.

Set sprint goals: Define clear achievable goals for the sprint and associated acceptance criteria including specific delivery targets Quality standards as well as Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for each task to be recorded in the sprint meeting minutes.

Agree on the required level of effort for the various sprint tasks.

Backlog Review: Review and prioritise the backlog of tasks issues and improvements from previous sprints.

Assess each payment milestone cycle duration of one calendar month. State of completion and validation of each sprint status and sign off sprints to be submitted for payment as covered in Section 4.

Sprint Execution:

Objective: Contractor to execute the agreed sprint plans with continuous monitoring and adjustments.

Regular meetings between NCIA and the contractor to review sprint progress address issues and make necessary adjustments to the processes or production methodology.

The Meetings will be conducted physically in the office or remotely with NCIA electronic means as planned by the POM.

Continuous improvement: Contractor to establish a continuous feedback loop to gather input from all stakeholders for ongoing improvements and their subsequent implementation depending on NCIA approval.

Progress Tracking: Contractor to use a shared dashboard or tool to track the status of the sprint deliveries and any issues.

Quality Assurance/Quality Check: Contractor shall ensure that the quality standards agreed for the sprint deliverables are maintained throughout the sprint.

Quality Control: NCIA to perform the Final Quality Control of the agreed deliverables and provide feedback on any issues.

Sprint Review:

Objective: Review the sprint performance and identify areas for improvement.

At the end of each sprint there will be a meeting between the NCIA and the Contractor to review the outcomes against the acceptance criteria comprising sprint goals agreed quality criteria and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).

Define specific actions to address issues and enhance the next sprint.

Sprint Payment:

For each sprint to be considered as complete and payable the contractor must report the outcome of their work during the sprint first verbally during the retrospective sprint review meeting and then in writing within five days after the sprints end date. A report must be sent by email to the NCIA service manager listing all the work achieved against the agreed tasking list set for the sprint.

The contractors payment for each sprint will be depending upon the achievement of agreed Acceptance Criteria for each task defined at the sprint planning stage. This will include specific delivery targets quality standards as well as Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for each task.

The payment shall be dependent upon successful acceptance as set in the above planning/review meetings. This will follow the payment milestones that shall include a completed Delivery Acceptance Sheet (DAS) (Annex A) including the EBA Receipt number

Invoices shall be accompanied with a Delivery Acceptance Sheet (DAS) (Annex A) signed by the Contractor and project authority.

If the contractor fails to meet the agreed Acceptance criteria for any task the NCIA reserves the right to withhold payment for that task/sprint.

Further the supplier must conduct the following reviews:

A daily touch point between NCIA POC and the suppliers POC to ensure work is on track

Draft versions of the reports where the suppliers POC presents the draft report to the customer with the opportunity for the customer to provide feedback and implement uplifts.

Final versions of the reports where the incumbent presents and delivers the final report to the customer.

4 DELIVERABLES AND PAYMENT MILESTONES

The contractor will deliver the following products

A JIRA project for the ITM RC1 project requirements to include risks issues decisions actions dependencies.

Meetings minutes including agendas documentation folders and overall organization

Social events organization.

Tracking follow up and reports on the previous deliverables

IKM

Updates to the customer SharePoint internal and external portals to include libraries web apps lists wiki pages;

Uploads and updates to project documentation; documentation configuration baselines and logs; reports official letters and other project documentation including contractual artefacts

Documentation change management process; support documentation templates

Updates to project team members permission levels including external stakeholder.

Enter/update data in SharePoint JIRA ServiceNow.

Reporting

Tracking monitoring and reports on project progress based on data that NCIA will provide.

Construct and maintain data structures for reporting using Microsoft applications (mainly Excel PowerBI)

Assist the PO in tracking and forecasting costs

Reporting to project management team in intervals as requested.

Other PO related deliverables as agreed during the monthly sprints.

The following are expected from this statement of work:

1) Complete the activities/tasks agreed in each spring meeting as per sections 2 and 3 above.

2) Produce sprint completion reports (format: email update) which include details of activities performed and the list of the deliverables of the week.

3) The contractor will participate in the daily reporting and planning activities (daily standups) as well as the required participation in workshops events and conferences related to the supported services as requested by the service delivery manager.

4) Payment schedule will be according to payment milestones upon completion of each sprints. Upon completion and validation of each sprint and at the end of the monthly milestone following the acceptance of the sprint report.

5) The NCIA team reserves the possibility to exercise a number of options based on the same scrum deliverable timeframe at a later time depending on the project priorities and requirements.

6) The payment shall be dependent upon successful acceptance of the sprint report and the delivery acceptance sheet (DAS) (annex B).

7) Invoices shall be accompanied with the aforementioned DAS signed by the contractor and the NCIA POC

2025 BASE: PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE 1 JULY 2025 TO 31 DECEMBER 2025

Deliverable: up to 6 Sprints containing all deliverables in section 5 (Number of sprints will be adjusted based on actual starting date.)

Payment Milestones: Upon completion of each sprint acceptance

2026 OPTION: PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE 01 JANUARY 2026 TO 31 DECEMBER 2026

Deliverable: Up to 12 Sprints

Cost Ceiling: Price will be determined by applying the price adjustment formula as outlined in CO115786 AAS Special Provisions article 6.5.

Payment Milestones: Upon completion of each sprint acceptance

2027 OPTION: PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE 01 JANUARY 2027 TO 31 DECEMBER 2027

Deliverable: Up to 12 Sprints

Cost Ceiling: Price will be determined by applying the price adjustment formula as outlined in CO115786 AAS Special Provisions article 6.5.

Payment Milestones: Upon completion of each sprint acceptance

2028 OPTION: PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE 01 JANUARY 2028 TO 31 DECEMBER 2028

Deliverable: Up to 12 Sprints

Cost Ceiling: Price will be determined by applying the price adjustment formula as outlined in CO115786 AAS Special Provisions article 6.5.

Payment Milestones: Upon completion of each sprint acceptance

5 COORDINATION AND REPORTING

The contractor shall participate in daily status update meetings sprint planning sprint retrospectives and other meetings physically in the office or in person via electronic means using Conference Call capabilities according to project managers instructions.

For each sprint to be considered as complete and payable the contractor must report the outcome of his/her work during the sprint first verbally during the retrospective meeting and then in written within three (3) days after the sprints end date. The format of this report shall be a short email to the NCIA Point of Contact mentioning briefly the work held and the development achievements during the sprint.

The contractor shall organize and/or participate in Project Office meetings or any other ITM meetings when asked by the PO physically in the office or in person via an electronic means according to project managers instructions.

The Contractor shall agree weekly with the PO a schedule of work products and delivery dates which will form the basis of the monthly deliverables report.

The monthly deliverables report will support the monthly invoicing.

Purchaser Furnished Equipment: Purchaser will provide to the Contractor staff standard IT work position setup to allow access to the necessary networks IT systems and tools. The Contractor staff shall follow Purchases policies procedures and take due care of the Purchaser furnished equipment.

Access to relevant environments and licenses to commercial third party libraries required to perform the contract will be provided by NCIA.

At the end of the project the Contractor shall provide a Project Closure Report that is summarizing the activities during the period of performance at high level.

6 SCHEDULE

It is expected the service starts as soon as possible but no later than 1 July 2025 and ending no later than 31 December 2025.

If the 2026 option is exercised the period of performance is 01 January 2026 to 31 December 2026

If the 2027 option is exercised the period of performance is 01 January 2027 to 31 December 2027

If the 2028 option is exercised the period of performance is 01 January 2028 to 31 December 2028

7 CONSTRAINTS

All the deliverables provided under this statement of work will be based on NCI Agency templates or agreed with the project point of contact.

All code scripts documentation etc. will be stored under configuration management and/or in the provided NCI Agency tools.

8 SECURITY

Delivering services under this SoW requires a valid NATO SECRET security clearance.

Any resource proposed for this SOW requires valid NATO SECRET security clearance prior to the start of the engagement.

The vast majority of the deliverables of this project will be considered NATO UNCLASSIFIED while work will be performed on the NCIA NATO Restricted network.

Access to NS classification level material cannot be excluded and the purchaser will facilitate that when and if required.

9 PRACTICAL ARRANGEMENTS

This is a deliverablesbased contract.

The contractor will be required to work 100% on site NCI Agency BraineLAlleud (BEL) that will in clued one day per week . on site NCI Agency Mons (BEL)

Exceptional teleworking activities to support service delivery can also be arranged with the line managers coordination and approval.

The work will be conducted during normal office hours following the Braine lAlleud calendar

NCIA Recognised Business hours: NCIA BraineLAlleud of Operations: Monday to Thursdayand Friday(CET)

The work depicted in this SOW is expected to be carried by a SINGLE RESOURCE.

10 TRAVEL

The contractor will in principle not be required to travel. Occasionally travel to the other main NCI Agency locations (Mons (BEL) Brussels (BEL) and other sites within NATO for completing these tasks may be requested and performed under agreement.

Travel expenses to the NCI Agency locations within BELGIUM will not be separately reimbursed.

The Travel expenses that are out of scope and will be borne by the NCI Agency separately in accordance with Article 5.5 of AAS Framework Contract and within the limits of the NCIA Travel Directive.

11 CONTRACTORS PROFILE REQUIREMENTS

See Requirements

8 SECURITY

• Any resource proposed for this SOW requires valid NATO SECRET security clearance prior to the start of the engagement.

11 CONTRACTORS PROFILE REQUIREMENTS

For the execution of this contract the following qualifications are required:

(please provide recommendation letters proof or examples of work done/experience)

• Proficiency and proven experience in using JIRA Agile Kanban
• Thorough knowledge of the English language both written and spoken is essential; with ability to write concise texts / instructions for different audiences; the consultant shall be fluent in English corresponding to standard 3333 (listening speaking reading and writing).
• Proficiency and experience in organizing meetings taking minutes and draft comprehensive summaries.
• Good Knowledge and experience in managing Microsoft SharePoint portals; in particular building pages adding web apps linking lists to MS DB and Excel etc.
• Good Knowledge and experience in project management software (eg Microsoft Project Service NOW);
• Proficiency in the use of Microsoft Office Suite. During interviews question will be asked on pivot tables MS DB relational tables MS word styles etc
• At least five (5) years experience in project management support.
• Good Knowledge of project management principles practices and procedures.
• A recognized Project Management certification such as Prince2 or PMP.
• Good knowledge of configuration management principles and processes
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with stakeholders with positive attitude