2025-0148 L3 Application Support (COTS & Cloud Tech) (NS) - FRI 13 Jun RELAUNCH

RELAUNCHED SOW is updated with profile requirements. Previously proposed candidates were non-compliant for the following reasons:

• Has no required Atlassian background and sufficient knowledge in Cloud technologies that is key for the project;
• Has only knowledge in cloud technology which is not sufficient for our requirement.
• Project Manager with Infra background so not a match for our requirements
• ORACLE profile which is not our requirement

Deadline Date: Friday 13 June 2025

Requirement: L3 Application Support (COTS & Cloud Technologies)

Location: Braine-lAlleud BE

Full Time On-Site: Yes

Time On-Site: 100%

Period of Performance: 2025 BASE: As soon as possible but not later than 14th July 2025 31st December 2025 with the possibility to exercise following options:

2026 option 1: 01st January 2026 31st December 2026

2027 option 2: 01st January 2027 31st December 2027

2028 option 3: 01st January 2028 31st December 2028

2029 option 4: 01st January 2029 31st December 2029

Required Security Clearance: NATO SECRET

1 INTRODUCTION

The NCI Agency (hereafter referred to as the Purchaser) is seeking an L3 Application Support Engineer (COTS & Cloud Technologies) to provide ongoing support for the NBAC Business Area during the migration of on-premise applications to the cloud. This role will focus on ensuring continued L3 support for existing COTS applications while also offering expert guidance and consultation on cloud migration efforts when required.

2 OBJECTIVES

This Statement of Work aims to enhance the support model for NBAC-delivered services focusing on maintaining existing on-premise COTS applications while providing support during the assessment and migration to cloud infrastructure.

The ideal candidate should have:

• Expertise in COTS application deployment and support
• Strong background in cloud technologies (Azure/AWS)
• Proven experience in configuring and supporting Atlassian Jira Service Management with a solid understanding of other Atlassian products
• Strong analytical problem-solving and organizational skills
• The ability to document processes and provide training on tools and best practices.

3 SCOPE OF WORK

Under the direction / guidance of the local NCIA Service Delivery Manager or the NCIA Service Area Owner the following activities will be supported:

1) Atlassian Products configuration and automation (on-prem or private cloud)

a) Design implement and manage Atlassian products on Azure private cloud as well as on-prem. Jira Service Management (JSM) and Jira Software (JS) are the main products.

b) Ensure seamless integration with internal and external applications and systems.

2) Containerization and Kubernetes

a) Design implement and manage Kubernetes environment that run in private cloud environments

3) Cloud Configuration (Azure AWS)

a) Configure CI/CD Pipelines

b) Manage EntraID Groups and Roles

c) Manage and configure different Cloud components

4) COTS End-User Support:

a) Provide third-level support for end-user queries.

b) Troubleshoot and resolve software issues ensuring minimal disruption to users.

c) Troubleshoot and resolve software problems ensuring efficient use of resources and problem resolution.

5) Incident Logging and Tracking:

a) Log and track support incidents using the helpdesk ticketing system.

b) Ensure all tickets are updated with accurate and detailed information and resolved within the agreed service levels.

6) Escalation:

a) Escalate complex issues to vendor support or appropriate teams when necessary.

b) Follow up on escalated issues to ensure timely resolution and user satisfaction.

7) Knowledge Base Management:

a) Contribute to the creation and maintenance of a knowledge base documenting common issues and solutions.

b) Share knowledge and best practices with team members to improve overall service quality.

8) Technical:

a) Controlling managing and providing access to the restricted areas managed by the business area.

b) Ensuring the proper functionality and security of software and hardware managed by the NBAC.

c) Monitoring COTS Applications and other software managed by NBAC by identifying and reporting any problems with the infrastructure hardware and software applications.

d) Providing support to NBAC team for security approval and accreditation of software applications and CIS.

e) Controlling and checking compliance with security regulations laid down by NCIA and NATO on the use of software and hardware which is part of the NBAC services.

9) Communication and Collaboration:

a) Communicate effectively with users to understand their issues and provide clear instructions.

b) Collaborate with IT teams to resolve issues and improve service delivery.

We envision the above activities to be delivered by one resource/contractor that will be part of a team providing Technical Level 3 support to COTS Applications users.

The contractor will support in-person and on-call during core working hours (0and 1300 - 1700).

The measurement of execution for this work is sprints with each sprint being planned for a duration of 2 weeks.

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:

1. Sprint Planning:

Objective: Plan the objectives for the upcoming sprint.

Kick-off meeting: Conduct a monthly meeting with the contractor to plan the objectives of pcoming 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.

2. 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 physically in the office.

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.

3. 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.

4. Sprint Payment

For each 4 (four) sprints 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 4th 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 set of 4 sprints 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.

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 Project Manager mentioning briefly the work held and the development achievements during the sprint.

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.

4 DELIVERABLES AND PAYMENT MILESTONES

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: e-mail 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 stand-ups) 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 4 consecutive 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 a) including the EBA receipt number.

7) Invoices shall be accompanied with a delivery acceptance sheet (annex a) signed by the contractor and the NCIA POC

1.1 2025 BASE: PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE 14 JULY 2025 TO 31 DECEMBER 2025

Deliverable: Up to 15 sprints x two weeks support (Number of sprints will be adjusted based on actual starting date).

Payment Milestones: Upon completion of each second sprint and at the end of the work.

2026 Option 1: 01 January 2026 to 31 December 2026

Deliverable: Up to 23 sprints x two weeks support

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 second sprint and at the end of the work.

2027 Option 2: 01 January 2027 to 31 December 2027

Deliverable: Up to 23 sprints x two weeks support

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 second sprint and at the end of the work.

2028 Option 3: 01 January 2028 to 31 December 2028

Deliverable: Up to 23 sprints x two weeks support

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 second sprint and at the end of the work.

2029 Option 4: 01 January 2029 to 31 December 2029

Deliverable: Up to 23 sprints x two weeks support

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 second sprint and at the end of the work.

5 COORDINATION AND REPORTING

The contractor shall participate in daily status update meetings activity planning and other meetings as instructed physically in the office or in person via electronic means using Conference Call capabilities according to the Service Delivery Manager / Team Leaders 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.

6 SCHEDULE

It is expected the service starts as soon as possible but no later than 14 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.

All the deliverables of this project will be considered NATO UNCLASSIFIED while access to networks exceeding this classification level is required.

With this role being of technical nature providing administrative support a security clearance at the NATO Secret level is required prior to the start of the engagement.

9 PRACTICAL ARRANGEMENTS

The contractor will be required to provide services 100% on-site at Braine lAlleud Belgium.

Teleworking (working from own location in the country of the duty station) 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 as well as outside office hours and on weekends if necessary.

NCI Agency in Braine lAlleud Recognized Business hours/Holidays: NCI Agency in Braine lAlleud official holiday schedule applies and will be provided to the contractor.

NCI Agency in The Hague Operations: Monday to Thursdayand Friday(CET)

Contractor Furnished Services: Contractor shall furnish everything required to perform the contract except for the items specified and covered under NCIA Furnished Property and Services below.

NCIA Furnished Property and Services: Access to relevant networks and environments will be provided by NCIA

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

Work is to be performed on the NCI Agency network(s) and appropriate hardware and connectivity will be provided by the NCI Agency for the duration of this contract and is to be returned upon completion of the contract.

10 TRAVEL

There may be requirements to travel to other sites within NATO for completing these tasks for periods not exceeding 2 weeks.

Travel expenses 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 QUALIFICATIONS

See Requirements

11 QUALIFICATIONS

This role is critical for maintaining efficient IT support operations ensuring users receive timely and effective assistance with HR Applications services. The proposed person to deliver these services should be a motivated engineer with strong problem-solving skills full proficiency in English and a passion for customer service.

The consultancy support for this work requires an experienced Service Engineer (L3 Support) with the following qualifications:

1) Technical Proficiency:

• Expert knowledge of Linux server infrastructure and Windows server infrastructure.
• Expert knowledge in designing implementing and optimizing Jira Service Management projects including request types workflows screens fields security SLAs and automation rules.
• Expert knowledge in configuring and managing JSM portals.
• Strong experience with Advanced JQL (JIRA Query Language) for reporting filtering and dashboard creation.
• Understanding of JSM security best practices including project and global permissions.
• Deep knowledge of Software Programming Principles.
• Good knowledge of JAVA or Groovy Programming Language
• Good knowledge of Version Control Systems such as GIT.
• Good understanding of Microsoft Azure or Amazon AWS.
• Good knowledge of Microsoft Entra ID.
• Good knowledge of REST APIs for custom integrations.
• Good knowledge of Docker and Kubernetes technologies.
• Good knowledge of configuration of Continuous Integration (CI) and Continuous Deployment (CD) in Azure DevOps.
• Good knowledge of implementing monitoring and logging solutions such as Prometheus Grafana.
• Expert Knowledge of web servers such as IIS and Apache Web Server.
• Strong understanding of ITIL principles (Incident Problem Change Request Fulfilment Service Level Management) and their application in JSM projects.
• Good experience of the Agile Methodology.
• Expert knowledge of networking infrastructure.
• Expert knowledge of PKI.
• Deep understanding of security constraints and requirements in CIS.
• Deep understanding of NCIA and NATO security directives and regulations along with understanding of industry best practices and standards.
• Familiarity with Microsoft services and tools including Outlook Teams SharePoint.
• Experience in human resource (HR) IT applications related to personnel posts organisations identity management and badges;
• Experience (at least two years) in various areas of Software Engineering including some of the following: Requirements elicitation and management (including non-functional requirements for Operations & Maintenance); SW change management and testing; Application release and deployment management; Configuration management practices and tools; Application Lifecycle Management concept and tools.
• Knowledge of NATO HR processes;
• Knowledge and experience in state-of-the-art technologies relevant to software engineering: Technologies and standards (at least 4 of them): HTML5 REST Services Web
• Services XML SQL Visual Basic for Applications; Application server technologies and Relational data base management systems; programming languages and platforms like .NET C# JAVA Groovy JavaScript;

2) Problem-Solving Skills:

• Strong troubleshooting skills to diagnose and resolve hardware software and network issues.
• Ability to guide users through problem-solving steps effectively.

3) Communication and Interpersonal Skills:

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Full proficiency in English. French language proficiency is of advantage.
• Ability to communicate technical information to non-technical users in a clear and concise manner.

4) Customer Service Orientation:

• Strong customer service focus with a commitment to user satisfaction.
• Patience and empathy when dealing with user issues and concerns.

5) Organizational Skills:

• Ability to manage multiple support tickets and prioritize tasks effectively.
• Attention to detail in documenting support activities and maintaining accurate records.

6) Team Collaboration:

• Ability to work effectively as part of a team and share knowledge and resources.
• Willingness to collaborate with colleagues to solve complex issues.

7) Others:

• The candidate has strong customer relationship skills including negotiating complex and sensitive situations under pressure.
• The candidate must have the nationality of one of the NATO nations.
• The candidate must possess a NATO Secret Security Clearance or national equivalent.
• Prior experience of working in an international environment comprising both military and civilian elements;