Chief Technology Officer

1. OVERVIEW OF DIANA

The Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA) is NATOs newest body. From across the Alliance DIANA brings together innovators and operational end users to foster a transatlantic ecosystem supporting dual-use ground-breaking innovation in deep technologies.
DIANA is an independent NATO body comprised of an Allied Board of Directors and a management team - the DIANA Executive (DX). Operating out of regional offices in Europe and in North America the DX carries out DIANAs mission: accelerating deep tech dual-use solutions to critical transatlantic challenges in defence and security. The DX uses Challenge Programmes in line with a strategic direction as the primary vehicle to accomplish this mission.
We are seeking dynamic individuals who are eager to learn upskill and bring innovative thinking to our team. Ideal candidates will excel at thinking outside the box and collaborating effectively with a diverse range of colleagues from various backgrounds including different nationalities and levels of experience. By fostering a collaborative and inclusive environment you will play a crucial role in supporting and advancing DIANAs mission.
The DX operates as one team out of three locations the European Regional Office in London (United Kingdom) the North American Regional Office in Halifax (Canada) and the European Regional Hub in Tallinn (Estonia). DX staff will work in full integration with one another across locations to develop and implement DIANA activities.

2. OVERVIEW OF THE ROLE

The Chief Technology Officer (CTO) is a senior leadership role within DIANA responsible for leading DIANAs scientific and technological strategy and implementation.
Reporting to the Managing Director the CTO plays a central role in shaping DIANAs Challenge Programme identifying emerging dual-use technologies drafting the technical Strategic Direction in consultation with allied stakeholders and overseeing a team of technical experts who guide startups through DIANAs innovation process. The CTO will collaborate with the wider NATO Enterprise including senior stakeholders across the Alliance to help DIANA navigate the intersection of emerging technologies geopolitics and entrepreneurship. This will include building and leveraging a network of STEM-B experts and advisors and creating systems and opportunities that connect innovators with test centres and other critical resources.
The CTO is also responsible for overseeing the information technology systems and platforms that support the Challenge Programme as well as DIANAs internal functions. Overseeing a team of IT professionals and working in close coordination with NATO entities the CTO ensures all IT systems operate in alignment with NATO standards ensuring interoperability cyber security and efficient running of DIANAs enterprise and collaboration platforms to best serve all internal and external stakeholders.
In addition to their technical leadership the CTO acts as a cultural leader within DIANA managing and mentoring a team based across all three duty stations and fostering a culture that is inclusive diverse and motivated toward delivering world-class excellence.

Key duties of this role will include:

Leading the development of DIANAs Strategic Direction by engaging with technical SMEs key Allied stakeholders trusted capital community members as well as end users across the NATO Enterprise.
Overseeing the design and delivery of the Challenge Statements derived from the Strategic Direction and implementing a technology-enabled selection process that includes technical military and commercial expertise from across the Alliance.
Advising the DIANA Managing Director on the development and implementation of Opportune Activities that fall outside the scope of DIANAs Strategic Direction.
Helping develop steward and leverage the community of technical experts that supports startups as part of the DIANA Challenge Programme to further innovators technological development.
Operationalise and manage DIANAs network of test centres chair the TEVV Grant Award Committee and ensure innovators receive the support and facilities needed for technology validation.
Provide strategic oversight of DIANAs IT infrastructure ensuring secure interoperable systems that are aligned with NATO standards and capable of supporting an evolving programme delivery needs.
Build and maintain strong relationships with NATO entities (e.g. NCI Agency C3 Board NOS STO NIAG) and academic and scientific networks aligned to DIANAs mandate.
Hire manage and lead a high-performing team of diverse expertise in a hybrid work environment across three duty stations.
Steward resources responsibly by managing relevant team and project budgets service agreements and project milestones to ensure efficient cost-effective operations.
Represent the DX on NATO committees at public events and engagements with Allied nations academia and the innovation ecosystem.
Perform other duties as may be required.

3. ROLE REQUIREMENTS QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

ESSENTIAL

The incumbent must have:
Masters degree in a STEM (science technology engineering mathematics) field with at least 10 years of relevant technical experience
Minimum of 3 years of experience in a similar senior technical leadership role (e.g. Chief Engineer Chief Scientist or CTO).
Minimum 5 years experience in innovation programming (incubation acceleration and/or start-up focused) within dual-use deep-tech or defence ecosystems including successful tech-to-market transitions.
Minimum 5 years experience in a senior leadership role overseeing multi-disciplinary technical teams including responsibility for financial administrative and HR management.
Demonstrated leadership in engaging military and defence stakeholders with a strong understanding of operational requirements military capability development and innovation adoption pathways.
Familiarity with the management of academic/scientific labs test centres or technical evaluation environments.
Advanced understanding of IT infrastructure design and requirements with experience managing internal IT teams and systems.
Strong strategic communication networking negotiation and culture-building skills; demonstrated commitment to fostering teamwork diversity and customer-centric innovation.
Possess the following minimum levels of NATOs official languages (English/French): V (Advanced) in one; I (Beginner) in the other.

NOTE: Most of the DIANAs internal work is conducted in the English language.

DESIRABLE

The following would be considered an advantage:
PhD in a STEM field
Demonstrated experience working with or within Allied military organisations with insight into defence procurement and stakeholder engagement.
Familiarity with NATOs innovation agenda programmes and technology ecosystems.
Demonstrated experience leading in an innovative and/or technological start-up environment.
Experience in implementing agile management matrix management and goals setting processes systems and best practice within an organisation.
Project management certification (e.g. PMP PRINCE2).

4. WHAT WE OFFER

Genuinely meaningful work as part of the newest unit within the most successful alliance in history.
Tax-free salary.
Household and childrens allowances and privileges for expatriate staff including expatriation and educational allowances (where applicable) and additional home leave.
Excellent private health insurance scheme.
NATO pension scheme.
Generous annual leave of 30 days plus official holidays.
Flexible working conditions and a smoke-free office in London.
Opportunities for learning and development.

In accordance with the NATO Civilian Personnel Regulations the successful candidate will receive a definite duration contract of three years which may be followed by a three-year extension. The maximum period of service in this post is six years.
If the successful applicant is seconded from the national administration of one of NATOs member States a 3-year definite duration contract will be offered which may be renewed for a further period of up to 3 years subject to the agreement of the national authority concerned. The maximum period of service in the post as a seconded staff member is six years.

Appointment will be subject to receipt of a security clearance (provided by the national Authorities of the selected candidate) and approval of the candidates medical file by the NATO Medical Adviser.
Applicants who are not successful in this competition may be offered an appointment to another post of a similar nature albeit at the same or a lower grade provided they meet the necessary requirements.

NOTE: DIANA will not accept any phase of the recruitment and selection prepared in whole or in part by means of generative artificial-intelligence (AI) tools including and without limitation to chatbots such as Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer (Chat GPT) or other language generating tools. DIANA reserves the right to screen applications to identify the use of such tools. All applications prepared in whole or in part by means of such generative or creative AI applications may be rejected without further consideration at DIANAs sole discretion and DIANA reserves the right to take further steps in such cases as appropriate.

For more information on DIANA please visit our website.