Section Head (Core Business)

Our Requirement:

Title: Section Head (Core Business)

Grade: 17

Duty Location: Brunssum the Netherlands

Closing date for applications: 24 May 2026

Our organisation

Joint Force Command Brunssum (JFCBS) provides a Joint headquarters to plan prepare and conduct operations to support NATOs core tasks at the Joint Operational level as directed by SACEUR. The Finance Directorate (J8) drafts manages and executes the HQ and supported entities allocated budgets as well as accounts purchases and contracts goods and services. It provides financial advice to COM and executes HQ-wide internal financial control functions. It develops and maintains the situational awareness of financial and contractual aspects in the planning process. The Finance and Accounting Branch (FAB) provides accounting services and financial management to the HQ and supported entities. It reviews authorises and records all financial transactions related to international approved credits and authorised reimbursable activities. It provides advice on all finance and accounting matters and manages duty travel. The Core Business Section is responsible for all financial and accounting activities related to international multi-national credits NATO Security Investment Programme (NSIP) projects and reimbursable activities by reviewing authorizing and recording all commitments of funds invoices travel claims AR invoices (collection vouchers). The incumbent is responsible for directing managing daily operations related to the Core Business Section and provides the Branch Head with financial management advice and analysis.

The main duties of Section Head (Core Business) are:

Oversee and direct processing of commitments payments and collections.

Provide leadership and direction to the Accounts Payable (AP) Accounts Receivable (AR) and Travel Fiscal staff fostering collaboration and continuous improvement.

Ensure timely vendor payments while optimizing cash flow manages vendor relations to resolve payment issues and reconciles AP with the general ledger monthly.

Ensure accurate client invoicing manage collections to minimize bad debt and reconciles AR with the general ledger monthly.

Review and approve employee travel requests and claims ensuring they align with company policies and include accurate documentation. Oversee timely reimbursement payments and maintain comprehensive travel expense records for compliance and reporting.

Direct routine and coordinate fiscal/accounting matters with other staff elements and headquarters other NATO activities and national agencies.

Develop and maintain AP and AR policies controls and procedures to safeguard the organizations finances. Actively participate in the establishment of the HQ finance and accounting policy.

Control the accounts of the HQ and supports for the preparation of the annual financial statements.

Advise the Branch Head (Finance & Accounting) on finance and on financial accounting -ordinate in the preparation of appropriate financial annexes to exercises and operational plans.

When appropriate provide co-ordination of the finance and accounting activities of subordinate headquarters.

Develop and prepare consolidated commitment reports for all funding sources including supplemental and special operations budgets.

Responsible for the preparation of related reports showing budget allocations commitments expenditures collections and outstanding commitments.

Perform analysis and carry out studies of operations from a financial perspective to achieve maximum effective utilization of resources.

Use initiative to identify and implement solutions fostering productive and collaborative relationships in financial operations.

Undertake work as part of a project team or working group member as directed or assigned.

Proactively participate in defining mitigating and managing the risks within the functional area of responsibility in the Finance Directorate/J8 and actively contributes to implement and maintain the internal control framework of the Finance Directorate/J8.

The incumbent may be required to undertake deployments in support of military operations and exercises and/or TDY assignments both within and without NATO boundaries. Such operational deployment may exceed 30 days duration up to 183 days in any period of 547 days and may be on short notice. For NATO International Civilian Staff acceptance of an employment contract linked to this post constitutes agreement to deploy in excess of 30 days if required.

Required Qualifications are:

Ø English good NATO Standard Language Proficiency 3333

(Listening Speaking Reading and Writing) in accordance with NATO standard agreement (STANAG) 6001.

NOTE: The work both oral and written in this post and in this Headquarters as a whole is conducted mainly in English.

Ø University Degree or equivalent in accounting finance management business administration public administration or related field / discipline

(equivalentis Higher Secondary Education AND completed advanced vocational training in relevant field leading to a professional certification or accreditation).

Ø Minimum 4 years professional experience in a similar accounting role with responsibilities covering accounts payable accounts receivable general ledger and financial travel management.

Ø Minimum 2 years supervisory experience including managing and mentoring staff.

Ø Experience using financial software such as Oracle or SAP dealing with General Ledgers and Sub Ledgers.

Ø Experience supporting and preparing financial statements.

Desirable Qualifications are:

Ø Experience in Finance and Accounting in NATO.

Ø In-depth knowledge of Excel.

Ø Experience with the NATO Automated Financial System (NAFS).

Ø Experience applying International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS).

Ø Internationally recognized professional accountancy qualification (eg Certified Public Accountant Certified Management Accountant Association of Chartered Certified Accountants Chartered Institute Management Accountants IPSAS or equivalent).

Theselected candidate must be able to obtain andmaintaina security clearance andis required topass a medical examination before an employment contract offeris released. The medical examination will take place with our medical consultant;it isrequiredtodetermineif the recommended candidate is fit to perform the duties and is deployable to NATOs areas of operation.

Due date for receipt of applications:Sunday 24 May 2026: 23:59.

Candidateshave toapply electronically in NATO Talent Acquisition Program:

be aware that a Selection Board willonlyassess the information provided in the job submission form including the answers to the pre-screening questions and description of your work experiences. Your answersmustbe comprehensive and stand alone; do not rely on attached documents foressential information(Attachments are supporting documents and should not be referred to in the job submission). For example if a pre-selection question asks you to justify how you meet the minimum experience requirement youmustexplicitly detail in the answer boxhowyour experience directly aligns with or exceeds the stated requirement. Simplystatingyou meet the requirement is insufficient; provide concrete examples and quantifiable details.These experiences should also be included in the description of your work experiences.

Only candidates meetingALLessential required qualifications will be considered and be assessed in competition with other candidates.

Please note that NATO 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. NATO 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 NATOs sole discretion and NATO reserves the right to take further steps in such cases as appropriate.