Senior Analyst – Emerging and Disruptive Technologies (SECRET Clearance Required)

POSITION: Senior Analyst – Emerging and Disruptive Technologies

LOCATION: Norfolk, VA

SECURITY CLEARANCE: Secret

Background and Scope of Work

Analyzing Emerging and Disruptive Technologies (EDT) is a critical task for NATO to remain competitive, innovative, and operationally relevant in today's rapidly evolving security landscape. In relation to the NATO Warfare Capstone Concept (NWCC), the Warfare Development Agenda (WDA), and Technology Advantage, the requirement to understand, assess, and adopt EDT continues to evolve rapidly and requires dedicated analytical support. This support focuses on how emerging technologies can be applied within the military environment, including their relevance to current and future conflicts, and how they can be translated into practical examples, adoption pathways, and evidence based recommendations.

In accordance with the Alliance Warfare Development Agenda, the pursuit of Warfare Development Imperatives and Lines of Delivery depends on establishing and maintaining critical enablers, including data, agility, the right people with the right skills, persistent preparation, day zero integration, and technology advantage. Despite NATO's long standing technical and scientific superiority, the Alliance must continue to assess how competitors are closing the gap by improving their technologies and capabilities. NATO's success requires a deliberate and informed approach to using technology to create advantage. Technology Advantage is therefore a critical enabler of the NWCC and WDA, and its implementation requires personnel able to analyze EDT documentation, assess applicability in the military environment, and develop practical examples showing how such technologies may be adopted to meet the operational challenges of today and tomorrow.

Responsibilities

• Contribute to the identification of new Emerging and Disruptive Technologies (EDTs) and the cataloguing of existing ones.
• Contribute to the sustained assessment of EDT implications and adoption opportunities in support of the Warfare Development Agenda.
• Promote increased experimentation of EDT-based solutions in realistic environments.
• Provide and coordinate input to programming of EDT activities within the ACT S&T Program of Work, supporting ACT's foresight, NDPP, multinational solutions, capability development, training, and education efforts.
• Influence and exploit EDTs that address identified capability shortfalls and those that significantly impact available capabilities.
• Provide and coordinate input to the production and delivery of EDT advice that informs strategic foresight analysis efforts (SFA, FFAO), NATO defense planning (including NDPP Step 2), and subsequent capability and force development efforts, including capability requirements formulation, concept development and experimentation, and Analysis of Alternatives (AoA).
• Identify capability shortfalls that could benefit from adoption of EDTs by analyzing NDPP products and operational lessons learned, in coordination with other ACT staff.
• Educate HQ SACT staff on the opportunities and risks associated with EDTs.
• Organize and manage a knowledge base through sustained provision of the current status of EDT adoption for Warfare Development, enabling information exchange between ACT, NATO, and national EDT stakeholders.
• Serve as a member of the Innovation Branch under Multi-Domain Force Development, executing tasks and duties as directed by the Section Head, Science and Technology, or superiors, in support of projects, activities, and outputs related to the Branch's core tasks in the broader field of Science and Technology.

Essential Qualifications

• NATO Secret Security Clearance or national equivalent.
• A minimum of a Bachelor's degree from a nationally recognized or certified university in computer science, information and communication technology, or a closely related scientific or engineering discipline, plus four years of post-related experience. Candidates without a university degree may compensate through demonstrated abilities or experience of interest to ACT, requiring at least six years of extensive and progressive experience in duties related to the function of the post.
• Two years of experience in the acquisition, assembly, and interpretation of research and technology information.
• Knowledge of S&T information sources within nations, such as defense research laboratories, academic institutions, media, and defense ministries.
• Experience interpreting future S&T and EDT-related information to assess how such technologies may be applied within the military environment and adopted to address current and future operational challenges.
• Practical experience with PC office automation products, including the use of the internet for information research.
• Ability to conduct analytical work on EDT documentation, identify adoption pathways, and develop practical examples of how emerging technologies can be applied to the conflicts of today and tomorrow.
• Demonstrated proficiency in English as defined in STANAG 6001 (Standardized Linguistic Profile 3333: Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing) or equivalent.