Senior Cost Professional

The Senior Cost Professional will conduct life cycle cost estimating and analysis to support NATO's Digital Endeavour. The role involves developing cost estimates, performing risk analysis, supporting procurement and contract negotiations, and representing the Cost Estimating and Analysis team at NATO meetings.

Responsibilities

• Conduct Life Cycle Cost Estimating (LCCE) and analysis in liaison with other NCIA Business Areas and Portfolios, developing cost estimates for Type B Cost Estimates (TBCE) / Project Proposals (PP), Options Analysis, Investment Costs, Project Service Costs (PSC) and Internal Engineering Services (IES) costs, and Operations and Maintenance (O&M) and Services costs including Reliability, Availability and Maintainability (RAM).
• Develop cost trade-off proposals and conduct multi-criteria decision analysis to support procurement options and what-if scenarios.
• Perform quantitative risk analysis and estimate cost uncertainty and contingencies for Investment, PSC, IES, and Services and Support costs.
• Provide costing and financial inputs for developing Invitations for Bids (IFBs) and establishing Service Level Agreements (SLAs).
• Determine the price ranking or price scores of bids in international competitions and assess the price realism of bids.
• Assess the fairness and reasonableness of contractor prices to support contract negotiations and sole-source procurements, and perform audits of charges for services and supplies provided to NATO.
• Develop and maintain historical databases (e.g. labor, hardware and software costs) and advise on the acquisition and application of cost tools.
• Represent CEA at NATO meetings and conferences, and give briefings and presentations.
• At the Senior (G17) level, deputize for the Head of CEA when required, and bring extensive, independent expertise to the most complex estimates and analyses.

Requirements

• A Bachelor’s degree from a nationally recognized/certified university in a related discipline (such as Business Management, Economics or Mathematics), plus relevant post-graduation experience – a minimum of 3 years for the Senior Cost Professional (G17) role.
• Exceptionally, the absence of a university degree may be compensated by the demonstration of particular abilities or experience of interest to NCIA – that is, at least 10 years of extensive and progressive expertise in duties related to the function of the post.
• Experience in lifecycle cost estimating and analysis – extensive experience preferably for Defence, in fields directly applicable to NCIA’s programs, projects and services.
• Proven ability to work with professional lifecycle estimating tools for cost estimating and analysis; expertise in MS Excel and familiarity with other computer-based support tools including MS Word.
• Proven ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, with good briefing skills.
• A thorough knowledge of English (written and spoken) is essential; some knowledge of French is desirable.
• Professional certification in cost estimating or a related field is desirable.
• Experience with software development, IT systems & infrastructure, communication & network services, cyber security, command & control (C2) and ISR projects is desirable.
• Experience developing and analyzing delivery models (non-recurring, recurring and as-a-service) is desirable.
• Prior experience in an international military and civilian environment is desirable.
• Knowledge of NATO’s organization and bodies (including ACO and ACT) is desirable.
• Knowledge of NATO’s procedures for common-funded projects and services is desirable.

Skills

• Lifecycle Cost Estimating
• Cost Analysis
• Defence Cost Estimating
• MS Excel
• MS Word
• Cost Estimating Tools
• Risk Analysis
• Procurement Support
• Contract Negotiation
• Briefing Skills
• Cost Estimating Certification
• Software Development Knowledge
• IT Systems Knowledge
• Cybersecurity Knowledge
• Communication Network Services
• Command-and-Control Systems
• ISR Projects Knowledge
• Delivery Model Analysis
• Knowledge of NATO Procedures
• International Military Environment

Languages

English, French