2025-0306 AFN/AFS Governance & Management Instantiation (NS) - TUE 28 Oct

Deadline Date: Tuesday 28 October 2025

Requirement: AFN/AFS Governance & Management Instantiation

Location: Braine-l’Alleud, BE

Full Time On-Site: Yes

Time On-Site: 100%

Not to Exceed: No NTE

Period of Performance: 2 January to 31 December 2026 - 20 hours per week.

Required Security Clearance: NATO SECRET

A-1 Overall Project Scope

The Alliance Federation Network (AFN) and Alliance Federation Services establishes a federated network that integrates the NATO Enterprise, NATO Nations, NATO Force Structures, and Multinational Entities across the Alliance. NCIA is the primary contractor to deliver the AFN/AFS Federation with NATO Nations on behalf of NATO Digital Staff, Brussels This integration facilitates the interconnection of Alliance Federated Participants (AFP) to the AFN by encompassing a range of technical services, including Communications, the Core Services, the Community of Interest (COI) Services, the Service Management and Control (SMC) and Communication and Information Systems (CIS) Security.

The AFN is a NATO Enterprise-driven and Nations-enabled initiative to build a modern, coherent, transparent and effective CIS platform for delivering and consuming C3 services across the Alliance. It evolves the current NATO Enterprise-centric Alliance-wide network (NS WAN) into a broader and distributed network of networks, building upon the model of the Internet and specifications developed under the Federation Mission Networking (FMN) framework.

The project will instantiate the Governance & Management structure to realise the intended AFN/AFS aims as stated above.

A-2 Objective

The company shall provide subject matter expertise to support the instantiation of a Governance & Management Support Structure in respect to change management & control across the Federation

A-3 Scope of work

Provide subject matter expertise to support IT change management across the 32 NATO Nations also known as Alliance Federated Partners (AFPs) and NCIA;

The SME will support the following:

a. Provides status reports for implemented IT service changes to the AFS Service Management Working Group.

b. Generate forward schedule of change for publication to all AFPs.

c. Chair the AFS Change Advisory Board and provide agenda and minutes.

d. Provide Request for Change guidance and direction to AFPs.

e. Assesses, analyses, develops, documents and implements changes based on requests for change.

f. Ensures that operational processes are in place for effective change control.

g. Describes major AFS change phases, checkpoints and deliverables

h. Develops, configures and maintains tools to manage and report on the lifecycle of change requests.

i. Identifies problems and issues and recommend corrective actions.

j. Documents the procedures and changes made in IT service.

k. Ensures Service Management tooling i.e. ITSM is ready to support change management & control

l. Identifies risks and vulnerabilities, assesses their impact and probability, develops mitigation strategies and reports to the business.

m. Involves specialists and domain experts as necessary.

The SME shall engage and interact with stakeholders from all AFPs/NCIA;

A-4 Deliverables

The following table provides the deliverables under this contract. The deliverables are derived from the requirements of the overall project. The deliverables are also grouped into payment milestones which is given in Section-B

D.1 Implementation: change management and control interfaces

D.1.1 The Contractor shall carry out all relevant tasks for the change management and control activities as described above

D.1.2 Initiate the first AFS Change Advisory Board (CAB) and timetable

D.1.3 Provide a forward schedule of change to include AFP joining and changes to the standing baseline.

D.1.4 Ensure Change Tooling is ready to handle AFS generated changes; create generic and emergency templates

D.1.5 Provide change (CAB) reports to Service Management, Service Engineering, Assurance & Validation and Executive Working Groups

D.1.10 Track the application and technology baseline, recording changes to it.

D.1.11 Guide and direct AFPs in correct change management practice and procedure.

D.1.13 Provide a register of AFP Change SMEs

D.1.14 Provide information management articles on change management for AFPs

• Deployment Plan

• Change Request Submission

• Change Lifecycle

A-5 Specific Expertise Required

The following highly specialist expertise will be required for the execution of this contract:

One (1) SMC Subject Matter Expert (SME) part-time for AFS Change Manager role.

A-6 Required Skills, Knowledge & Experience

[See Requirements]

A-7 Security Clearance

All personnel assigned to this contract by the Contractor are required to hold a valid NATO SECRET security clearance for the duration of the contract period of performance.

A-8 Period of Performance

The Contractor will perform all activities and tasks to achieve the deliverables during the period between 2 Jan to 31 Dec 2026 – 20 hours per week.

A-9 Place of Performance

Services under this SOW will be performed at the following NCIA sites:

Braine l’Alleud, Belgium

Travel:

The cost of travel and subsistence in/to the Duty Location shall be included in the bidders’ quote.

The consultant may be required to travel to other NCIA locations other than the stated duty location where required by the project. NCIA shall cover the costs of such travel in accordance with the NCI Agency’s prevailing travel policy at the time of travel and AAS+ framework contract provisions.

A-10 Language of Performance

All work under this contract, both oral and written, is conducted in English.

Proficiency in the English language (listening, speaking, reading and writing) is required.

Annex B – Special Terms and Conditions

B-1 Special Terms

• This Contract requires personnel with highly specialist skills to execute and complete the work.
• The Contractor shall ensure Contractor’s personnel to hold valid NATO SECRET security clearances for the duration of the contract period of performance, and shall submit these documentation to Purchaser.
• The Contractor shall provide the professional information to the Purchaser regarding the proposed candidate personnel and shall arrange the requested interviews by the Purchaser
• The Purchaser will interview the proposed personnel
• Services related to the Contract shall be performed on-site at the Duty Location indicated.
• Travel to the Duty Location shall be included in the price of this Contract.
• Office space and computer equipment shall be provided by NCI Agency at the specified Duty Location.
• Extraordinary travel (Purchaser Directed Travel) may be required to other NATO or non-NATO locations as necessary. Purchaser directed travel to non-Duty locations shall be subject to AAS+ framework contract provisions and current NCI Agency Travel Directive.
• NATO shall retain the intellectual property rights for all products developed in relation to this contract.
• During the contract execution, due to interdependencies with other Work Packages, NCIA reserves the right to re-align the deliverables and associated delivery dates if the project so requires. The adjustment(s) will be within the scope of the contract and without exceeding the total value of the contract and shall be executed through a bilateral contract amendment.

B-2 Obligations on the Contractor and / or any Contractor’s Personnel

Below are the Contractor’s obligations required under this Contract:

• In the performance of all work under this Contract, it shall be the Contractor's responsibility to ascertain and comply with all applicable NATO security regulations as implemented by the local Security Officer.
• The Contractor’s personnel shall provide services under all reasonable conditions as agreed between the Contractor and the Purchaser.
• The Contractor’s personnel may not be voluntarily diverted by the Contractor to perform work outside of the Contract.
• The Contractor shall provide services as an integral part of the Purchaser’s delivery team.
• The Contractor’s personnel shall take direction from the appointed Purchaser Project Manager, or the designated alternate, and Technical Lead.
• The Contractor’s personnel shall abide by the project plan, schedules and priorities as dictated by the Purchaser’s appointed Project Manager and Technical Lead.
• The Contractor shall follow the Project Manager and Technical Lead’s directions with respect to project rhythms, status, and other reporting requirements related to project progress.
• The Contractor shall abide by the requirements outlined in the project’s Requirements Traceability Matrix (RTM).
• The Contractor’s personnel shall review the project’s RTM, as per the Technical Lead’s directions, and abide to its contents for the implementation of the work under this Contract.
• The Contractor shall support the Purchaser in the necessary tasks for the implementation of a Change and Configuration Management toolset for project use.
• The Contractor shall review and provide written feedback on various Purchaser produced documentation, including but not limited to project schedule, high level designs, detailed designs, as built documentation, and training material.
• The Contractor’s personnel shall interface with other teams as required for the correct execution of this Contract.
• The Contractor shall submit any required change requests as necessary, using the Purchaser furnished equipment and processes.

B-3 Obligations on Purchaser

The Purchaser shall:

• Provide identification to all Contractor personnel who have at least a NATO Secret Clearance to allow them unescorted access within Purchaser facilities;
• Provide the Contractor’s personnel with office space and furniture;
• Provide the Contractor’s personnel with materials for NATO SECRET network access, where required, and materials for NATO RESTRICTED network access with internet access functionality;
• Inform the Contractor’s personnel of any major changes / issues that may affect the contract deliverables.
• Provide the Contractor’s personnel with instruction and guidance (within the limits of this scope of work), certification of task execution, processing CIS requests.
• Prioritise execution of tasks assigned to the Contractor personnel as per the current contract. The work to be performed will be mutually agreed with the Purchaser identified project team on a weekly basis and shall depend on the project activities and needs.
• Countersign the Delivery Acceptance Sheet(s) confirming that the work completed by the Contractor’s personnel is satisfactory and acceptable for payment.
• In some circumstances, e.g. absence, some of the activities listed above may be delegated.

B-4 Delivery and Payment Schedule

• This requirement is for the deliverables laid out in section D ‘Deliverables’.
• Payment will be made based on the milestones indicated below. The Payment Milestones are based on the phases and progression of the overall project’s plan and schedules, as dictated by the Purchaser, and include a set of the Deliverables (Ref. Section A) that the Contractor is expected to have completed.

B-4.1 Base contract

Item P1: Payment Milestone: Quarterly Update Report

Completed Deliverables: D.1. Sub-set

Timetable Target: 3 months (The estimated timelines are based on calendar months, not working days.)

Value (% of total base contract): 25%

Item P2: Payment Milestone: Quarterly Update Report

Completed Deliverables: D.1. Sub-set

Timetable Target: 6 months (The estimated timelines are based on calendar months, not working days.)

Value (% of total base contract): 25%

Item P3: Payment Milestone: Quarterly Update Report

Completed Deliverables: D.1. Sub-set

Timetable Target: 9 months (The estimated timelines are based on calendar months, not working days.)

Value (% of total base contract): 25%

Item P4: Payment Milestone: Quarterly Update Report

Completed Deliverables: D.1. Sub-set

Timetable Target: 12 months (The estimated timelines are based on calendar months, not working days.)

Value (% of total base contract): 25%

Invoices shall be accompanied with a Delivery Acceptance Sheet (Annex C), signed by the relevant project authority.

A-6 Required Skills, Knowledge & Experience

A-4.1 Profile for AFS Service Management Authority Lead Manager Experience:

• Extensive relevant and recent experience in change management/enablement (at least 5 years) all:
• IT Service Management experience in a military service provider environment
• Experience in engaging with the primary customers i.e. NDS, NHQ, ACO etc.;
• Knowledge of the NATO processes especially for transition management i.e. release and deployment, change management, assurance validation and testing, change evaluation and knowledge management
• Prior experience of working in an international environment comprising both military and civilian elements;
• Knowledge of NATO responsibilities and organization, including International, International Military Staff and NATO Digital Staff (former C3 Board).

A-7 Security Clearance

• All personnel assigned to this contract by the Contractor are required to hold a valid NATO SECRET security clearance for the duration of the contract period of performance.