2025-0162 Interoperability Solution Dev / Architecture Support (NS) - TUE 29 Jul

Deadline Date: Tuesday 29 July 2025

Requirement: Interoperability Solution Development / Architecture Support Service

Location: The Hague, NL (See 8.3 Travel)

Full Time On-Site: No

Time On-Site: 30% (See 8.3 Travel)

Period of Performance: BASE period: Earliest Convenient day but not later than 08th September 2025 (tentative) – 31st December 2025

2026 Option: 1st January 2026 until 31st December 2026

2027 Option: 1st January 2027 until 31st December 2027

2028 Option: 1st January 2028 until 31st December 2028

Required Security Clearance: NATO SECRET

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 The NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCI Agency) located in The Hague, The Netherlands, is currently involved in the development of new capabilities for NATO as well as in the support of existing capabilities. In the light of these activities, the C2 Service Centre is looking for solution architect with experience in C2 System Engineering, Data Lake, Data Modelling and Cloud Activities.

1.2 Solution Architect shall provide the technical C2 expert subject matter expertise solutions and communication of high-level structures to enable and guide the design and development of integrated solutions that meet current and future business needs.

1.3 Changes to service, process, organisation, operating model and other aspects may be required in addition to technology components, and solutions must demonstrate how agreed requirements (such as automation of business processes) are met, any requirements which are not fully met or, and any options or considerations which require a business decision.

2. OBJECTIVES

The main objective of this statement of work is the support the development of new and maintenance of existing software modules, provide the service delivery and solution engineering solutions to NATO Data Lake/NCDF ecosystem of capabilities of Lake Diver (search) and Integration Core (Data Lake/NCDF Node).

3. SCOPE OF WORK

The scope is to support Research and Development (R&D) of the future NATO capabilities developed by NCI Agency for NATO enterprise and take on the testing effort in various venues across NATO.

During one sprint, the Contractor’s personnel will support demonstrating future Data Lake/NCDF Information Services ecosystem consisting of Data Lake (NCDF Information Service Node), INT-CORE Data Lake Node and Lake Diver, performing the following activities:

Supporting guiding the development team to make sure that capabilities are being developed useful to NATO Enterprise.

Supporting managing stakeholders to capture and develop the requirements, architecture, components and vision of Data Lake, Lake Diver and INT-CORE.

Engaging with user communities to capture the operational requirements.

Participating in yearly exercises such as Coalition Warrior Interoperability Exercise (CWIX) and/or Bold Quest as one of the technical leads in the month of June taking place in Poland or other exercise locations.

Engage with nations to develop test plan scenario, architecture and support the execution of the exercise as the key SME.

Visiting operational entities across NATO Enterprise to conduct interviews with operators. Understand user requirements and translate the requirements into solutions.

Producing detailed component specifications and transform it into detailed designs for implementation.

The providing of comprehensive guidance on the development of, and modifications to, solution components to ensure that they take account of relevant architectures, strategies, policies, standards and practices and that existing and planned solution components remain compatible.

If needed, act as part the development team by developing software code.

Ensure appropriate standards (including industrial, international and NATO) are adhered.

Provides advice on technical aspects of system development and integration (including supporting change management processes).

Assist in the preparation of technical plans and works to ensure that appropriate technical resources are made available.

The Contractor’s personnel will provide services related to the following activities above, using an agile (please see paragraph 3.3) and iterative approach using multiple sprints, with each sprint planned for a duration of 10 working days.

The content, scope and the acceptance criteria of each sprint will be agreed during the sprint- planning meeting, in writing, based on the activities mentioned above.

All of the defined deliverables are deliverable artefacts such briefings, reports, designs or specifications with a well-defined NCI Agency-specified format.

All deliverables are to be peer reviewed within the deliverable cycle. Input and guidance will be provided by NCI Agency in written from or/and during the targeted review meetings.

3.1. LAKE DIVER, INT-CORE (DATA LAKE NODE) AND DATA LAKE

NATO Lake Diver is a natural language search prototype capability, currently classified as Minimum Viable Product (MVP).

This capability is leveraging NATO Data Lake and NATO Integration Core (INT-CORE). Lake Diver is based on JavaScript front end.

INT-CORE is an enabling Functional Area System (FAS) developed in C# with its web component undergoing transition from Silverlight to HTML5. INT-CORE is supporting NATO and national Functional Area Systems by providing data-centricity, data management, data augmentation and data integration. INT-CORE is designed to provide a toolbox for Data Mangers across the NATO enterprise to configure data services in ad-hoc fashion.

INT-CORE provides flexible and adaptable mechanisms that enable information exchange to support the C5ISR, mission-specific business processes and bridge information exchange gaps while bringing:

Rapid provision of information exchange bridging services;

Supporting transformation of information exchanges from system centric to data centric;

Aggregation of Battle Space Objects using different formats and protocols for all data sources;

Flexible translation, fusion and augmentation of the data for consumers in a required format and protocol;

Enhanced interoperability within NATO and nations between FAS;

Improved situational awareness throughout the battle space;

Integration with new data sources can be done without the software code changes, allowing the rapid delivery of validated solutions to emerging requirements;

Provision of system administration, monitoring, error handling and error notification capabilities;

3.2. INTEROPERABILITY STANDARDIZATION

Within the context of the Interoperability Standardization Program of Work, as well as other related projects such as the development of NATO Core Data Framework (NCDF), the contractor’s personnel will undergo different development and engineering tasks related to interoperability of multinational systems.

3.3. SPRINTS PLANNING, EXECUTION, REVIEW AND PAYMENT:

Due to the AGILE approach of this project, there is a need to define a set of specific arrangements between the NCI Agency and the contractor that specifically defines the deliverables to be provided for each sprint as well as their associated acceptance criteria. This includes sprint planning, execution and review processes, which are detailed below:

3.3.1 Sprint Planning:

Objective: Plan the objectives for the upcoming sprint

Kick-off meeting: Conduct a meeting with the contractor to plan the objectives of upcoming sprints and review contractor`s manpower to meet the agreed deliverables.

Set sprint goals: Define clear, achievable goals for the sprint and associated acceptance criteria, including specific delivery targets, Quality standards as well as Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for each task to be recorded in the sprint meeting minutes.

The contractor needs to be assigned at the beginning of the each sprint to be able to fulfil the agreed activities (I.e. in case there is a requirement for development activities, developers need to be assigned to the sprint)

Agree on the required level of effort for the various sprint tasks.

Backlog Review: Review and priorities the backlog of tasks, issues, and improvements from previous sprints.

Assess each payment milestone cycle duration of two sprints. State of completion and validation of two sprints status and sign off sprints to be submitted for payment as covered in Section 4.

3.3.2 Sprint Execution:

Objective: Contractor to execute the agreed “sprint plans” with continuous monitoring and adjustments.

Regular meetings between NCI Agency and the contractor to review sprint progress, address issues, and make necessary adjustments to the processes or production methodology. The Meetings will be physically in the office, or in person via electronic means using Conference Call capabilities, according to the NCI Agency staff instructions.

Continuous improvement: Contractor to establish a continuous feedback loop to gather input from all stakeholders for ongoing improvements and their subsequent implementation depending on NCIA approval.

Progress Tracking: Contractor to use a shared dashboard or tool to track the status of the sprint deliveries and any issues.

Quality Assurance/Quality Check: Contractor shall ensure that the quality standards agreed for the sprint deliverables are maintained throughout the sprint.

Quality Control: NCIA to perform the Final Quality Control of the agreed deliverables and provide feedback on any issues in writing.

3.3.3 Sprint Review:

Objective: Review the sprint performance and identify areas for improvement.

At the end of each sprint, there will be a meeting between the NCI Agency and the Contractor to review the outcomes against the acceptance criteria comprising sprint goals, agreed quality criteria and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).

Define specific actions to address issues and enhance the next sprint.

3.3.4 Sprint Payment:

Payment Schedule will be monthly for the completed and accepted sprints within the month (max 2 sprints)

For each 2 (two) sprints to be considered as complete and payable, the contractor must report the outcome of the service during the sprint, first verbally during the retrospective sprint review meeting and then in writing within five days after the 2nd sprint’s end date. A report must be sent by email to the NCI Agency service manager, listing all the work achieved against the agreed tasking list set for the sprint.

The contractor's payment for each set of 2 sprints will be depending upon the achievement of agreed Acceptance Criteria for each task, defined at the sprint planning stage. This will include specific delivery targets, quality standards as well as Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for each task.

The payment shall be dependent upon successful acceptance of the Delivery Acceptance Sheet (DAS) – (Annex A) Payment will be provided based on these deliveries as indicated in the table Invoices shall be accompanied with a Delivery Acceptance Sheet (Annex A) signed by the Contractor and project authority.

Invoices shall be accompanied with a Delivery Acceptance Sheet (DAS) – (Annex A) signed by the Contractor and project authority.

If the contractor fails to meet the agreed Acceptance criteria for any task, the NCI Agency reserves the right to withhold payment for that task/sprint.

4. PAYMENT MILESTONES AND DELIVERABLES

The following deliverables are expected from the service on this Statement of Work:

4.1 Complete the activities/tasks agreed in each sprint meeting as per sections 3 above.

4.2 Produce sprint completion reports (format: e-mail update), which include details of activities performed and the list of the deliverables of the week.

4.3 The contractor will participate in the daily reporting and planning activities (daily stand-ups) as well as the required participation in workshops, events and conferences related to the supported services, as requested by the service delivery manager.

4.4 Payment Schedule will be monthly for the completed and accepted sprints within the month (max 2 sprints), upon completion and validation of each sprint and at the end of the monthly milestone, following the acceptance of the sprint report.

4.5 The Purchaser (NCIA) reserves the right to exercise a number of options of one or more sprints based on the same deliverables, at a later time, depending on the project priorities and requirements, at the following cost: for base year (2025) at the same cost, for following years (2026-2028) the Price Adjustment Formula will be applied in accordance with paragraph 6.5 of the Framework Contract Special Provisions.

4.6 The payment shall be dependent upon successful acceptance of the sprint report and the Delivery Acceptance Sheet (DAS) – (annex B).

4.7 Invoices shall be accompanied with a Delivery Acceptance Sheet (annex B) signed by the contractor and the NCIA POC

2025 BASE: 08th September 2025 to 31 December 2025

Deliverable: 8 Sprints of Software Engineering (Number of sprints is estimated and will be adjusted based on actual starting date.)

Payment Milestones: Monthly payment for the completed and accepted sprints within the month. Completion of each sprint shall be accompanied documented in Delivery Acceptance Sheet (DAS) – (Annex A), signed for acceptance by the Purchaser’s authorized point of contact and the Contractor’s personnel

2026 OPTION: 01 January 2026 to 31 December 2026

Deliverable: Up to 24 sprints

Cost Ceiling: Price will be determined by applying the price adjustment formula as outlined in CO‐115786‐ AAS+ Special Provisions article 6.5.

Payment Milestones: Monthly payment for the completed and accepted sprints within the month. Completion of each sprint shall be accompanied documented in Delivery Acceptance Sheet (DAS) – (Annex A), signed for acceptance by the Purchaser’s authorized point of contact and the Contractor’s personnel

2027 OPTION: 01 January 2027 to 31 December 2027

Deliverable: Up to 24 sprints

Cost Ceiling: Price will be determined by applying the price adjustment formula as outlined in CO‐115786‐ AAS+ Special Provisions article 6.5.

Payment Milestones: Monthly payment for the completed and accepted sprints within the month. Completion of each sprint shall be accompanied documented in Delivery Acceptance Sheet (DAS) – (Annex A), signed for acceptance by the Purchaser’s authorized point of contact and the Contractor’s personnel

2028 OPTION: 01 January 2028 to 31 December 2028

Deliverable: Up to 24 sprints

Cost Ceiling: Price will be determined by applying the price adjustment formula as outlined in CO‐115786‐ AAS+ Special Provisions article 6.5.

Payment Milestones: Monthly payment for the completed and accepted sprints within the month. Completion of each sprint shall be accompanied documented in Delivery Acceptance Sheet (DAS) – (Annex A), signed for acceptance by the Purchaser’s authorized point of contact and the Contractor’s personnel

5. SCHEDULE

5.1 The BASE period of performance is as soon as possible but not later than 08 th September 2025 and will end no later than 31st December 2025.

5.2 If the 2026 option is exercised, the period of performance is 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2026.

5.3 If the 2027 option is exercised, the period of performance is 1 January 2027 to 31 December 2027.

5.4 If the 2028 option is exercised, the period of performance is 1 January 2028 to 31 December 2028.

5.5 One Sprint length equals to two weeks.

5.6 The contractor will propose a kick off meeting within one week after signing of the contract.

6. CONSTRAINTS

All the deliverables provided under this statement of work will be based on NCI Agency templates or agreed with the project point of contact.

6.1 All architecture artefacts, scripts, documentation and required code will be stored under configuration management in the provided TIDE, TIDE GIT and/or NCIA AZURE as part of the NSF Cloud.

6.2 Contractor’s personnel must deliver travel estimates of Travel Duty Assignment (TDY) 2 weeks from the point of the request in order to update Purchase Order authorizing contractors travel.

7. SECURITY

7.1 The candidate has a NATO SECRET security clearance, provided by the national security organization valid at the time of submission of the bid covering the period of the requirement.

7.2 Part of the service may involve handling classified networks, therefore, a security clearance NATO Secret is expected for the contractor undertaking this project.

7.3 The expected classification level of the deliverables is NATO UNCLASSIFIED.

8. PRACTICAL ARRANGEMENTS

This is a deliverables-based contract.

8.1 Place of Performance:

8.1.1 The contractor’s personnel shall support the NCIA on-site for up-to 30% of time in the NCIA The Hague, Netherlands premises during contract performance. Contractor’s personnel can provide services remotely for up-to 70% of the remaining time in a NATO country as per NATO Security Policy. The remote performance could be increased depending on status of the project with agreement of the line manager; in this case the competed price remain unchanged.

8.2 Hours of Operation Service:

8.2.1 The service will be conducted during normal office hours (Monday to Thursday from 08h30 until 17h30 and Friday from 08h30 until 15h30) following the NCIA The Hague calendar.

8.3 Travel:

8.3.1 Travel costs from off-site of Contractors choice location to The Hague shall be included in the sprint costs.

8.3.2 Contractor is foreseen to travel to NATO Sites. Contractor must obtain USA and EU business visas. The costs of visa issuing shall be the responsibility of the contractor. Purchaser is not responsible for paying any costs for visa issuing process, including the man-effort of time required to acquire such visas.

8.3.3 (Optional) Up-to 2 Sprints (for connected duration of 1 month) yearly shall be executed in the month of June in Bydgoszcz, Poland as part of the CWIX. The travel duty costs of this optional item shall be included in the sprint costs. This applies for the optional years.

8.3.4 (Optional) Up-to 5 Sprints (for duration of 2,5 months in total) yearly shall be executed across the year in Mons, Belgium. The travel duty costs of this optional item shall be included in the sprint costs. Sprints can be executed in not-connected fashion depending on the need.

8.3.5 It is foreseen that the contractor will support NCIA during various exercises and conferences across the year. It is expected that the contractor will travel for up-to 10 weeks within NATO countries in addition.

8.3.6 Travel identified in 8.3.5. and/or other travel will be the responsibility of the contractor and the expenses will be reimbursed in accordance with Article 5.5 of AAS Framework Contract and within the limits of the NCIA Travel Directive. They will be invoiced separately to the purchaser by the service provider, in accordance with the terms and conditions of the framework agreement. These additional travel costs are considered an extra charge to the overall bid price.

8.4 Other:

8.4.1 The Service depicted in this SOW is expected to be carried by a single contractor.

9. QUALIFICATIONS

[See Requirements]

7. SECURITY

• The candidate has a NATO SECRET security clearance, provided by the national security organization valid at the time of submission of the bid covering the period of the requirement.

9. QUALIFICATIONS

THE FOLLOWING EXPERTISE AND KNOWLEDGE IS ESSENTIAL FOR THIS REQUIREMENT

For the tasks under this task order, we require the contractor to have the following qualifications:

• Primary knowledge in and well versed in C# with a minimum experience of 4 years.
• Well knowledgeable in .NET Core and NET 8+
• Well Knowledgeable in JavaScript, Angular and HTML5 with at least 4 years of recent experience.
• Strong knowledge of system design architecture, overall system to system integration in the ecosystem of high efficiency information exchange
• Knowledge of at least 3 years of experience with system integration, data modelling data translations, transformations and modelling processes
• Comfortable in presenting solutions to working groups
• The contractor has strong knowledge and practical experience of the following (a minimum of 24 months in the last 40 months) with industry equivalent of Data Bricks, Apache Kafka, Sparks, RabbitMQ and/or similar
• The contractor has strong knowledge and practical experience of the following (a minimum of 24 months in the last 40 months) with Software and/or System Architecting in modern industry standards such as UML
• The contractor has strong knowledge and practical experience of the following (a minimum of 24 months in the last 40 months) with modern software development methodologies (e.g. Software development life cycles, Agile methodologies), a certification in the field of agile software development and/or SCRUM is a plus.
• It is desirable that the contractor is well experienced with JSON, XML, XSD, will have to learn XQUERY and XPATH and/or XSLT rapidly,
• Very Desirable, but not mandatory knowledge in XSLT
• The contractor has a flexible, cooperative and customer focussed attitude; sets high standards for quality and quantity; monitors and maintains quality and productivity; works in a systematic, methodical and orderly way;
• The contractor must have the nationality of one of the NATO nations.
• Language Proficiency: Fluency in English, both written and spoken, is required. NOTE: Most of the work of the NCI Agency is conducted in the English language