Principal Assistant (Head Travel)

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Lead the travel team at NATO’s Brussels HQ as Principal Assistant (Head Travel).

Oversee international travel accounting and ensure compliance with NATO financial regulations.

1. Post Context/Post Summary

The Office of the IMS Budget Group (IMS-BG) Financial Controller (FC) is responsible for the financial management and supervision of the International Military Staff (IMS), the NATO Defense College (NDC) and the Science and Technology Organisation (STO). The STO consists of the Office of the Chief Scientist (OCS), the Collaboration Support Office (CSO) and the Centre for Maritime Research and Experimentation (CMRE). The CMRE is a customer funded entity. The remaining entities are all common funded by the Military Budget. Collectively, these entities are known as the IBG.

The IMS Budget Group Section (IMS-BG) supports the IMS-BG Financial Controller in the development and implementation of the policies and procedures on all topics related to financial management and acquisition, and provides advice and guidance to management and staff. The expertise in the Office is separated to support the roles of finance and accounting, purchasing and contracting, budget and disbursing, and travel.

2. Principal Duties

The Principal Assistant (Head Travel) oversees the work of the travel team and leads combined functions of transportation booking services and travel claim computation, settlement, and accounting activities, to ensure accountability over international funds allocated to the IMS-BG. He/she, under delegated authority, performs approval and control roles related to travel financial commitments, eligibility of contractor travel, expenditures and payments, ensuring compliance with NATO Financial Regulations (NFRs), Financial Rules and Procedures (FRPs), NATO Civilian Personnel Regulations and internal directives and procedures. The Head is involved in the development, update and analysis of travel policies. Additionally, he/she assures maintenance of accounting records. Under the general guidance/supervision of the Finance and Accounting Officer, he/she is responsible for:

• • Up to the level delegated by the Financial Controller perform approval and control functions related to:
• • Commitments, such as ensuring that requested commitments are within the appropriations and contract authorities available, that they are in accordance with all relevant policies and regulations and that they are supported by complete and accurate justification.
• • Expenditures, such as authorising expenditures in execution of each commitment following the confirmation by the requirement holder that the services were delivered by the supplier.
• • Payments, such as authorising payments of invoices received from suppliers including pre-payments on certification that the payments are within the limit of the commitment, that they are arithmetically accurate and that they conform with the purpose of the commitment.

• Oversee travel-related processes and the actions of the travel team, determining workloads and schedules of the team.

• Ensure all transactions submitted for approval are fully supported with necessary and appropriate documentation for validation, audit purposes and interact with relevant contacts (e.g. fund managers, travel clerks, travellers, HR, suppliers etc.) on a regular basis, especially when discrepancies arise.

• Review travel agency and other invoices for correctness, following up to resolve any discrepancies.

• Contribute to the revision and development of travel-related policy and procedures in IMS. Monitor and track implementation, changes, decisions and/or recommend policy changes.

• Build payment batches for supplier invoices ensuring timely payment and compliance with credit terms.

• May provide input into the annual financial statements of the IMS and the STO consolidated financial statements (OCS); interact with other departments to request information necessary for the preparation of the financial statements.

• Monitor pending travel transactions, investigating discrepancies and resolving differences, especially at financial year-end.

• Monitor the status of travel appropriations and report the status to the Budget and Disbursing Officer and the Finance and Accounting Officer.

• Serve as a point of contact for the travel agency, maintaining efficient working relationships. Order commercial travel services, maintain an awareness of travel industry developments, ensure travel requirements are met in a cost‑effective manner.

• Train and instruct the travel team and the Staff Assistant (Finance), particularly when there is a turnover of the military post holder.

• Act as backup for Principal Assistant (Finance) and Staff Assistant (Finance).

• Advise management and the travel community on best practices, policies and procedures, effective funds management, providing regular communications and reports. Respond to customer inquiries relating to travel requests and claims.

• Support internal and external audits.

3. Special Requirements and Additional Duties. The incumbent may be required to:

• a. Make recommendations, provide training, advice and guidance on appropriate procedures to be used.
• b. Perform any other related duties, within or outside of the FC office, as directed.
• c. Undertake travel on duty assignments both within and outside of NATO’s boundaries and work irregular hours whenever necessary.
• d. May perform duties in the NATO HQ Crisis Management Organization.

4. Essential Qualifications

a. Professional/Experience.

• • Have a minimum of 6 years’ recent experience in accounting, budgeting, finance or related field, coupled with at least 4 years’ experience in supervision and direction of staff.
• • Have sound knowledge of financial regulations governing an international organization or a public sector entity.
• • Have experience performing accounting and financial transactions using an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) System (preferably Oracle) and data management using office automation software.
• • Have team working experience while able to work with minimal supervision.
• • Have experience with instructing and assisting less experienced ERP users, resolving user level problems and reporting other problems for further action.

b. Education/Training.

• • Completion of higher secondary level education or equivalent.
• • At least two years full-time technical training in accounting, budgeting, finance, cost control principles or related field.

c. Languages.

• • Candidates must have an advanced level of spoken and written English. The working language in the IMS is English and therefore candidates will be required to pass a one-hour multiple-choice computer-based test in English at the required level as well as to demonstrate their abilities in the written test and interview.

d. Computer Literacy.

• • Use of MS-Office applications in crucial to the effective and successful execution of daily duties; Advanced knowledge and user experience of MS Excel, MS Word, MS PowerPoint and Email/Outlook programmes.

e. NATO Occupational Codes. N/A.

5. Desirable Qualifications

a. Professional/Experience.

• • Have working experience and knowledge of NATO or other international organisation, comprising both military and civilian elements, its directives and procedures, with particular emphasis on NATO Financial Rules and Procedures.
• • Have experience in working with and making recommendations for improvement of travel and cost control policy and procedures.
• • Have experience performing accounting and financial reporting using ORACLE Enterprise Business Suite and a related reporting software (e.g. GL Wand).

b. Education/Training.

• • Possess a university degree in finance, accounting, business administration, management.
• • Certified training in generally accepted accounting practices and principles as well as International Accounting Standards (International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) or International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)).

c. Language.

• • An elementary level of French.

6. Personal Attributes/ Competencies

The incumbent must be methodical, rigorous and capable of organizing their work under minimal supervision and carrying out their responsibilities, fulfilling a variety of tasks in finance and accounting within the Office of the Financial Controller in a timely manner. He/she must be equipped with problem-solving skills to offer, within the boundaries set by the financial rules and regulations or proposing innovative solutions, to address unusual requests.

He/she must use own judgement and initiative to resolve requests from the staff and to decide when to involve management in FC’s Office. The incumbent must possess good communication skills, be tactful, discrete and with a highly developed sense of responsibility. By being capable of seeing multiple relationships he/she must be capable of building commitment within the team. Given the nature of customer-oriented post, the incumbent must be able to work harmoniously and effectively with colleagues and other staff at all levels, both military and civilian of various nationalities and cultural backgrounds.

• Competencies.

• o Achievement : Works to meet standards.
• o Analytical Thinking : Sees multiple relationships.
• o Clarity and Accuracy : Checks own work.
• o Conceptual Thinking : Applies learned concepts.
• o Customer Service Orientation : Takes personal responsibility for correcting problems.
• o Empathy : Is open to others’ perspectives.
• o Impact and Influence : Takes multiple actions to persuade.
• o Initiative : Is decisive in a time-sensitive situation.
• o Teamwork: Solicits inputs and encourages others.

7. Managerial Responsibilities

The incumbent oversees and leads the IMS travel team regarding control of all commitments and expenditures, in accordance with delegated authority. Daily routine tasks must be organised and re-prioritised as necessary based on experience and knowledge. Monitoring/mentoring of the travel team and wider community is required. He/she must possess the following managerial competencies:

• • Ability to plan, organize and manage resources necessary for timely follow up on outstanding issues and in managing day to day duties.
• • Ability to manage and motivate colleagues to achieve results.

8. Professional Contacts

The incumbent has:

• • Daily contact with staff at various levels (e.g. budget/fiscal officers, fund managers, travel clerks, travellers and other offices (NSO, OCS) in the IMS BG), supervision of the travel function to ensure fully substantiated financial records and to resolve any inconsistencies in a timely manner.
• • Regular contact with other NATO entities, banks and local and foreign suppliers.
• • Periodic interaction with representatives from the International Board of Auditors for NATO (IBAN).

9. Contribution to the Objectives

The incumbent supports various aspects of financial management and analysis with a strong impact on the financial operations of the IMS in accordance with the NATO Financial Regulations, IMS Standard Operating Procedures and relevant accounting standards. Professional errors may result in administrative and financial consequences for the organization due to inaccurate financial records or incorrect payments.

10. Remarks

• Security Clearance – NATO SECRET (if not currently held, the incumbent must be eligible for this level of clearance).

• Work Environment – Normal office environment.

11. How to apply

Applications must be submitted by 26 July 2026 (23:59 Brussels time) using one of the following links, as applicable:

• • For NATO civilian staff members only: please apply via the internal recruitment portal (for more information, please contact your local Civilian HR Manager);
• • For all other applications: www.nato.int/recruitment. 

Applications are automatically acknowledged within one working day after submission. In the absence of an acknowledgement, please make sure the submission process is completed, or, resubmit the application.

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 NATO’s sole discretion, and NATO reserves the right to take further steps in such cases as appropriate.

12. Additional Information

The successful applicant will be offered a three-year definite duration contract which may be renewed. If the successful candidate is seconded from a national administration, public institution or the armed forces of a NATO member state, he/she will be offered a three-year definite duration contract which may be renewed for a further period of up to three years. The maximum time of service in post for seconded staff is six years. Serving NATO international civilian personnel will be offered a contract in accordance with the NATO Civilian Personnel Regulations.

Appointment will be subject to the deliverance of the appropriate security clearance by the national authorities and approval of the medical file by the NATO Medical Adviser.

Technical written assessment will be held as part of the selection procedure.

Applicants who meet the necessary requirements and who prove to be competent but who are not appointed to a vacancy as a result of this particular competition, may be considered for posts of a similar nature, albeit at a lower grade, which may become vacant in the near future.

NATO as an employer values diverse backgrounds and perspectives and is committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse and talented workforce. NATO welcomes applications of nationals from all Member States and strongly encourages women to apply.

NATO is committed to fostering an inclusive and accessible working environment, where all candidates living with disabilities can fully participate in the recruitment and selection process. If you require reasonable accommodation, please inform us during your selection process.

Candidates will be required to provide documented medical evidence to support their request for accommodation.

Building Integrity is a key element of NATO’s core tasks. As an employer, NATO values commitment to the principles of integrity, transparency and accountability in accordance with international norms and practices established for the defence and related security sector.

Selected candidates are expected to be role models of integrity, and to promote good governance through ongoing efforts in their work.

Due to the broad interest in NATO and the large number of potential candidates, telephone or e-mail enquiries cannot be dealt with.

The nature of this position may require the staff member at times to be called upon to travel for work and/or to work outside normal office hours.

The IMS at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, is committed to providing equality in working opportunities regardless of sex, race or ethnic origin, religion, disability, age or sexual orientation.

The IMS is a non-smoking environment.

For information about the NATO Single Salary Scale (Grading, Allowances, etc.) please visit our website . Detailed data is available under the Salary and Benefits tab.

NATO does not charge any application, processing, training, interviewing, testing or other fee in connection with the application or recruitment process. For more info, please click here .