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Principal Assistant (Legal) – support NATO HQ's Legal Advisor Office in Brussels, focusing on international & operational law.
Apply before 23 Aug 2026; eligibility for NATO SECRET Clearance required.
1. Post Context.
The Director General International Military Staff (DGIMS) is head of the IMS and is responsible to the Military Committee (MC) corporately for the efficient and effective functioning of the IMS. The Office of the DGIMS (O/DGIMS) provides full spectrum support to DGIMS in the areas of: engagement support; information, advice, and preparation support; and personal support.
The Office of the Legal Advisor (O/LEGAD) is responsible for providing full spectrum expert legal advice, technical guidance and other legal assistance to the Chair of the Military Committee (CMC), Deputy Chair of the Military Committee (DCMC), Director General International Military Staff (DGIMS), IMS Directors and all IMS staff. The office advises on all legal aspects of IMS activities and MC action to promote compliance with all governing treaties, international agreements and applicable laws, with NATO policy and guidance, and all other Alliance obligations. Support generally is provided in four primary areas, inter alia, operational law, international law, administrative/institutional law, and host nation law. It further handles claims and coordinates legal actions before international and national courts and administrative bodies and represents the IMS before the NATO Administrative Tribunal.
This post has been identified as PLN (Project-Linked NIC) necessary to support the Key-Requirement Area of ‘Readiness’ and ‘Military Thinking and Command’, specially with regards to IMS LEGAD’s increase workload linked to implementation of the Concept for the Deterrence and Defence of the Euro-Atlantic Area (DDA), as well as work-strands linked to improving the understanding of modern warfare, and cross cutting tasks linked to Human Security, Women Peace and Security and policy development. These elements are in line with NATO 2030 Agenda and directly linked to the success in upholding NATO’s military strategic objectives.
2. Principal Duties.
a. Support to the NATO 2030 Agenda.
- Provides assistance to the preparation and execution of legal support to the development of various NATO policies, linked to NATO 2030’s Agenda, with a particular focus, but not limited to, the area of human security, the international community’s fight against terrorism, as well as on work -strands linked to the DDA Implementation.
- Carries out legal research on issues in the areas of, but not limited to, customary international law, the law of armed conflict, operational issues and institutional law issues and IMS personnel’s presence in the host nation.
- Assist all members of the LEGAD Office in the handling of legal matters and provides all other IMS Divisions with paralegal support in investigating and examining the relevant facts and legal questions and provides a legal view for solving the issue.
- Tracks development of work-strands on topics of relevance to NATO 2030, DDA implementation, LEGAD’s mandate and other legal equities.
- Facilitates LEGAD contribution to legal courses at NATO School Oberammergau, in particular the Legal Advisors Course and the Operational Law Course.
- Perform other critical LEGAD duties as assigned by LEGAD or deputy LEGAD, or undertake work as part of a work group as directed or assigned by the LEGAD or deputy LEGAD.
b. Business Continuity and Administrative Support.
- Provides day-to-day coordination and administrative support to the LEGAD, Deputy LEGAD and overall LEGAD Office, including overseeing relevant subscriptions of office software and handle the secure processing of electronic and printed files by the Office with the Registry.
- Coordinates and prepares TDYs for LEGAD and Deputy LEGAD with DGIMS Front Office.
- Acts as the IMS LEGAD Entry Point for all new Members, Interns and Visitors.
- Assists in providing full-range of administrative support for meetings and conferences.
- Maintains library of IMS produced documents to ensure business continuity.
- Reviews all outgoing correspondence for quality control and compliance with IMS Standard operating Procedures (SOPs) and Directives.
- Provides initial review of documents responsive to disclosure request from outside entities.
3. Special Requirements and Additional Duties.
a. Undertake TDY assignments both within and outside of NATO’s boundaries.
b. Perform other related duties.
c. Perform duties in the NATO HQ Crisis Management Organisation.
d. Required to work irregular hours and overtime.
4. Essential Qualifications.
a. Professional/Experience.
- A minimum of four years post related experience as a legal administrative assistant for an international organization.
- Proven knowledge of research techniques, including familiarity with computerized databases, such as Lexis and all standard programmes.
- Proven ability to conduct legal research and draft legal memoranda to summarize issues.
- Possess excellent proofreading skills and attention to detail.
b. Education/Training.
- Bachelor’s degree in Law, with a specialization in Public International Law or Higher Secondary education coupled with ten years of job-related relevant experience.
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 Word; Outlook/Email client; Excel; SharePoint and web applications. In addition, familiarity with current ICT systems and their application to document processing, record keeping, and information sharing.
5. Desirable Qualifications.
a. Professional/Experience.
- Previous Experience working in support of a legal office within a military environment or an International Organisation.
- In-depth understanding of Law of the Armed Conflict and Rules of Engagement.
- Possess excellent communication and team-working skills.
b. Education/Training.
- N/A
c. Language.
- An elementary level of French.
6. Personal Attributes/Competencies.
Works under broad discretion as work is often self-initiated. Understands the relationship between own specialism and wider organizational requirements. Advises on the available standards, methods, tools and applications relevant to own specialism and can make appropriate choices from alternatives. Facilitates collaboration between stakeholders who have diverse objectives. Demonstrates creativity, innovation, and ethical thinking in applying solutions for the benefit of the customer/organisation. Expresses positive attitude.
Competencies:
- Clarity and Accuracy : Monitors others’ work for clarity;
- Customer Service Orientation: Takes personal responsibility for correcting problems;
- Empathy: Reads non-verbal cues and understands meaning;
- Flexibility: Acts with flexibility;
- Initiative: Is decisive in a time-sensitive situation;
- Organizational Awareness: Understands organizational climate and culture;
7. Managerial Responsibilities.
Executes the day-to-day management of the office, including equipment responsibilities. Is fully responsible for meeting allocated technical and/or project objectives. Undertakes work which requires the application of fundamental principles in a wide and often unpredictable range of contexts.
8. Professional Contacts.
Influences Organisation, partners and peers on the contribution of own specialism. Builds appropriate and effective business relationships.
9. Contribution to the Objectives.
The incumbent makes decisions which impact the success of assigned work. Performs an extensive range and variety of complex technical and/or professional work activities.
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 23 August 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 candidate will fill this post as a Project Linked NATO International Civilian (PLN) with a three-year definite duration contract within the NATO 2030 Agenda. On expiry of this term the PLN will be deleted or absorbed into the ceiling pending approval or will exceptionally be considered for extension. 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.
Legal Disclaimer and Equal Opportunity Statement.
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 .