2025-0098 Service Support to Resource Management (NS) - THU 3 Apr

Deadline Date: Thursday 3 April 2025

Requirement: Service Support to Resource Management

Location: Off-Site

Note: Please refer to your Subcontract Agreement, article 6.4.1.a, which states “Off-Site Discount: 5% (this discount is applicable to all requirements, and applies when the assigned personnel are permitted to work Off-Site, such as at- home)". Please be sure to price this discount in your overall price proposal when submitting bids against off-site RFQs

Period of Performance: BASE period: as soon as possible but not later than 5th May 2025 – 31st December 2025 with possibility to exercise the following options:

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

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

Required Security Clearance: NATO SECRET

1 INTRODUCTION

The Directorate of CIS Support Units (DCSU) is accountable to plan, install, operate and maintain Communication and Information System (CIS) services throughout the allocated Area of Responsibility (AOR), in static NATO Headquarters, Alliance Operations and Missions and Exercises, and supported Organizations

The Operations and Exercises (OPEX) is accountable to the Director of CSUs for providing the Agency’s interface for supply of C2 Catalogue of Services to customers that are planning and/or executing deployed operations and exercises. It ensures that the Agency’s responsibilities to deployed operations are met in line with the agreed Service Level Agreements (SLA) and Command and Control (C2) Arrangements. OPEX provides the customer interface in a consultancy capacity to match/estimate customer requirements against those Services available from the Agency. It is also responsible for the coordination, with the Agency Business Areas and other elements concerned, of the budget committed to operations and exercises support and for the coordination related to the deployment of NCI Agency personnel.

2 SCOPE OF WORK

Under the direction of the Operations and Exercises BA – Operations Branch Deployment Cell Head, the contractor shall provide support that includes the following activities:

Support AOM Deployments cell in maintaining up-to-date record of all NCIA personnel deployed to Theatre of Operations and/or Exercises (100% situational awareness on deployed personnel) and provide detailed report;

Provide direct assistance in the organization/coordination of AOM Deployments with regards to personnel paperwork, travel arrangements, constraints and caveats and provide detailed report on all NCIA personnel deployed to Theatre of Operations and/or Exercises;

Maintaining information flow to and from the operational theatres and provide detailed reports;

Liaising with administrative staff in other organizational elements in and outside NCIA to ensure coordination of deploying personnel and provide detailed reports;

Organization of meetings and pre-deployment briefings, employed personnel education programmes and provide detailed reports;

Liaising with Travel office for the travel coordination of deployed personnel and provide detailed reports;

Liaising with CPO until readiness of deployed personnel is achieved, preparing of deployment paperwork for signature, drafting and reviewing emails, memoranda, cover letters to documents and provide detailed reports;

Maintain AOM Wiki Pages up to date with the most current information; maintain the Community of Practice workspace and advocate its use to the deployed personnel community and provide detailed reports;

Support AOM Deployment cell for the reach back support function to all deployed staff and provide detailed reports;

Contractor’s availability is mandatory for the approved timelines: NCIA Hours of Operations: Monday to Thursday 0830 – 1730 and Friday 0830 – 1530 (CET)

Each sprint has a duration of two (2) weeks excluding official holidays and days of absence.

The scope of each sprint including related acceptance criteria shall be agreed with the manager and the technical lead during the sprint-planning meeting in writing. At the end of each sprint, a detailed report of the activities conducted shall be submitted.

The contractor will be part of the Operations Branch Deployment Cell. Close coordination of all activities with the Deployment cell Head as well as strict adherence to agreed timelines is mandatory

1. Sprint Planning:

Objective: Plan the objectives for the upcoming sprint

Kick-off meeting: Conduct a monthly 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.

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

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

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

2. Sprint Execution

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

Regular meetings between NCIA 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.

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.

4. Sprint Payment

For each sprint to be considered as complete and payable, the contractor must report the outcome of their work during the sprint, first verbally during the retrospective sprint review meeting and then in writing within three days after the sprint’s end date. A report must be sent by email to the NCI Agency manager, highlighting all work performed against the agreed tasking list set for the sprint.

The contractor's payment for each sprint 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 as set in the above planning/review meetings. This will follow the payment milestones that shall include a completed Delivery Acceptance Sheet (DAS).

Invoices shall be accompanied with a Delivery Acceptance Sheet (DAS) 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.

3 DELIVERABLES AND PAYMENT MILETONES

The following deliverables are expected from the work on this statement of work:

1. Complete the activities/tasks agreed in each sprint meeting as per sections 2 and 3 above.

2. Produce sprint completion reports (format: e-mail update) or the formal documentation required per specific task;

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 Project Manager.

2025: 5th May 2025 to 31 December 2025

Deliverable: 18 Sprints (Number of sprints will be adjusted based on actual starting date.)

Payment Milestones: Upon completion of 2 consecutive sprints.

The NCIA team reserves the possibility to exercise a number of options, based on the same scrum deliverable timeframe and cost, at a later time, depending on the project priorities and requirements.

The payment shall be dependent upon successful acceptance of the Delivery Acceptance Sheet (DAS) – (Annex B)

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

2026 OPTION: 01 January 2026 to 31 December 2026

Deliverable:

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: Upon completion of each fourth sprint and at the end of the work.

2027 OPTION: 01 January 2027 to 31 December 2027

Deliverable:

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: Upon completion of each fourth sprint and at the end of the work.

4 COORDINATION AND REPORTING

The contractor shall provide services 100% off site

The contractor shall participate and report in weekly status update meetings, sprint planning, sprint retrospectives and other meetings, physically in the office, or in person via electronic means using Conference Call capabilities, according to Line manager’s instructions.

For each sprint to be considered as complete and payable, the contractor must report the outcome of his/her work during the sprint, first verbally during the retrospective meeting and then in written within three (3) days after the sprint’s end date. The format of this report shall be a short email to the project manager mentioning briefly the work held and the achievements during the sprint.

5 SCHEDULE

This task order will be active immediately after signing of the contract by both parties.

For 2025, it is expected that the services start to be provided from as soon as possible but not later than 5th May 2025 to 31 December 2025

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

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

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.

All code, scripts, documentation, etc. will be stored under configuration management and/or in the provided NCI Agency tools.

7 SECURITY

Delivering services under this SoW requires a valid NATO SECRET security clearance.

Any resource proposed for this SOW requires valid NATO SECRET security clearance prior to the start of the engagement.

All the deliverables of this project will be considered NATO UNCLASSIFIED, while access to networks exceeding this classification level is required.

8 PRACTICAL ARRANGEMENTS

The contractor will be required to work 100% off site NCI Agency.

The contractor will be required to work within a NATO country, following the rules and

regulations applicable for the operations of NATO CIS.

NCIA Recognised Business hours/Holidays: NCIA-BLA official holiday schedule applies and will be provided to the contractor.

NCIA Hours of Operations: Monday to Thursday 0830 – 1730 and Friday 0830 – 1530 (CET)

Contractor Furnished Services: Contractor shall furnish everything required to perform the contract except for the items specified and covered under NCIA Furnished Property and Services below.

NCIA Furnished Property and Services: Access to relevant networks and environments will be provided by NCIA

The work depicted in this SOW is expected to be carried by a SINGLE RESOURCE.

The services provided under this SOW must be accomplished by ONE contractor.

9 TRAVEL

Contractor will be required to travel to a NCIA location or a NATO site for completing these tasks.

Travel expenses will be borne by the NCI Agency separately in accordance to the provisions of the AAS+ Framework Contract.

10 QUALIFICATIONS

[See Requirements]

7 SECURITY

• Delivering services under this SoW requires a valid NATO SECRET security clearance. Any resource proposed for this SOW requires valid NATO SECRET security clearance prior to the start of the engagement.

10 QUALIFICATIONS

This scope of this work requires a subject matter expert with the following qualifications:

• Assertive in dealing with other people, internally and externally, in order to accomplish Agency operations support in narrow timeframe
• Adaptive Team member
• Knowledge and experience of pertinent modern communications and information systems
• Knowledge of NATO CIS
• MS-SharePoint, MS-Projects and MS-Office
• Ability to communicate effectively orally and in writing
• Good briefing skills
• Experience with Agency cross-Service Line resource allocation and coordination
• Experience with Resource Management
• Experience in representing teams or entities