Enterprise Directory Service Engineer

at  Spektrum

Spektrum have a wide range of exciting opportunities in several global locations.
We are always looking to add great new talent to our team and look forward to hearing from you.
Spektrum supports apex purchasers (NATO, UN, EU, and National Government and Defence) and their Tier 1 supplier ecosystem with a wide range of specialist services. We provide our clients with professional services, specialised aerospace and defence sales, delivery, and operational subject matter expertise. We are looking for personnel to join our team and support key client projects.

WHO WE ARE SUPPORTING

The NATO Communication and Information Agency (NCIA) is responsible for providing secure and effective communications and information technology (IT) services to NATO’s member countries and its partners. The agency was established in 2012 and is headquartered in Brussels, Belgium.

The NCIA provides a wide range of services, including:

• Cyber Security: The NCIA provides advanced cybersecurity solutions to protect NATO’s communication networks and information systems against cyber threats.
• Command and Control Systems: The NCIA develops and maintains the systems used by NATO’s military commanders to plan and execute operations.
• Satellite Communications: The NCIA provides satellite communications services to enable secure and reliable communications between NATO forces.
• Electronic Warfare: The NCIA provides electronic warfare services to support NATO’s mission to detect, deny, and defeat threats to its communication networks.
• Information Management: The NCIA manages NATO’s information technology infrastructure, including its databases, applications, and servers.

Overall, the NCIA plays a critical role in ensuring the security and effectiveness of NATO’s communication and information technology capabilities.

ESSENTIAL SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

• Proficiency in design, integration and implementation of directory systems (based on DirX COTS).
• Familiarity with ACP133, Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP), ITU-T X.500 standards.
• Requires demonstrable expertise in X.500/LDAP directory and directory synchronization products.
• At least 2 years’ experience in Identity Management.
• Completion of DirX Identity 1, DirX Identity 2 and DirX Directory courses / certification demonstrating a comprehensive understanding of its functionalities and maintenance requirements.
• Proficiency in TCL (Tool Command Language) with a demonstrable level of experience in scripting and automation tasks, specifically in DirX.
• Familiarity with Active Directory for managing user accounts, permissions and access control within the organization’s network environment.
• Proficiency in SQL for database management and querying.
• Experience with .NET or Java development for software customizations and enhancements.
• Familiarity with PowerShell scripting for automation and system administration tasks.
• Experience with Linux Red Hat operating system administration
• Knowledge of PKI (Public Key Infrastructure) and experience with managing digital certificates
• Experience in providing technical support and maintenance for similar software systems based on DirX COTS.
• Experience in developing new functionality for similar software systems based on DirX COTS (I.e. Java and TCL)
• Must have excellent spoken and written English communication and presentation skills, as demonstrated by recent experience (within the past 5 years);
• Excellent communication skills to effectively interact with users, team members and stakeholders
• Must demonstrate the ability and self-motivation to work on his/her own but must also work well within groups as part of a team;
• Must demonstrate an ability and keen sense for problem-solving.
• Motivated, good communication skills, team player.
• Able to work independently with minimal supervision.
• Knowledge of NATO responsibilities and organization

ROLE BACKGROUND

NATO Communication and Information Agency (NCI Agency) provides end-user services to customers throughout NATO. These end-users services are supported by NATO Enterprise Directory Services provided by the NATO Infrastructure Services Centre (NISC) Business Area of NCIA. All services provided by NCIA, regardless of whether they are end-user services or supporting services, are under the responsibility of Service Delivery Managers (SDM).
NATO Enterprise Directory Service (NEDS) provides the capability to share trusted identity information between different systems and to Enterprise users.
NEDS system will act as the Trusted Data Source for identity data for the future Identity and Access Management capability of the NATO Enterprise.
The information on identities (e.g. people and organizations) is retrieved from different, authoritative sources (e.g. APMS). NEDS covers the whole enterprise (including NATO HQ) and will become the standard way to exchange identity information across NATO.
Information can be synchronised between different affiliate systems and automated workflows can be created, including provisioning and de-provisioning of User Accounts. NEDS service information can be made available through either the NEDS native interface (e.g. LDAP) or through customized interfaces such as Web Access, file based interface or SQL.
NEDS provides value to customers through the sharing of identity information across multiple identity stores, improving data quality and reducing the administrative burden for connected systems. This ensures a coherent set of identity data from authoritative sources, while increasing the security posture of the NATO Enterprise.
NEDS allows to improve integrity of (identity) information between overlapping NATO systems. This in itself is a security enhancement as well as the NEDS provides insight in the potential multitude of accounts of a single individual. The automated way of working prevents effort on the part of the affiliate systems.
The lifecycle management information helps connected affiliate systems to improve their management of accounts, in particular to synchronize expiry of accounts with the actual contract, position and clearance expiry of the individual. Thus security is improved, while automation improves efficiency.

Examples of a staff member lifecycle:

• Staff member data management
• Deduplication
• Validation of data quality
• Synchronization with affiliate systems (e.g. Windows Environment details provided to HR system)
• Correlation of data retrieved from different affiliates
• Staff member leaving

NEDS is the preferred source to retrieve identity/user information for (new) systems, and as such acts as a trusted broker of authoritative identity information

ROLE DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Monitor, operate and administer the DirX Product Family (I.e. DirX Directory, DirX Identity).
• Establish, administer and maintain DirX Directory Synchronization tool parameters and repository tool parameters.
• Develop and implement operating procedures following Purchaser’s guidance.
• Respond to user inquiries and technical support (Level 2 and Level 3) requests via NCI Agency’s ticketing systems (I.e. ITSM)
• Troubleshoot and diagnose software issues reported by users
• Management, provisioning and implementation of any alternative or superseding software items should the original item be no longer available or no longer supported
• Conduct regular maintenance tasks, such as performance monitoring and optimizations to ensure Continual Service Improvement
• Offer on the job training and documentation to the Level 1 support team for software usage and best practices
• Perform data backups and disaster recovery procedures as described in Administrator Manual
• Collaborate with the stakeholders, both internal and externals, as necessary, to coordinate efforts and ensure smooth execution of software support and development activities
• Ensure compliance with software license agreements and security protocols
• Provide support in connecting other future affiliates to NEDS (either Master Data Sources or Consumers of data) by performing the necessary configuration and customization of NEDS.
• Execute the processes of Incident Management, Change Management and Release Management, as required, following the NCI Agency procedures.
• Implement small increments or enhancements to the current NEDS application as requested by the NEDS Service Delivery Manager to address specific needs or improve functionality
• Configure DirX to connect additional HR sources as Authoritative Data Source
• Build additional connectors to facilitate the integration with other systems using standard DirX technologies