ENG / FR

Recruitment of Secretaries/Assistants NATO Brussels International Staff

Pre-selection is made on the basis of an application form, duly completed, taking into account competencies and professional experience.

Pre-selected candidates are invited to sit the secretarial proficiency tests (+/- ½ day) including:

  • 45 wpm typing test in English and French (10 minutes in each language)
  • Audio test (in English or French) (30 minutes)
  • IT skills test (WORD, PowerPoint and Excel) (90 minutes)
  • Language test (in English or French) (One hour) The candidates who succeed in the tests will be invited to attend an interview (+/- 1 hour).

Under no circumstances will applications of secretarial candidates who have not succeeded in the secretarial tests be taken into consideration again before a period of at least two years has elapsed.

Candidates who succeed in the tests and the interview will then be placed on a reserve list, which will be valid for a period of two years.

Each time a vacancy arises, the reserve list candidates’ files will be reviewed by the Hiring Manager. At the Division’s request, candidates may be re-invited to attend a test and interview which will focus on the vacancy concerned.

Further information about NATO and the various Divisions can be found on the NATO web site.

If selected for the reserve list, a number of administrative formalities have to be carried out on the candidate’s file. These include a valid security clearance (to be delivered by a candidate’s national authorities) and a complete medical file.

Security clearance:

  • national security forms will be sent to candidate for completion;
  • candidate’s national authorities will deliver a clearance to NATO

Medical file:

  1. a medical questionnaire will be sent to candidates for completion;
  2. candidate will then undergo various medical tests (a list of medical analyses will be provided by the NATO Medical Adviser);
  3. approval of medical file will be requested to NATO’s medical insurance company.

A candidate cannot receive a final offer of employment from NATO until the administrative formalities mentioned above are satisfactorily completed. It can take several months to obtain a security clearance and one to two months for completion of the medical formalities.

Only those candidates found to meet the basic qualifications, skills and professional experience will receive a reply.

POST DESCRIPTION
SECRETARY/ASSISTANT

 

The incumbent will carry out the duties of Assistant in one of the Divisions of NATO. He/she is accountable for efficiently handling a wide range of support duties of an administrative and organisational nature.

MAIN ACCOUNTABILITIES:

  • Provide general secretarial and administrative support.
  • Answer enquiries and incoming telephone calls, organise meetings and official travel, and keep the office diary.
  • Draft memoranda and covering letters to documents.
  • Type and format all kinds of documents, including tables of figures requiring careful presentation using the standard software packages used by NATO (e.g. Word, PowerPoint , Excel…).
  • Oversee the paper flow into and out of the office including retrieving and organising correspondence/documents, including classified papers and maintaining well-structured paper and electronic filing systems.
  • Provide administrative assistance in the planning, coordination and organisation of special events such as conferences, exhibitions, workshops, seminars, etc., at NATO HQ and off site.
  • Assist with the administration of budgetary and personnel management matters.
  • Maintain and up-date Intranet and Internet web-pages and conduct basic research using Internet.
  • Ensure that financial procedures are followed in activities requiring funding, preparing the necessary financial documents, following-up after the activities, keeping records of all financial transactions.
  • Manage small projects or processes.
  • Provide secretarial and administrative support for a Division, being deployed as required to provide temporary cover for absent secretarial and administrative staff (this is applicable for a post of Divisional Secretary only).

 

COMPETENCIES:

  • Organisational Awareness: understands the Organization’s structure.
  • Teamwork: expresses positive attitudes and expectations of team or team members.
  • Customer Service Orientation: takes personal responsibility for correcting problems.
  • Initiative: is decisive in a time-sensitive situation.
  • Clarity and Accuracy: checks own work.
  • Flexibility: acts with flexibility.
  • Integrity: acts consistently, in the workplace, according to basic values of openness and honesty.
  • Empathy: listens actively.

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE:

  • good general education at least to higher secondary level, or to secondary level complemented by secretarial school;
  • fluency in one of the official NATO languages (English and French), with a very good knowledge of the other;
  • familiarity with various software packages, in particular the Microsoft Office suites or similar;
  • ability to demonstrate at least one additional skill, e.g.: 
    • in-depth working knowledge of PC software applications;
    • extended experience in organising conferences or programme administration;
    • knowledge of, and experience in accountancy and accounting software;
    • working knowledge of an additional language of a NATO member nation;
  • at least 4 years’ previous experience of secretarial duties.

Application forms