NATOIS-0051 Cyber Threat Intelligence Researcher (NS) - THU 12 Nov

Deadline Date: Thursday 12 November 2026

Requirement: Cyber Threat Intelligence Researcher

Location: Brussels, BE

Full Time On-Site: No

Time On-Site: 40%

Total Scope of the request (hours): Base period 2027: 38 hours/week for a total of 42 weeks and a total of 1596 hours

2028 Option: 38 hours/week for a total of 42 weeks and a total of 1596 hours

Period of Performance: 2027 BASE: 18 Jan 2027 to 31 Dec 2027

2028 Option: 01 Jan – 31 Dec 2028

Required Security Clearance: NATO SECRET

Special Terms and Conditions: The contractor will be responsible for complying with the respective national requirements for working permits, visas, taxes social security etc. whilst working on site at NATO HQ- Brussels, Belgium. No special status is either conferred or implied by the host organisation, NATO HQ- Brussels, Belgium on to the contractor whilst working on site.

1 GENERAL

1.1 Introduction

1.1.1 The Cyber Threat Analysis Branch (CTAB) is looking for a Cyber Threat Intelligence Researcher to support in the provision of technical cyber threat intelligence to the NATO Enterprise and Alliance through researching threat actors’ tactics, techniques and procedures.

1.2 Background Information

1.2.1 The Joint Intelligence and Security Division (JISD), under the leadership of the Assistant Secretary General for Intelligence and Security (ASG I&S), comprises two principal pillars: Intelligence – headed by the Deputy ASG for Intelligence; and the NATO Office of Security (NOS) – headed by the Deputy ASG for Security. Intelligence is responsible for ensuring the situational awareness of the North Atlantic Council and the Military Committee, for the analysis of the indications and warnings in support of the NATO Crisis Response System and for the development of intelligence policies and capabilities for NATO. Its functional areas address: intelligence analysis and production, intelligence policy and capability development.

1.2.2 The joint civilian and military Intelligence Production Unit (IPU), under the JISD, delivers strategic intelligence-based analysis to support North Atlantic Council (NAC) and Military Committee (MC) decision making on strategic issues of concern. The IPU produces a range of planned and tasked intelligence products on regional issues in Eurasia, Africa and the Middle East, and on transnational issues such as hybrid warfare, terrorism, instability, weapons of mass destruction and energy security.

1.2.3 The Cyber Threat Analysis Branch (CTAB), under the IPU, is responsible for providing evidence-based assessments of the cyber threat landscape to empower NATO stakeholders to make risk-informed decisions. The multidisciplinary team combines all-source data with cutting edge technologies to support and enhance the Alliance leaderships’ understanding on the nature of cyber competition and conflict. CTAB systematically identifies strategic patterns and trends in cyber space and generates tailored insights to support network defence and mission assurance with predictive analysis, cyber threat intelligence, and threat hunting.

2 STATEMENT OF OBJECTIVES

2.1 Corporate Objective

2.2 The contractor (Cyber Threat Intelligence Researcher) will support the work of the Cyber Threat Analysis Branch and help conduct research into threat actors’ tactics, techniques and procedures – and will create accurate, actionable and relevant technical reporting of interest to the Alliance.

2.3 Contract Objective

2.3.1 Obtain specialist consulting services to support the following initiatives:

2.3.1.1 Create scripts and queries to accurately and automatically track threat actor infrastructure and tools using commercial and open-source information and tools;

2.3.1.2 Write technical threat intelligence products, including detection signatures, meant for network defenders to aid network defence, threat hunting and adversary emulation efforts;

2.3.1.3 Aid in translating technical cyber threat intelligence into operational and strategic intelligence products to inform decision-makers at NATO.

2.4 Management Objective

2.4.1 Allow the Contractor the maximum flexibility to innovatively manage its corporate resources and expertise so as to provide a high-value contribution in support to the NATO’s corporate and contract objectives within existing constraints and available funding.

3 PERSONNEL AND RESOURCES

7.1 General

7.1.1 Under the guidance and supervision of the NATO IS Procurement Service, the selected service provider will be responsible for the execution of the tasks and for the delivery of the specialist products specified in this SOW.

7.2 Task Order Management

7.2.1 The Contractor will be responsible for conducting cloud engineering to support NATO’s cyber threat intelligence production. The Contractor must:

7.2.1.1 Use the CTAB Cyber Threat Intelligence Platform and other sources to conduct research into prioritized cyber threat actors to discover new infrastructure and capabilities under the direction of the team lead. Conduct pattern analysis on threat actor infrastructure to detect new malicious infrastructure, and script and automate that detection to allow for threat intelligence at scale. Find and analyse potential new cyber threats to NATO based on existing or novel techniques and scripts, and correlate with all available sources to establish an adequate threat picture.

7.2.1.3 Translate threat actor tactics, techniques and procedures into actionable intelligence for 1) network defenders through creating detection signatures, contextualizing IoC’s, and writing standardized CTI products, and 2) strategic cyber analysts for use in intelligence production to decision makers. Support other threat researchers in their activities, and advise and assist strategic cyber threat analysts in understanding complex technical topics.

7.2.1.4 Participate in team and branch calls as required by the team lead to give status updates on projects and developments pertinent to the Contractor’s tasks, and ensure constant delivery of findings, mostly comprising indicators of compromise and MITRE techniques, on novel threat actors. Equally deliver scripts and methodologies that improve on current processes and tooling and enhance NATO’s ability to track adversaries in cyberspace.

7.3 Development of Specialist Products

7.3.1 The Contractor shall produce the Deliverables as specified in the task order management under supervision of the NATO Project Manager. The Contractor shall submit Deliverables to the NATO Project Manager for Quality Review, test or inspection not later than the dates specified by the NATO Project Manager.

7.3.2 The Contractor shall continuously validate any deliverables with the NATO Project Manager and peers within CTAB.

7.3.3 The Contractor shall hold periodic sessions with the NATO Project Manager to make sure that the deliverables are aligned with NATO’s expectations.

8 QUALITY CONTROL

8.1 Contractor’s products must comply with the criteria as set forth by the NATO Project Manager. Contractor must implement an appropriate quality control process in order to make sure that the products which are submitted for quality review, inspection or acceptance are of acceptable quality.

8.2 The Organization will immediately stop the review, inspection, acceptance or delivery of those products or services that are affected by material deficiencies, significant omissions, or gross mistakes and return the delinquent products to the Contractor for correction, or request the reperformance of service. The review and acceptance processes will be suspended until the Contractor’s shows that the product has been subject to a thorough quality control before being submitted again for review.

9 QUALITY ASSURANCE AND CONTRACTOR PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT

9.1 General

9.1.1 NATO will evaluate the Contractor’s performance under this task order in accordance with reasonable quality assurance procedures and techniques such as random and periodic inspections and surveys. All observations will be recorded by NATO Project Manager or his/her designees. When an observation indicates defective performance, the NATO Project Manager will obtain the Contractor’s representative’s initials on the record of the observation. Contract Discrepancy Reports will be issued wherever the nature and circumstances of the deficiency warrant such a measure.

9.2 Performance Evaluation Meetings

9.2.1 The Contractor’s contract or project manager may be required to meet periodically with the NATO Project Manager and the Procurement Officer during the period of task order performance. Meetings will be scheduled as required. The Contractor may request meetings whenever a Contract Discrepancy Report is issued. The written minutes of these meetings shall be signed by the contractor’s manager, Procurement Officer, and NATO Project Manager. If the Contractor does not concur with the minutes, any areas of non-concurrence shall be submitted to NATO Project Manager within 10 working days of receipt of the signed minutes.

4 HOURS OF OPERATION

4.1 While performing at NATO sites, Contractor’s personnel must work during NATO official working hours (normally between 8:30–18:00, Monday to Thursday, and between 8:30-16:00 on Friday), unless otherwise specified in the task orders. Recognized holidays are official holidays approved by the NATO site specified in the task order, or if no site is specified in the task order, by the NATO Headquarters. A list of the official holidays can be obtained from the NATO Project Manager designated in task orders.

4.2 Exceptionally, Contractor’s personnel may be required to work outside normal working hours.

4.3 Exceptionally, Contractor’s personnel may be required to visit other locations other than those specified in the task order in order to participate in project-related meetings, in which case any associated travel costs will be reimbursed.

4.4 Contractor’s Key Personnel performing services under Contract shall take vacation and voluntary leave at times agreed between the Contractor and the designated NATO Project Manager.

5 NATO FURNISHED PROPERTY AND SERVICES

5.1 The Organization will provide the Contractor with a secure working environment in NATO HQ for an expected minimum of 2 days per week, where the other 3 days per week are remote work from home, as well as access to the CTAB cyber threat intelligence platform.

6 CONTRACTOR FURNISHED PROPERTY AND SERVICES

6.1 Except for those items or services specifically stated to be NATO furnished in Section 5 above, the Contractor shall furnish everything required to perform this Contract.

3 PERSONNEL AND RESOURCES

3.1.1 All general and domain specific qualification requirements stated in the AAS+ Framework Agreement shall be applicable (e.g., required English proficiency).

• The Contractor will require a NATO SECRET clearance.
• A university degree from a nationally recognised/certified university in a quantitative discipline (Computer Science, Engineering, Statistics, Operations Research, etc.) with substantial computer science content and 2 years of specific experience – OR - at least 4 years’ experience similar to the tasks described in this SoW and relevant industry recognized certificates.
• Knowledge and experience in analysis of various threat actor groups, attack patterns and tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) to produce actionable threat intelligence to enable network and host defences in organizations with demonstrable impact.
• Experience with and knowledge of the intelligence lifecycle, analytical tradecraft and frameworks such as MITRE ATT&CK.
• Good communication skills, both orally and written. Able to translate complex technical topics into information conveyable to non-domain experts. Can easily cooperate with other threat researchers by taking and giving feedback
• Knowledge of network and system fundamentals and experience in any of the following cybersecurity fields: network monitoring, threat hunting, incident response, red teaming, host/network forensics, or reverse engineering.
• Experience with programming in scripting languages such as Python