2024-0110 Cloud Identity and Access Management (NS) - MON 9 Mar SOLE SOURCE

THIS IS A SOLE SOURCE POSITION

Deadline Date: Monday 9 March 2025

Requirement: Cloud Identity and Access Management

Location: Off-Site

Period of Performance: BASE period: 11th March 2026 – 31st December 2026

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

Required Security Clearance: NATO SECRET

1 INTRODUCTION

Supporting NATO throughout all its geographical locations, the NCI Agency is looking for Support for Cloud Identity and Access Management, joining the journey of NATO’s modernisation of IT services, through leveraging the public cloud (Microsoft Azure, M365 and Amazon AWS), delivering managed, protected, security-centric and reliable IT Services.

NCI Agency – Cloud Operations Team

The NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCI Agency) is dedicated to supporting NATO's strategic objectives, including the ambitious NATO 2030 agenda. As part of this commitment, we are spearheading the modernization and digital transformation of NATO’s IT services. Our focus is on leveraging public cloud technologies like Microsoft 365 and Intune, incorporating a security-by-design approach, and ensuring a seamless transition to a modern, collaborative workplace environment.

To achieve these goals, we are building a Cloud Operations team under the Cloud Portfolio, operating under the NATO Enterprise Cloud Operating Model (NECOM) and under the guidance of the Cloud Center of Excellence (CCoE). The NECOM framework provides a standardized approach for cloud service management, ensuring interoperability, scalability, and security across NATO's IT infrastructure. The Cloud Center of Excellence will serve as a hub for best practices, innovation, and expertise, driving the adoption and optimization of cloud technologies within NATO. This team will play a crucial role in our journey towards providing managed, protected, and reliable End User Services.

Embracing the latest technological advancements, this initiative will foster innovation and ensure NATO remains at the cutting edge of IT capabilities. By continuously evolving and integrating new technologies, we aim to enhance operational efficiency and readiness for future challenges. This remote position offers an exciting opportunity to be at the forefront of NATO's technological evolution and contribute to the security and efficiency of our operations.

NCI Agency – Cloud Centre of Excellence (CCoE)

The Cloud Centre of Excellence (CCoE) within the NCI Agency is focused on driving successful cloud adoption and maximizing the potential of cloud technologies across the organization. It serves as a central governing body, promoting best practices, enabling knowledge sharing, and ensuring alignment between business objectives and cloud initiatives. The CCoE supports various cloud-based solutions, ensuring their effective and efficient implementation and management. By fostering a culture of continuous improvement and innovation, the CCoE helps the NCI Agency leverage cloud technologies to enhance operational efficiency, scalability, and agility.

The ideal candidate will have expertise in Entra ID, AWS IAM, PowerShell scripting, RBAC, MFA, and conditional access policies. Strong analytical, problem-solving, and organizational skills are required, along with the ability to document processes and provide training on IAM tools and practices.

This role is critical for maintaining a secure and efficient IAM environment, supporting internal users and external collaborators. If you are a motivated IAM specialist passionate about security, automation, and multi-cloud environments, we invite you to apply and join our dynamic team.

2 OBJECTIVES

The NCI Agency is embracing cloud services by transitioning to Microsoft 365 with a security-centric design. This shift aims to enhance operational efficiency, collaboration, and security across the organization. We are looking for service provider with strong knowledge, a willingness to learn, and a desire to grow as part of this new challenge.

The objective of this statement of work is to establish a support and operating model for End User Services operating in the Public Cloud, with a focus on Microsoft 365 services.

3 SCOPE OF WORK

Under the direction / guidance of the local NCIA Point of Contact or the Cloud Operations Center Manager, the Support for Cloud Identity and Access Management will perform the following activities:

1) Design and Implement IAM Solutions:

a) Design, implement, and manage identity and access management solutions using Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD) and Amazon AWS.

b) Ensure seamless integration with internal and external applications and systems.

2) Automate Account and Group Management:

a) Develop and deploy PowerShell scripts and Azure Automation workflows to automate user account and group management tasks.

b) Implement self-service capabilities for account and group management to improve efficiency.

3) Manage Account Lifecycle:

a) Oversee the entire account lifecycle management process, from user onboarding to offboarding.

b) Provision new accounts and assign appropriate access rights based on role requirements.

c) Regularly review and update user roles and permissions to reflect changes in job functions and organizational structure.

d) Deprovision accounts promptly when users leave the organization or change roles, ensuring removal of access rights.

e) Implement role-based access control (RBAC) to manage permissions based on job roles.

f) Conduct periodic access reviews and certifications to ensure compliance with organizational policies.

4) Privileged Identity Management:

a) Implement and manage Azure AD Privileged Identity Management (PIM) to control, monitor, and audit privileged access to resources.

b) Configure PIM to enforce just-in-time (JIT) access, approval workflows, and access reviews for privileged roles.

5) Security and Compliance:

a) Implement security best practices and ensure compliance with relevant standards and regulations.

b) Conduct regular audits and reviews of access controls and permissions.

6) User Support and Troubleshooting:

a) Provide support for IAM-related issues, including troubleshooting user access problems and resolving authentication issues.

b) Act as an escalation point for complex IAM issues.

c) Maintain comprehensive documentation for IAM processes, configurations, and workflows.

d) Provide training and support to IT staff and end-users on IAM best practices and tools.

7) Monitor and Optimize IAM Systems:

a) Monitor the performance and effectiveness of IAM systems and processes.

b) Identify opportunities for improvement and implement optimizations to enhance security and efficiency.

8) Collaboration and Communication:

a) Collaborate with IT security, compliance, and other relevant teams to ensure cohesive IAM strategies.

b) Communicate effectively with stakeholders to understand IAM requirements and address concerns.

9) External Collaboration and Sharing:

a) Manage external collaboration and sharing settings in Azure AD to facilitate secure access for partners and external users.

b) Implement and manage B2B (Business to Business) collaboration settings and policies through Entra ID.

c) Integrate and manage identity and access management for B2B scenarios, ensuring seamless and secure interactions with external partners.

10) AWS Integration:

a) Integrate and manage IAM processes with Amazon AWS, ensuring secure access and interoperability between Azure AD and AWS.

b) Implement and manage federated identities and single sign-on (SSO) between Azure AD and AWS environments.

c) Monitor and optimize IAM configurations to ensure compliance and security across multi-cloud environments.

11) Automation and Efficiency:

a) Develop and implement automation scripts using PowerShell to streamline routine support tasks such as software installations, updates, and system checks.

b) Utilize Power Automate to create workflows that automate repetitive tasks and improve service efficiency.

c) Identify opportunities to enhance efficiency through automation and proactively implement solutions.

12) Communication and Collaboration:

a) Communicate effectively with users to understand their issues and provide clear instructions.

b) Collaborate with IT teams to resolve issues and improve service delivery.

The contractor will be part of a team providing Technical Level 2 and 3 support , ensuring the secure, available, managed and compliant delivery of Public Cloud Services to NATO and its Strategic Commands.

The contractor will work remotely, providing services during Core working hours of the Cloud Operations team (Brussels / BEL).

The measurement of execution for this work is sprints, with each sprint planned for a duration of 1 week.

4 DELIVERABLES AND PAYMENT MILESTONES

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

4.1 2026 BASE: 11 March 2026 to 31 December 2026

Deliverable: Up to 30 Sprints

Payment Milestones: Upon completion of four consecutive sprints.

4.2 2027 OPTION: 01 January 2027 to 31 December 2027

Deliverable: Up to 46 Sprints

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 four 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) including the EBA Receipt number

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

5 COORDINATION AND REPORTING

The contractor shall participate in daily status update meetings, activity planning and other meetings as instructed, via electronic means using Conference Call