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(NATO) Deployment / testing DISG / JCHAT

Employer
Park Lane Recruitment Ltd
Location
Offsite
Salary
Lumpsum for project delivered
Closing date
3 Nov 2020

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Job Details

Deployment / testing DISG / JCHAT (REMOTE)

 

DEADLINE: Tue 27th October 2020

Location of Performance: Offsite

Required Start Date: No later than 16 Nov 2020 (finish 20th Dec 2020)

Required Security Clearance: Not required - NATO Unclassified

 

STATEMENT OF WORK FOR ACT INNOVATION

Support to implement FMN Reference Implementation components

Automated deployment and testing of containerized DISG and JCHAT

INTRODUCTION

NATO Information and Communication Agency (NCI Agency) located in The Hague, The Netherlands, is currently involved in development of new capabilities for NATO as well as in the support of existing capabilities.

Innovation Lab Operation has been identified as a pathfinder project for future NATO Enterprise Level DevSecOps model. Among the other the successful execution of the Innovation Lab operation will provide a template for Enterprise Level change, and ultimately shall result in expedited delivery of NATO common funded Software Intensive Projects.

NATO Information and Communication Agency (NCI Agency) located in The Hague, The Netherlands, is currently involved in the development of new capabilities for NATO as well as in the support of existing capabilities. NCI Agency support to Innovation Lab operation is multifaceted and includes:

1) Proposing a process to allow seamless transfer of selected MVPs from non‐classified iLab environment to NCIA managed operational networks (NU, MS, NS);

2) Provision of DevSecOps expertise in support of iLab operation;

3) Provision of SME’s expertise for identified MVPs to assure the coherent approach to developed within iLab CIS capabilities, and for iLab Hackathon participants to assure corporate knowledge transfer necessary for solutions development;

4) Provision of coherence and facilitation of integration of MVPs in ongoing Capability Package development and implementation; and

5) Provision of Data Science expertise to support Data Science heavy MVPs.

JChat has been developed by NCI Agency to provide operators with text‐based asynchronous chat capability. Chat communications is used daily by the operators to pass information, coordinate operations, and support collaborative decision‐making. JChat is providing one‐to‐one chat, group (multi‐user) chat and multi‐user conferencing (moderated chat) and is based on Instant Messaging (IM) technology.

The JChat M‐LINK and Openfire Server are a mission configurable systems that allows for rapid adoption of new data sources and on‐demand configuration, to support information exchange between any headquarters and unit on NATO Command and NATO Force Structure, even when those entities have dissimilar chat systems.

M‐Link and Openfire are used on the Afghanistan Mission Network (AMN) in Resolute Support Mission (RSM) and in NATO Response Force (NTF) exercises.

The purpose of DISG is:

(1) Convey certain information hosted in functional services to be able to go through an Information Exchange Gateway (IEG). This adaptation is readily available for a number of formats (Link16, OTH‐Gold, FFI and XMPP) and can be made at different levels:

(2) Label – determine the security classification of information passing the IEG, in order to ensure that information reaches intended audience,

(3) Sanitize the information that is intended to leave the security domain. This sanitization will happen according to rules, and it removes or modifies data contents in order to be able to release functional services data into another domain.

(4) Sign – ensure that data or its security classifications are not changed, by adding digital signatures to data, when converting data to XML format,

(5) Verify and guard – ensure the validity of the data by verifying if data adheres to standards (defined in STANAG) when entering IEG, and if it still does

OBJECTIVES

Objective of this statement of work is to get support from contractor in preparation of FMN reference implementation of cross‐security domain Chat Collaboration Service compliant with Data‐centric Security Standards (4774/4778) and using containerized services. This implementation will be FMN compliant and use NATO Data‐centric Information Service Gateway (DISG), NATO Joint Tactical Chat client (JCHAT) and Openfire XMPP Server.

SCOPE OF WORK

GENERAL

To transfer already developed containerized solutions and associated framework including elements of CI/CD pipelines, in alignment with the pipeline currently in use for automatic container deployments in NATO Software Factory (NSF) and toolset outlined in “2019 NST Containerization Report”, in order to optimize MVP development. This will provide a foundation for DevSecOps, and thus decrease production to operation cycle times while increasing quality, scalability and agility of software.

Project shall deliver fully automated installation / decommission of NCIA Containerized systems (DISG, Openfire Server) on designated DevTest Lab (DTL) on MS Azure AKS.

Slight variations of deployment will be agreed with contractor upon refinement of requirements, after kick‐off meeting and results of the initial sprint.

WP 1 – AUTOMATIC DEPLOYMENT / DECOMMISSION OF AN FMN COMPLIANT CROSSSECURITY

DOMAIN XMPP TEST ENVIRONMENT

This SoW consists of a single WP. This work package formally starts with the kick off meeting at the start of project and ends when all the deliverables under section 4 are finished and accepted.

DELIVERABLES

Following deliverables are expected from the work on this statement of work:

Item - Deliverables - Deadline

D001 - Planning for delivery of platform using Agile approach, leveraging on planning and collaboration tools provided on NATO Software Factory - 20 OCT 20 (TBD)

D002 - Full working installation / and decommission procedure for deployment mentioned in section 3.1.2. - 20 NOV 20

D003 - Integration with Interoperability (IO) testing framework developed by NCI Agency Independent Verification and Validation Service Line (IV&V) - 15 DEC 20

D004 - Installation guide and Report with recommendations for future improvements - 15 DEC 20

D005 - Installation scripts and code - 15 DEC 20

D006 - Remote assistance to kick-off meeting, short daily stand-ups and sprint review meetings, as well as any other required informational meetings, keeping customer involved along process - Continuous until 20 DEC 20

D007 - Collaboration with customer and on-the-job knowledge transfer to required engineers from NATO - Continuous until 20 DEC 20

COORDINATION & REPORTING

Contractor shall participate in kick‐off meeting within five working days after signing of this contract. This could be a meeting at Purchaser’s facilities in The Netherlands or be done via electronic means using Conference Call capabilities. During kick off meeting, contractor will provide and discuss a plan for executing tasks under this statement of work. Purchaser and Contractor will discuss plan and amend where appropriate. Contractor will provide email minutes containing, at least decisions and actions decided during meeting.

Contractor shall participate in weekly status meetings, done via electronic means using Conference Call capabilities. Contractor will initiate this meeting and provide email minutes containing at least decisions and actions decided during meeting.

Contractor shall conduct remote exception reporting via electronic means as required. Exception reporting to take place within two working days of exception occurring and is to include, as a minimum, reason for / cause of exception, impact of exception, proposed action plan to address exception for approval by purchaser, and residual impact. Format of reports will be agreed between purchaser and contractor within five working days after kick‐off meeting.

SCHEDULE

This task order will be active immediately after signing of contract by both parties. Contractor will propose kick off meeting within one week after signing of contract. It is expected work starts in October 2020 (TBD) and ending not later than 20 December 2020. The contract may be extended if required

CONSTRAINTS

All documentation provided under this statement of work will be based on NCI Agency templates. All scripts, documentation and required code will be stored under configuration management in provided GIT in NSF Cloud. All deliverables of this project will be considered NATO UNCLASSIFIED

Payment Schedule

Linked deliverables -  Deadline

D001, D006, D007 -  30 October 2020 (TBD)

D002, D006, D007 -  30 November 2020

D003, D004, D005, D006, D007 - 30 December 2020

PRACTICAL ARRANGEMENTS

Contractor will be required to work off site. The task should be developed by a maximum of 2 contractors.

Requirements

  • Required Security Clearance: Not required - NATO Unclassified
  • Strong knowledge and practical experience (12+ months in last 24 months) with:
  • a. Java development
  • b. Test automation
  • c. Docker containers
  • d. Kubernetes / Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)
  • e. CI/CD tools such as:
  • i. Jenkins
  • ii. SonarQube
  • iii. WeaveScope
  • iv. Ansible
  • v. Terraform
  • vi. Junit
  • vii. Selenium
  • f. Infrastructure as code (IaaC). Ansible and Terraform.
  • Experience with SDC and testing tools such as JIRA and TestRail.
  • Some of following industrial certifications:
  • a. Security (CISSP, CCSP)
  • b. Networking (CCNA, CCNP)
  • c. MS Azure (Fundamentals, Administrator)
  • d. RedHat Linux
  • Familiar with upcoming NATO Data‐centric Security concept
  • Familiar with STANAGS 4774 and 4778
  • Knowledge or practical experience using Openfire XMPP server
  • Significant experience in area of computer networks, including DNS, domains, PKI certificates, network designs;
  • Experience participating in defence innovation projects
  • Flexible, cooperative and customer focussed attitude; high standards for quality and quantity; monitors and maintains quality and productivity; works in a systematic, methodical and orderly way;
  • Able to speak and write fluent English since the work is conducted in English;
  • Nationality of one of the NATO nations

Company

We are a small, but perfectly formed team of consultants and specialists with over 60 years combined recruitment experience.

We were established in May 2016 and work with selected clients - largely on a retained / exclusive basis across the UK, mainland Europe, the Middle East and the USA. Because of our size, every piece of work we take on matters to us. We care about getting to know you and your business, so we can effectively act as an extension of your business.

We actively encourage all clients to come to our offices on the outskirts of Macclesfield, to meet with the team. Our facilities boast modern offices with boardroom. Our aim is to create an enjoyable experience for you, while solving one of your biggest needs - your talent. We see our work with you not as transaction, but as long-term partnership.

We also never forget that candidates are the reason we exist, so whether you are seeking Permanent or Contract work, we work tirelessly to make sure you are well served and looked after.

 

Company info
Website
Telephone
0161 804 2013
Location
Park Lane Recruitment Ltd
Beechfield House, Winterton Way
Lyme Green Business Park
Macclesfield
Cheshire
SK11 0LP
GB

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