How to read NATO civilian grades and salary scales

A NATO vacancy may show G15:A2, G12:B5 or G14:B6. The first part is NATO’s numeric grade. The second is the corresponding notation from the A, B, C and L category structure. NATO bodies still publish both forms in current notices.

Individual notices state the NATO grade and, where relevant, a coordinated-organization or body-specific classification. These labels should be copied from the live notice rather than inferred from the title.

The category letters

NATO’s application guidance divides International Staff posts into four occupational categories.

Category A covers executive and administrator work. Category B covers administrative, assistant and technical-support posts. Category C covers manual and technical trades. Category L is for linguists.

The official category sequence supplies the following pairings for the grades most applicants encounter:

• A1 is G11; A2 is G15; A3 is G17; A4 is G20; A5 is G22; A6 is G23; A7 is G24.
• B1 is G2; B2 is G5; B3 is G8; B4 is G10; B5 is G12; B6 is G14.
• L1 is G13; L2 is G16; L3 is G18; L4 is G19; L5 is G21.
• C grades occupy G1, G3, G4, G6, G7 and G9.

Current vacancy listings confirm common examples. Staff assistants appear at G8:B3 and G10:B4. A technical or senior assistant post may be G12:B5 or G14:B6. Professional officers often appear at G15:A2, with G17:A3 and G20:A4 used for posts carrying greater responsibility.

This is an occupational classification, not a reliable dictionary of job titles. NATO bodies write their own post descriptions within the common personnel framework. A G15 scientist and a G15 staff officer share a grade while doing very different work.

Grade numbers and responsibility

A higher G number generally carries a higher basic salary and a post with greater evaluated responsibility. The category also tells you something about the nature of the work. G14:B6 sits at the top of the B sequence; G15:A2 belongs to the professional-administrator sequence. The jump in number does not describe a routine promotion path between those two occupational groups.

Vacancies sometimes give a grade range, such as G11-G15:A1-A2. That means the recruiting body can appoint within the range stated in the notice. Candidates should check how experience affects entry grade and whether the body reserves a right to offer a lower grade.

There is no official one-to-one conversion between NATO grades and UN P grades or EU AD grades. Similar duties or salaries in one city do not establish equivalence. Use the NATO grade for NATO terms of employment.

Why NATO salary tables are location-specific

NATO publishes basic salary scales by grade and duty country. A G15 salary in Belgium, Norway, Italy or Türkiye is not the same nominal amount because the scales reflect the employment location and the coordinated-organizations salary system.

The NATO careers page on working conditions links to current salary scales and explains the main allowances. Vacancy notices often print the monthly basic salary for their location. A 2026 G15 post at CMRE in Italy, for instance, gives a monthly euro amount and says that later adjustments follow North Atlantic Council decisions. That number should not be copied into a permanent salary guide.

NATO states that salaries and emoluments paid to International Civilian Personnel are exempt from taxation under the Ottawa Agreement. Personal tax treatment can still involve national circumstances, so the offer and host-country information are the proper sources for an individual case.

Allowances may include expatriation, household, dependent-child, education or installation provisions when the eligibility rules are met. NATO says the expatriation allowance is available for grades G2, G5, G8 and G10 through G24 to eligible staff who were not nationals of the host country and had not been continuously resident there for the preceding year. Eligibility depends on facts that HR verifies; it cannot be inferred from an international application.

Contracts and recruitment conditions

NATO bodies recruit independently. A notice names the body, duty station, grade, contract duration and security clearance. Some posts offer a three-year definite-duration contract with a possible later contract. Others are temporary or follow a different initial term.

International civilian vacancies normally require nationality of a NATO member country. Professional category posts usually ask for a university degree, relevant experience and knowledge of NATO’s two official languages, English and French. The exact language standard varies by post.

Appointment is commonly conditional on a medical file and a security clearance issued through national authorities. Clearance can take time and is separate from the hiring panel’s assessment.

Use NATO’s live vacancy list to confirm the notation used by the recruiting body. When a third-party database shows only A2 or B5, the source notice should supply the paired G grade. When it shows only G15, that is already an official NATO grade; adding A2 is safe only where NATO’s published mapping or the vacancy supports it.