Knowledge Management & Learning (KML) Consultant

Role Overview

This consultancy supports IRC Kenya’s drive to turn program evidence into compelling, decision-ready knowledge products. The consultant will train staff and partners in impact documentation, lead collaborative write shops and field data collection, and craft a suite of publications — from technical briefs to short films — that capture how IRC’s work changes lives in Kenya’s arid and refugee-hosting counties. The role matters because it helps the organization move from scattered data to structured learning that can inform programming, advocacy, and donor communications.

Key Responsibilities

• Plan and run three interactive write shops in Nairobi, Turkana, and Garissa, equipping technical coordinators, managers, officers, and partner staff with practical skills in evidence-based writing and impact documentation.
• Work with sector teams and the METAL unit to define clear learning questions per sector, ensuring all documentation and knowledge products stay anchored to those questions.
• Review existing program data, METAL reports, and project documents to map available evidence and identify gaps that require new data collection.
• Conduct field visits in Turkana, Garissa, and Tana River to gather primary data through focus group discussions, key informant interviews, observations, photography, and videography — always following informed consent and safeguarding procedures.
• Guide the drafting of knowledge management and learning products, including success stories, human interest stories, technical and policy briefs, an impact stories booklet and photobook, blogs, After Action Reviews, best/promising practice write-ups, and short videos or documentaries matched to the appropriate evidence standard.
• Facilitate a consolidation and review workshop in Nairobi where the task force and technical teams critique and refine draft products against agreed learning questions and evidence quality.
• Edit, copy-edit, and quality-check all materials, then manage professional design and layout so every product is publication-ready and compliant with safeguarding, consent verification, anonymization, and Kenya’s Data Protection Act 2019.
• Support the IRC Kenya learning event by preparing presentation and dissemination materials that help share the KML products with different audiences.

Requirements & Qualifications

• Master’s degree preferred in Communications, Development Studies, Social Sciences, Monitoring & Evaluation, Journalism, or a related field.
• At least 5 to 7 years of hands-on experience in knowledge management, impact documentation, technical writing, or communications within humanitarian or development organizations.
• A strong portfolio of published knowledge products — human interest stories, technical and policy briefs, photobooks, and short documentaries — with demonstrated attention to evidence and storytelling.
• Solid grasp of MEAL systems, outcome frameworks, and evidence-based programming, including how to match different types of claims with the appropriate level of evidence.
• Proven ability to design and lead participatory workshops for multidisciplinary teams, keeping sessions practical and outcome-oriented.
• Excellent spoken and written English, with sharp editing, narrative, and quality-control skills.
• Prior work in Kenya’s ASAL or refugee-hosting contexts (Turkana, Garissa, Tana River) is strongly preferred.
• Understanding of research ethics, informed consent, safeguarding standards, and the Kenya Data Protection Act 2019, including handling sensitive or identifiable client information and content involving minors.
• Willingness and availability to travel to Nairobi, Turkana, Garissa, and Tana River for workshops, field data collection, and validation activities.
• If proposing a team (for example, with a videographer or photographer), the lead consultant must take full responsibility for coordination, quality, and delivery of all outputs.
• Experience with IRC or similar international NGOs is an added advantage.