Terms Of Reference (TOR): Knowledge Management (Individual Consultant)

About TaRL Africa

TaRL Africa initiative is hosted by Empower Learning Africa, a not-for-profit organisation registered and headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, with teams in Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Malawi, Ethiopia and Zambia. TaRL Africa began as a joint venture by Pratham and J-PAL in 2019, with the goal of supporting governments and organisations across Africa to accelerate children’s foundational skill acquisition using the evidence-based “Teaching at the Right Level” (TaRL) approach. TaRL Africa's vision is for every child across Africa to have foundational skills so that they can have a better future. Our mission is to ensure public education systems effectively equip children with these foundational skills.

We support governments and organisations in over 19 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa to design, deliver and scale impactful TaRL programs while learning and sharing how the approach can be improved for different contexts. Together with partners, TaRL Africa has reached over 7 million children with TaRL programming.

1. Introduction & Context

TaRL Africa is a rapidly evolving organization with staff and program operations in 7 key countries (Kenya, South Africa, Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire, Zambia, Malawi, Ethiopia). Following a recent re-organisation, we are seeking to unify our "fragmented digital workplace." Our institutional knowledge is currently siloed across a wide array of systems, including Google Suite, Teams, Dropbox, Asana, Microsoft Office, BambooHR, STATA, Kobo Collect, Survey CTO, Zoom, Power BI, Dynamics 365, Hubspot, WhatsApp, WordPress, and Google Sites.

As we scale, our Knowledge Management (KM) must cost-effectively encompass both Structured Data (e.g., program monitoring data) and Unstructured Knowledge (policies, financial archives, and donor relationship history). We seek an improved KM system design to ensure cross-unit and cross-country efficiencies, while leveraging KM best practices, compliance, and exploration of new technology advances such as AI. We anticipate a multi-phased migration of data and other KM improvements, of which this Consultancy provides the initial recommendations and roadmap along with providing guidance and policies that support our integrated KM system.

2. Objectives

The consultant will lead a 12-week project to:

• Map the Total Knowledge Ecosystem: Audit functional areas—Programs, Finance & Ops, HR, Research & Learning, and External Relations—to identify how knowledge is created, stored, and lost; and the processes by which this information is used
• Develop User Profiles: Create archetypes of staff members to tailor KM solutions to their specific technical capacity and connectivity realities.
• Rationalize the Tech Stack: Determine the "Single Source of Truth" for different information types and reduce platform and policy redundancy.
• Secure & Protect: Establish 2026-standard protocols for data security, privacy, and automated backup across the entire tech stack.
• Integrate AI: Integrate AI into KM by assessing and securing internal information assets, training AI models on verified organizational data, piloting integration solutions and documenting all related notes, security protocols and governance measures.
• Plan for Migration: Establish a standardized KM framework within Microsoft 365/other through the development of a defined architecture and migration plan that ensures structured content organization, controlled migration, and strengthened governance of organizational knowledge assets.

3. Scope of Work

Pillar I: Functional Audit, User Profiling, & Policy Review

• Cross-Functional Mapping (Deliverable 1.1, 1.3): Audit KM needs and existing/upcoming solutions across functional systems for HR (HMIS), Finance/Ops (ERP, Accounting), Programs / External Relations (CRM, website) & Learning (Data Collection, Storage & Management); and key handoff points between functions (e.g., finance, programs, and procurement).
  • This includes documenting where duplicate data entry occurs (e.g., HR–Finance personnel sync); where knowledge is lost due to offline processes or lack of system integration; and where knowledge may be lost during staff transitions.
• Platform & Policy Audit (Deliverable 1.2, 1.3):
  • Systems: Review the necessity and interoperability of all tools.
  • Governance: Evaluate existing KM, IT, and Data policies to identify gaps or outdated procedures post-re-organisation.
• Develop User Personas to Drive Priority KM Improvements (Deliverable 1.2, 1.3): Develop 4–6 "User Profiles" (e.g., The Low-Connectivity Field Officer, The Regional Manager, The Technical Data Analyst). Each profile should outline their tech-literacy, primary tools, and information "pain points" and critical needs for diverse roles in the organization.

Pillar II: Architecture Re-structuring

• Post-Re-organization Taxonomy (Deliverable 2.1): Propose a standardized, multi-country folder hierarchy and naming convention that reflects the new organizational structure. Include review and recommendations for:
  • Information Flow (Deliverable 2.1, 3.1): Define the "Single Source of Truth" guide for all departments that establishes where final data is kept.
  • Communication Norms (Deliverable 2.1, 3.1): Establish protocols for communication and transfer of formal and informal knowledge to ensure this is efficiently captured and archived. For example, establish protocols for use of Zoom, WhatsApp, and other modes of communication.
• Migration Planning (Deliverable 2.2): Develop a strategic migration plan that guides the redesign, structuring, and systematic transition of knowledge assets, ensuring they are well-organized, easily accessible, and effectively governed across the organization within the new system. This will include Architecture Design, Content Restructuring, Migration Mapping & Transition, and Alignment with KM Objectives.

Pillar III: Data Security, Privacy & Backup

• Permissions Audit (Deliverable 3.1): Review and tighten access controls across all existing organizational technology platforms in use with sensitive data.
• Compliance (Deliverable 3.1): Align the KM strategy with data protection laws in seven countries with permanent staff (Kenya, South Africa, Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire, Zambia, Malawi, Ethiopia), highlighting any key gaps for priority follow up action.
• Automated Redundancy: Design a disaster recovery and backup plan for cloud and offline environments.

4. Deliverables & 12-Week Timeline

The assignment will be delivered in four phases over a 12-week period

Phase 1: Discovery and Profiling (Weeks 1–4)

1.1 Survey / Scoping of System Structure and Pain points Review and Report: Conduct an initial survey of formal and informal KM processes, technologies/architecture, and key successes and pain points for users in our existing KM system. Summarize results.

1.2 KM Discovery & Policy Audit Report: Submit a comprehensive map of the KM systems, policy gap analysis, and 4–6 User Profiles, and current bottlenecks in key units Finance, HR, Programs, Communications, Research. 1.3 Priority List / Phased Recommendations of Next Steps for Action in KM System Improvement: Facilitate a final prioritization activity with organizational leadership to identify priorities to address. Output to include recommendations and rationale for urgent, important actions; and actions that can take place in later phases or are optional.

Phase 2: Strategy and Architecture (Weeks 5–8)

2.1 TaRL Data Management and Flow Blueprint: Generate an updated standardized structure for folder and data storage mapping, naming conventions, and communications flow to improve systematic data management, storage and use. Include architecture of locations for ‘final’ data to encourage standardized, efficient knowledge storage and retrieval.

2.2 Migration Architecture & Restructuring Plan: Submit a plan that maps all current knowledge assets and defines a standardized Microsoft 365 structure/other, including a phased migration roadmap with clear milestones and success metrics for tracking migration progress and adoption.

Phase 3: Policy and Security (Weeks 9–12)

3.1 Data Security, Privacy & Access Audit: Review permissions and access points to sensitive data; data security; and compliance with existing national regulations related to data in TaRL core countries with recommendations for priority action provided for system improvement and compliance.

Final Phase: Roadmap and Handover (Weeks 9–12)

Final Strategic Implementation Roadmap: A detailed execution plan for KM improvement that includes file migration, training “KM Champions” and other considerations. The implementation strategy should have a goal of targeted investment to fix the most critical knowledge leaks. The focus will be strategic integration between key organizational platforms with recommendations linked to efficiency with a moderate budget for some migration and license upgrades or new technologies and a timeframe of 6-9 months’ implementation.

5. Consultant Qualifications

• Holistic KM Expertise: Experience managing KM across diverse functions (Finance, HR, and Programs).
• Regional Regulatory Knowledge: Demonstrated understanding of Sub-Saharan data protection frameworks, particularly in Nigeria, Kenya, Zambia, South Africa, and Cote d'Ivoire.
• Sub-Saharan Africa Experience: Proven track record of successfully delivering KM or digital transformation projects within the region.
• Financial & Strategic Planning: Ability to provide costed implementation options and Return-On-Investment analysis.
• UX/Persona Design: Ability to create user-centric systems based on staff capacity in low-bandwidth environments.
• Multi-Platform Mastery: Proficiency in integrating tools like Microsoft Teams, Asana, Kobo, STATA, BambooHR, and Google Suite.

6. Application Process

Interested consultants should submit the following:

• Approach Statement: A brief statement outlining your approach to unifying a multi-platform environment that ensures security and compliance, including a recommended costed roadmap for knowledge management.
• Curriculum Vitae (CV): An updated CV of no more than 2 pages highlighting relevant qualifications and experience.
• Relevant Work Sample: A 2–3-page case summary or example of previous work demonstrating experience in knowledge management restructuring and policy review.
• Rate Information: Your daily rate and the estimated number of hours required for each deliverable.