Two instructional designer jobs just showed what the market is actually buying
One is a United Nations training institute. One is a Kenyan EdTech consultancy. Their requirements overlap almost exactly, and that overlap is your curriculum.
Most people entering instructional design spend their first year on the wrong things. Theory, certificates, Canva, waiting to feel ready.
The people hiring ask something else entirely. Not what you know about learning, but what you can build, on which platform, to what standard, by when. These two instructional designer jobs sit at opposite ends of the profession and still converge on nearly the same skill set. That convergence is the useful part.
Consultant, Instructional Design
United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR)
This is a roster, not an advertised post. You apply, you are assessed, and if accepted you may be contacted when an assignment arises. No assignment is guaranteed and no timeline is attached.
The context
Listed under UNITAR’s Technology, Finance and Trade Programme. The work supports the Strategic Implementation of the 2030 Agenda Unit, which delivers eLearning on the Sustainable Development Goals with partner UN agencies.
What the consultant does
- Writes course outlines with learning objectives and structure, aligned to UNITAR’s Quality Assurance Framework
- Develops learning design architecture and storyboards for interactive modules
- Builds interactive lessons in authoring tools and graphic design programmes, including voice-over
- Prepares formative and summative assessments
- Produces microlearning: videos, podcasts, micro and nano courses
What they ask for
- At least a Bachelor’s degree
- Minimum five years in instructional design, adult learning, or education technology
- Strong learning design architecture and storyboarding experience
- Articulate Storyline, Rise, Adobe Suite, PowerPoint, plus video and animation tools such as Adobe Captivate
- Experience with Moodle and LMS platforms
- Fluency in English, other UN languages an asset
The announcement states no fee, rate, or contract value, so we will not guess at one.
Applications go through the UNITAR e-recruitment system. Read the full announcement first.
What caught our attention
Look at how much one role bundles: instructional design, storyboarding, eLearning development, assessment, microlearning, Moodle. A UN institute is not hiring a writer, a developer, and an assessment specialist separately. It wants one person to carry a product from objective to published module. That is the international standard, and it settles a recurring argument. Instructional design is not content writing with a better job title.
eLearning Consultant, Project-Based
Instracta eLearning Solutions
The context
A Kenya based EdTech consultancy building Moodle native learning analytics products, including a dropout risk platform called Instracta Retain, and delivering instructional design and LMS work for universities and development sector clients. It is building a bench of consultants for client projects. You are subcontracted onto an already scoped project with a brief and deadline from day one.
What the consultant does
- Designs or builds eLearning content, course structures, or LMS configurations against an agreed brief
- Applies instructional design principles to produce engaging, accessible, outcomes driven learning
- Configures and administers Moodle courses, activities, and reporting
- Delivers against a fixed written scope, flagging risks early
What they ask for
- Three or more years in instructional design, eLearning development, or LMS administration
- Demonstrated Moodle builds: course setup, activity configuration, gradebook, reporting
- A portfolio of completed courses you can walk someone through
- Working knowledge of WCAG 2.1 or equivalent
- A Bachelor’s in a related field, or equivalent experience in place of a degree. Authoring tools and certifications are a plus
- Strong written communication, project management discipline, and independent remote delivery
How payment works
No upfront retainer. You are paid a share of the client’s fee for your scope, agreed before work starts and disbursed within five business days of Instracta receiving client payment. Each project carries a written agreement stating rate, deliverables, and payment date. Instracta states plainly that payment follows the client’s schedule, not a fixed payday.
To apply, send a short portfolio or two samples, your typical day rate, and your LinkedIn profile.
This asks you to name your own day rate. Decide that number before you open the form.
Why this opportunity matters
This is how a large share of eLearning and instructional design work in Kenya is actually bought. Not a salaried post, but a defined scope, a written brief, a deadline, and a fee attached to a deliverable.
Three requirements deserve attention, because they are the ones aspiring designers skip. A portfolio, not a certificate. Accessibility, now a client expectation rather than a specialism. And written communication, because your brief and documentation are part of what you are paid for.
Forget the job titles. Look at what instructional designer jobs actually ask for.
A UN roster and a Kenyan subcontracting bench. Different scale, different contracts, different clients. Now put their requirements side by side.
| Skill or requirement | UNITAR | Instracta |
|---|---|---|
| Instructional design | Required | Required |
| eLearning development and build | Required | Required |
| Moodle and LMS platforms | Required | Required |
| Authoring tools | Required | A plus |
| Storyboarding | Required | Not stated |
| Assessment design | Required | Not stated |
| Microlearning | Required | Not stated |
| Portfolio of completed work | Not stated | Required |
| Accessibility, WCAG 2.1 | Not stated | Required |
| Working with clients or partners | Yes | Yes |
| Scope and deadline discipline | Yes | Yes |
| Minimum experience | 5 years | 3 years |
| Degree | Bachelor’s minimum | Bachelor’s, or equivalent experience |
Neither organisation asks you to name a learning theory. Both assume you can run the whole arc.
The market is rewarding people who can move from learning problem to design to development to implementation to evidence of quality.
Where does your skill set sit on that table?
If more than half those rows are honest gaps, the fix is not another course to watch. It is structured practice with feedback, on real briefs, until you have work you can show.
If you are a teacher, this should get your attention
Read those requirement lists as a teacher, lecturer, or trainer. Much of it describes work you already do, in different language.
- Understanding learners
- Explaining complex ideas
- Designing learning activities
- Assessment
- Facilitation
- Curriculum interpretation
- Identifying learning gaps
Sequencing content so it builds. Anticipating where learners get stuck. Writing an assessment that tests the objective rather than the memory. Many instructional designers arrived without the classroom instinct you spent years developing.
Now the honest part. That foundation does not on its own qualify you for either role. UNITAR wants five years, storyboards, and authoring tools. Instracta wants Moodle builds, a portfolio, and WCAG. Teaching is a strong starting position, not a substitute. You still have to add the vocabulary, the tools, the platform skills, and the evidence.
The gap between interest and employability
There is a wide distance between “I want to become an instructional designer” and “I can demonstrate that I do instructional design.” The first is a decision. The second is evidence.
Neither employer asks about your interest. Instracta asks for a portfolio. UNITAR asks for storyboards and lessons you have built. Most people stall between step five and step seven below.
- InterestYou decide this is the direction.
- Foundational knowledgeHow learning works, and why design follows from it.
- Practical skillsObjectives, structure, storyboards, assessment.
- ToolsAuthoring tools and an LMS you can operate.
- ProjectsReal briefs, finished and reviewed.
- PortfolioWork you can show and explain, not describe.
- Professional confidenceYou can scope, price, and defend your choices.
- Applications and client workYou apply with evidence rather than intent.
Tutorials move you through steps two and three. They cannot move you through five, six, and seven, because those need briefs, deadlines, and someone qualified telling you what is wrong with your work.
The next opportunity could be yours. First, build the capability.
The ElevateHub Instructional Design Cohort is for people who want to practise instructional design until they have work worth showing, not just learn what it is.
- Cohort based, so you learn alongside a group rather than alone in a tab
- Live sessions with instructor guidance
- Practical work against real briefs, not quizzes
- Delivered on a live LMS, so you learn the platform by using it
- Structured peer review and mentorship
- A capstone project reviewed by an instructor
- Portfolio development, so you finish with evidence
We will not promise you a job. Nobody credible can. What reviewed, practical work does is close the distance between wanting the career and demonstrating it.
Secure your seat
Apply and pay on or before 31 August to lock in the early bird price. Applications received from 1 to 3 September are still accepted at the standard KES 12,000, until applications close entirely on 3 September.
Your fee includes all live sessions, mentorship, structured peer review, and your final capstone project review.
- M-Pesa Paybill number
- 4006479 (Elevatech Consulting Group Limited)
- Account number
- Your full name
- Confirm your seat on WhatsApp
- 0116 285 960
There are no transaction charges on this Paybill. Once you have paid, send a screenshot of your M-Pesa confirmation to the WhatsApp number above so we can confirm your seat.
The first live session is on Saturday 5 September, and today is the final day of early bird pricing. Five days is enough time to make a decision. It is not enough time to build a career. Start now.
The job description is the curriculum
Stop asking which certificate carries the most weight. Start reading job descriptions as syllabuses, because that is what they are.
Two organisations with almost nothing in common asked for the same things: design the learning, build it in real tools, put it on a platform, assess it, make it accessible, deliver on time, show your work. Read twenty more instructional designer jobs and the pattern holds. That list is your curriculum, written by the people who decide whether to hire you.
So the question is not what certificate should I get. It is: which skills are employers repeatedly asking for, and can I prove I have them?