Drone Mapping Consultant at Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT)

Deliverables:

The consultant will deliver the following within the contract period:

Work plan & compliance pack

• Brief work plan and schedule;
• Flight plan(s) and risk assessment;
• Evidence of compliance (KCAA licensing as required, drone registration, and insurance).

DroneTM setup and use

• DroneTM project(s) created/configured for the agreed areas;
• Tasks/flight planning prepared in DroneTM (or compatible workflow agreed with HOT‑ESA);
• All collected imagery organized and uploaded/shared through the agreed DroneTM workflow.

Imagery acquisition

• Complete set of raw images covering the agreed areas;
• Flight logs (and any other relevant mission metadata).

Quality checks and mapping-ready outputs

• Basic QA/QC notes (coverage, overlap, blur, gaps, any re-flight needs);
• Mapping-ready outputs in agreed format(s) (e.g., orthomosaic and metadata), if required and feasible within time.

Capacity development & handover

• Supervised field-based demonstration(s) and practical coaching for SDI Kenya staff on:
  • safe drone operations and data capture;
  • imagery quality checks; and
  • DroneTM basics (project setup, tasking, imagery upload/management).
• Coaching may include staff who are in the process of obtaining pilot certification; however, all flight operations must remain compliant with KCAA rule

Short completion report

• 2–4 page report summarizing what was flown, what was delivered, challenges, and recommendations.

Key Tasks:

Before fieldwork — planning + set-up

• Confirm the areas of interest (approx. 33 villages / ~2.7 km² total) and technical specifications with HOT‑ESA and SDI Kenya (e.g., target ground sample distance, overlap, altitude limits, output formats);

Prepare a concise flight plan and risk assessment, including:

• KCAA compliance steps and required permissions/authorizations;
• community engagement approach (who is informed, when, and how);
• safety procedures, contingency plans, and no‑fly constraints;

Configure Drone Tasking Manager (DroneTM) for delivery:

• create/configure the project(s) for the agreed AOIs;
• set up user access/roles for HOT‑ESA and SDI Kenya;
• agree naming conventions and data packaging structure (imagery, logs, metadata);
• Prepare a light capacity development plan (what will be demonstrated/coached, to whom, and when), aligned to the “learning‑by‑doing” approach.

Consultant Profile:

A  minimum requirement for this role includes:

• Demonstrated experience in drone mapping / UAV imagery capture and processing;
• Valid Remote Pilot License (RPL) or equivalent recognized by KCAA;
• Access to a KCAA-compliant, registered, and insured drone suitable for mapping;
• Ability to work collaboratively with community and multi-stakeholder teams;
• Fluency in English (Swahili strongly preferred).