Consultant – AI powered Chatbot Advisor and Designer

International Rescue Committee•Silver Spring, MD

22d

About The Position

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world's worst humanitarian crises, helping to restore health, safety, education, economic wellbeing, and power to people devastated by conflict and disaster. Founded in 1933 at the call of Albert Einstein, the IRC is one of the world's largest international humanitarian non-governmental organizations (INGO), at work in more than 40 countries and 29 U.S. cities helping people to survive, reclaim control of their future and strengthen their communities. A force for humanity, IRC employees deliver lasting impact by restoring safety, dignity and hope to millions. If you're a solutions-driven, passionate change-maker, come join us in positively impacting the lives of millions of people world-wide for a better future. The International Rescue Committee responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people to survive and rebuild their lives. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, IRC offers life-saving care and life-changing assistance to refugees forced to flee from war or disaster. At work today in more than 40 countries and in 22 U.S. cities, IRC restores safety, dignity and hope to millions who are uprooted by conflict or disaster. IRC leads the way from harm to home. Background of the project The Family Corner chatbot is an Arabic-first chatbot designed to support caregivers with timely, accessible, and evidence-based early childhood development content. It builds on the content and resources of Ahlan Simsim, Vroom, and the International Rescue Committee. The chatbot is a hybrid between rule-based flows and open-ended generative AI. As the product has evolved, there is a need for an expert review to strengthen user experience, content structuring, technical robustness, and scalability, particularly for users with low digital and reading literacy. Objectives Improve the usability and accessibility of the chatbot through an Arabic-first, user-centered design that supports caregivers, including users with low literacy and digital skills. Enhance the effectiveness of content delivery by optimizing how resources are organized and presented within the chatbot. Ensure the chatbot’s reliability, scalability, and sustainability through technical assessment, user testing, and targeted improvements.

Requirements

Experience designing or reviewing AI-powered chatbots or conversational digital products.
Strong understanding of user experience for low digital and reading literacy users.
Experience working with Arabic-language digital products and AI agents.
Understanding of AI, chatbot technologies, agents, and scalability considerations.
Experience in structuring content for digital or conversational platforms.
Experience supporting user testing for digital products.
Ability to provide clear, actionable recommendations.

Responsibilities

Review the existing resource and reference materials from Vroom and Ahlan Simsim intended to be used within the chatbot, as they will be the basis for the chatbot design.
Based on the resource and reference materials review, develop a high-level ideal user experience or interaction model for the chatbot as a reference point.
Based on the idea of user experience, propose concrete improvements to flows, menu structures, prompts, interaction patterns, and features that enhance usability, including options suitable for low literacy users such as audio, simplified choices, progressive disclosure, or fallback mechanisms.
Ensure clarity and ease of use of the chatbot experience for caregivers, with particular attention to users with low digital literacy.
Advise on how resource and reference materials should be organized, tagged, and surfaced through the chatbot to improve comprehension, usability, and technical efficiency, including faster response times.
Review the current technologies, platforms, and integrations used to power the chatbot, and assess performance, maintainability, scalability, and suitability for the intended users and content volume.
Support the design of user testing sessions, including objectives, participant profiles, testing scenarios, and success criteria.
Suggest refinements or alternative approaches to agents where improvements are needed.
Advise on stress load testing approaches suitable for the chatbot, including identification of key performance indicators and thresholds to monitor response time, reliability, and stability under increased usage.
Identify and propose any additional improvements, risks, or opportunities that are critical to the chatbot’s effectiveness and sustainability but not explicitly listed above.
Support in technical support after releasing the chatbot until September 2026, upon request.