Senior Design Strategist

Senior Design Strategist

Who We Are: LINK is a fast-growing Woman Owned Small Business (WOSB) that leverages human-centered design to support strategy, innovation, communication, change, and branding within the federal government and adjacent industry partners. At LINK, we partner with engineers, futurists, and thought leaders to untangle complexity, discover opportunity, and communicate clearly with visual stories.

Location: We are actively hiring in the Charleston, SC area and welcome candidates who are interested in relocating to the area.

About the Opportunity: LINK is actively seeking a Senior Design Strategist to join our dynamic team, where we leverage strong partnerships and a robust portfolio of clients across diverse industries. You will be responsible for leading and executing innovative design strategies, collaborating with both internal teams and executive-level clients, and driving impactful visual storytelling to meet client objectives.

This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced professional to bring a combination of creative and strategic expertise to elevate LINK's business growth and deliver high-quality, design-thinking-driven solutions. You will work closely with clients to understand their challenges, reframe them into the right problems to solve, prototype and test ideas, and develop compelling narratives that align with their mission, goals, and brand identity. Ideal candidates will have a proven track record of applying design thinking to ambiguous challenges, designing impactful visual experiences, utilizing data-driven insights, and collaborating cross-functionally to deliver exceptional client results.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Design, Communication, Business, Architecture, Engineering, Innovation, Sociology, Psychology, or a related field.
• 10+ years of experience in design strategy, innovation, strategic consulting, facilitation, service design, communications, or a related field.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a security clearance. Current Secret level clearance or higher is preferred.
• Deep fluency in design thinking, including problem framing and reframing, divergent and convergent thinking, rapid prototyping, and iterative testing. Strong expertise in systems thinking, facilitation, and strategic storytelling. Familiarity with human-centered design is a plus.
• Well-versed in a variety of design strategy disciplines and able to select the appropriate approach for a given challenge.
• Experience designing and facilitating workshops, design sprints, ideation sessions, stakeholder engagements, and collaborative working sessions that drive alignment and informed decision-making.
• Demonstrated ability to lead complex discovery and research efforts and translate findings into actionable insights, strategic recommendations, and organizational outcomes.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills and the ability to collaborate effectively with clients and cross-functional teams.
• Demonstrated ability to navigate ambiguity and guide stakeholders through complex challenges and decision-making processes.
• Demonstrated ability to balance multiple priorities and deadlines while maintaining high standards of quality and client service.
• Capable of mentoring and coaching others.
• Approaches work with optimism, openness to new ideas, and a collaborative mindset.
• Portfolio that shows how you frame problems, make strategic decisions, and iterate toward solutions, not just final deliverables.

Responsibilities:

Client Partnership & Design Strategy Leadership

• Serves as a trusted advisor to clients by framing complex challenges, identifying opportunities, and applying design thinking to inform strategic decision-making.
• Partners directly with client stakeholders to understand organizational priorities, user needs, operational constraints, and desired outcomes.
• Leads the development of design strategy approaches that align stakeholder needs, business objectives, and mission requirements.
• Leads teams through the full design thinking arc, from framing the right problem through ideation, prototyping, and iteration, to move clients from ambiguity to tested, actionable direction.
• Guides cross-functional teams through ambiguity, helping stakeholders build alignment and make informed decisions.
• Identifies opportunities to create tangible business value and support long-term client success.

Research, Insight Development & Systems Thinking

• Leads mixed-method discovery efforts, including stakeholder interviews, observation, journey mapping, ecosystem analysis, and systems mapping, and uses what is learned to frame opportunities and drive ideation.
• Synthesizes qualitative and quantitative findings into actionable insights, opportunity areas, strategic recommendations, and design directions.
• Applies systems thinking to identify patterns, dependencies, root causes, and opportunities across complex organizational environments.
• Translates technical, operational, and policy-focused challenges into human-centered insights and strategic considerations.
• Guides discovery activities that inform organizational transformation, service design, experience design, and strategic planning efforts.

Strategic Visualization & Storytelling

• Develops compelling visual frameworks, concept prototypes, journey maps, service blueprints, ecosystem maps, decision-support tools, and strategic narratives that communicate complex information clearly.
• Shapes storytelling approaches that help stakeholders understand challenges, opportunities, tradeoffs, and future-state possibilities.
• Collaborates with information designers and strategists to develop executive-level deliverables that support alignment and decision-making.
• Establishes quality standards for design strategy deliverables and provides guidance that improves consistency across engagements.
• Ensures visual outputs effectively communicate research findings, strategic recommendations, and organizational priorities.

Design Thinking Workshops & Stakeholder Alignment

• Designs and facilitates design thinking workshops, design sprints, ideation sessions, and co-creation activities that move stakeholders from problem framing to tangible concepts and drive organizational alignment.
• Develops facilitation approaches, agendas, exercises, and collaborative experiences that enable productive dialogue and structured problem-solving.
• Synthesizes workshop outputs into actionable findings, recommendations, and implementation considerations.
• Helps stakeholders navigate competing priorities, organizational complexity, and change initiatives through structured facilitation and engagement.
• Guides teams in applying design thinking methods throughout project lifecycles.

Team Development & Leadership

• Mentors teammates through coaching, knowledge sharing, and constructive feedback.
• Models LINK values and contributes to a collaborative, inclusive, and high-performing team culture.
• Shares tools, methods, frameworks, and lessons learned that improve the quality and consistency of work across engagements.
• Supports development of emerging practitioners by providing guidance on research, facilitation, synthesis, and visual storytelling approaches.
• Contributes to the continued evolution of LINK's design strategy practice through innovation, experimentation, and continuous learning.

Work Schedule:

• Hybrid onsite presence 3-5 days per week may be required for client meetings, presentations, or working sessions.
• Full time, 40 hours per week
• Some travel required to attend relevant events and conferences, and participate in LINK team events

Salary: LINK is committed to offering competitive compensation. While the salary range for this position is $112,000 - $151,000, your final offer may be adjusted based on factors such as experience and location.

Benefits:

• $100 monthly internet/cell phone stipend
• $150 monthly commuter stipend for eligible participants
• LINK sponsored healthcare benefits including medical, dental, vision
• Company-paid Short Term Disability Insurance
• 401K with employer contribution of up to 4%
• 11 Federal Holidays per year
• 15 days of Paid Time Off (PTO) per year
• Paid Holiday Time Off (Christmas Eve through the New Year)
• Annual bonus plan participation
• Annual profit sharing participation
• $2,000 Learning and Development program reimbursement
• Technology package that includes a LINK-owned MacBook Pro, monitor, mouse and keyboard

LINK is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, race, color, religion, national origin, disability, protected Veteran status, age, or any other characteristic protected by applicable state, local, and federal law.

If you are unable to complete this application due to a disability, contact Human Resources to ask for an accommodation or an alternative application process.