Senior Design Strategist

📍 Job Overview

Job Title: Senior Design Strategist

Company: LINK

Location: United States – Remote

Job Type: Full-time

Category: Design Strategy / GTM Operations

Date Posted: May 01, 2026

Experience Level: 10+ years

Remote Status: Fully Remote

🚀 Role Summary

• Lead the development and execution of innovative, human-centered design strategies to solve complex client challenges within the federal government and adjacent industry partners.

• Partner closely with internal teams and executive-level clients to shape strategic direction, uncover insights, and translate them into compelling visual stories and solutions.

• Act as a strategic bridge between technical and non-technical stakeholders, ensuring alignment at program and portfolio levels through effective communication and collaboration.

• Drive product, service, and program strategy by leveraging research-driven insights to influence decision-making and prioritization.

📝 Enhancement Note: This role is positioned within a "Woman Owned Small Business (WOSB)" that emphasizes human-centered design for strategy, innovation, communication, and branding. While the core function is design strategy, the emphasis on "strategy, innovation, communication, change, and branding" and "partners with engineers, futurists, and thought leaders to untangle complexity, discover opportunity, and communicate clearly with visual stories" suggests a strong GTM (Go-To-Market) operations component, particularly in how solutions are conceptualized, presented, and adopted by clients. The role requires translating complex technical and policy information into accessible narratives for executive decision-makers, a key GTM operations function.

📈 Primary Responsibilities

• Lead deep collaboration with engineering teams and subject matter experts to shape strategy grounded in technical realities and human needs.

• Act as a strategic bridge between technical and non-technical stakeholders, aligning perspectives and driving shared understanding at the program and portfolio levels.

• Inform product, service, and program strategy through research-driven insights that influence direction, prioritization, and decision-making.

• Define content strategy, information architecture, and experience frameworks, guiding wireframing and content mapping efforts across teams.

• Set direction for information designers and partner with strategists and designers to develop high-impact visual frameworks, journey maps, and decision-support tools.

• Translate complex systems, research findings, and trade-offs into visualizations that enable executive-level evaluation and confident decision-making.

• Elevate the clarity and rigor of research communication through compelling, accessible visual narratives.

• Design and lead high-stakes workshops, design sprints, and co-creation sessions that align diverse stakeholders and advance strategic outcomes.

• Develop human-centered facilitation approaches, agendas, and materials that enable government teams to collaborate, innovate, and navigate complexity.

• Synthesize qualitative and quantitative inputs from workshops to surface critical insights, strategic opportunities, and alignment or decision gaps that inform next steps.

• Lead the planning and execution of mixed-method user research, including interviews, contextual inquiry, and stakeholder analysis, to inform strategy and design direction.

• Synthesize complex research into actionable insights, opportunity areas, and strategic recommendations that influence senior stakeholders.

• Translate technical and policy-heavy concepts into clear, human-centered narratives that resonate with diverse audiences.

• Oversee and conduct primary and secondary research, integrating qualitative and quantitative findings into cohesive strategic perspectives.

📝 Enhancement Note: The responsibilities highlight a strong focus on strategic GTM enablement. "Informing product, service, and program strategy," "defining content strategy, information architecture, and experience frameworks," and "translating complex systems... into visualizations that enable executive-level evaluation and confident decision-making" are critical for aligning sales, marketing, and product efforts. The emphasis on workshops and research directly supports understanding market needs and positioning solutions effectively.

🎓 Skills & Qualifications

Education: Bachelor's degree in Design, Communication, Sociology/Psychology, or related fields.

Experience: 10+ years of experience in design strategy or related roles.

Required Skills:

• Expertise in human-centered design and design thinking methodologies, with a proven ability to transform data into impactful visual stories.

• Extensive experience in various design areas including service design, experience design, brand development, information design, and graphic design.

• Proven ability to propose the best design solutions for diverse project needs.

• Proficient in designing and facilitating design thinking and interactive research sessions with executive leaders and their teams.

• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to collaborate effectively with clients and cross-functional teams.

• Strong working knowledge of Adobe Creative Cloud and professional design tools.

• Experience in government contracting.

• Ability to obtain a security clearance as required by contracts.

Preferred Skills:

• Secret clearance.

📝 Enhancement Note: The requirement for a design portfolio is paramount for this role. It should not only showcase aesthetic design but also demonstrate strategic thinking, problem-solving capabilities, and the ability to articulate the impact of design on business objectives. For a Senior Design Strategist, the portfolio should ideally include case studies detailing the entire design process from problem identification to solution implementation and measured outcomes, particularly those involving complex stakeholder management and strategic GTM alignment.

📊 Process & Systems Portfolio Requirements

Portfolio Essentials:

• A comprehensive design portfolio showcasing a minimum of 10 years of experience in design strategy, human-centered design, and design thinking.

• Case studies demonstrating the transformation of complex data and research into impactful visual stories and strategic solutions.

• Examples of designing and facilitating workshops, design sprints, and co-creation sessions with executive leadership.

• Evidence of defining content strategy, information architecture, and experience frameworks for products, services, or programs.

Process Documentation:

• Showcase experience in designing and documenting human-centered design processes, including user research methodologies (interviews, contextual inquiry, stakeholder analysis).

• Provide examples of synthesizing qualitative and quantitative research into actionable insights and strategic recommendations.

• Illustrate the development of high-impact visual frameworks, journey maps, and decision-support tools.

• Detail experience in setting direction for information designers and collaborating on content strategy and information architecture.

📝 Enhancement Note: The portfolio must clearly articulate the candidate's strategic approach to design, emphasizing how design thinking and human-centered methodologies are applied to solve business problems, influence strategy, and drive client adoption. For a role with GTM implications, demonstrating how design strategy aligns with Go-To-Market efforts, customer acquisition, and client retention will be highly valued.

💵 Compensation & Benefits

Salary Range: $112,000 - $151,000 annually. The final offer may be adjusted based on experience and location.

Benefits:

• $100 monthly internet/cell phone stipend.

• LINK sponsored healthcare benefits including medical, dental, and vision insurance.

• Company-paid Short Term Disability Insurance.

• 401K with an 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 including a LINK-owned MacBook Pro, monitor, mouse, and keyboard.

Working Hours: Full-time, 40 hours per week. Occasional onsite presence may be required for client meetings, presentations, or working sessions, potentially involving local or national travel.

📝 Enhancement Note: The salary range provided is a national average for a Senior Design Strategist in the US. Given the "United States – Remote" designation, candidates in higher cost-of-living areas might expect to be at the higher end of this range, while those in lower cost-of-living areas might be at the lower end. The company's commitment to competitive compensation and its benefits package, including substantial L&D reimbursement and a comprehensive tech package, are strong indicators of its investment in its remote workforce, particularly for roles requiring significant strategic input and client-facing interaction.

🎯 Team & Company Context

🏢 Company Culture

Industry: Government Contracting / Design & Innovation Consulting. LINK operates within the federal government sector and serves adjacent industry partners, focusing on leveraging human-centered design to drive strategic outcomes. This context implies a need for strong process adherence, understanding of government procurement cycles, and a focus on delivering tangible, measurable results.

Company Size: Woman Owned Small Business (WOSB). This size often fosters a close-knit team environment with direct access to leadership and a greater opportunity for individual impact. It also suggests a lean operational structure where roles may be multifaceted.

Founded: Not specified in the provided data.

Team Structure:

• The Senior Design Strategist will likely be part of a broader design or strategy practice within LINK, collaborating with other strategists, designers, researchers, and potentially project managers.

• The role requires close partnership with engineering teams and subject matter experts, indicating a cross-functional team environment.

Methodology:

• Human-Centered Design: This is the core methodology, emphasizing understanding user needs, behaviors, and motivations to inform strategy and design.

• Design Thinking: A structured approach to problem-solving that involves empathizing, defining, ideating, prototyping, and testing.

• Visual Storytelling: Translating complex information and insights into clear, compelling visual narratives to facilitate understanding and decision-making.

• Data-Driven Strategy: Utilizing research findings (qualitative and quantitative) to inform strategic direction and measure impact.

Company Website: LINK (link.com)

📝 Enhancement Note: As a WOSB, LINK likely values collaboration, agility, and a strong sense of mission. The emphasis on human-centered design suggests a culture that prioritizes empathy, user experience, and iterative development. The dual focus on federal government and industry partners indicates a need for adaptability in communication and strategy to meet diverse client needs and regulatory environments.

📈 Career & Growth Analysis

Operations Career Level: This role is a "Senior" position, indicating a high level of autonomy, expertise, and responsibility. A Senior Design Strategist is expected to lead complex projects, mentor junior team members, and influence strategic direction. In a GTM context, this means driving significant aspects of how LINK's services are understood, positioned, and adopted by clients.

Reporting Structure: While not explicitly stated, a Senior Design Strategist typically reports to a Director or VP of Strategy/Design/Operations, or potentially a Program Manager, depending on the organizational structure. They will likely manage or guide the work of junior designers and researchers.

Operations Impact: The impact of this role is significant, translating complex client needs into actionable strategies that drive innovation, improve communication, and ultimately support client success. This directly influences LINK's ability to win and retain business by demonstrating deep expertise and delivering high-value solutions. For GTM, this role is crucial in defining the value proposition and ensuring client understanding and adoption of LINK's services.

Growth Opportunities:

• Leadership Development: Potential to lead larger, more complex client engagements, manage teams, and contribute to the strategic growth of LINK's design practice.

• Specialization: Opportunity to deepen expertise in specific areas like service design, innovation strategy, or specific government sector challenges.

• Mentorship: Influence and guide junior designers and strategists, contributing to the development of the next generation of talent within LINK.

• Strategic Contribution: Play a key role in shaping LINK's service offerings, methodologies, and business development strategies.

📝 Enhancement Note: For a Senior Design Strategist, "growth" often means increasing scope, complexity, and leadership. The role's emphasis on translating complex information into clear strategies and visuals is directly applicable to GTM operations, where clear communication of value and impact is paramount. Opportunities for leadership in client engagements and internal strategy development are likely.

🌐 Work Environment

Office Type: Fully Remote. This allows for flexibility in work location within the United States, supported by a technology package and stipends.

Office Location(s): United States – Remote. While fully remote, occasional onsite presence may be required for client meetings, presentations, or working sessions, potentially involving local or national travel.

Workspace Context:

• Remote Collaboration: Expect to utilize various digital collaboration tools for communication, project management, and virtual workshops.

• Technology-Enabled: Access to a LINK-owned MacBook Pro, monitor, mouse, and keyboard ensures a well-equipped remote workspace.

• Client Interaction: Significant interaction with clients, often at executive levels, requiring professional remote communication and presentation skills.

Work Schedule: Full-time, 40 hours per week. Flexibility is implied with a remote setup, but core hours may be established to facilitate team and client collaboration, especially considering potential travel for onsite engagements.

📝 Enhancement Note: The remote nature of this role offers significant flexibility but also requires strong self-discipline, proactive communication, and the ability to manage time effectively. The occasional requirement for travel for client-facing activities means candidates should be prepared for such engagements.

📄 Application & Portfolio Review Process

Interview Process:

• Initial Screening: A review of your resume and portfolio to assess foundational qualifications and experience.

• Hiring Manager Interview: Discussion focused on your background, experience, and fit for the Senior Design Strategist role, including your approach to human-centered design and strategy.

• Portfolio Presentation & Case Study: A key stage where you will present your design portfolio, likely focusing on a specific project that demonstrates your strategic thinking, problem-solving capabilities, and impact. Be prepared to discuss your process, methodologies, and outcomes in detail.

• Team/Cross-Functional Interview: Interaction with potential colleagues or stakeholders from engineering or other departments to assess collaboration style and technical understanding.

• Executive Interview: A final conversation with senior leadership to discuss strategic alignment, leadership potential, and cultural fit within LINK.

Portfolio Review Tips:

• Strategic Narrative: Structure your portfolio presentations around clear narratives. For each project, articulate the problem, your strategic approach, the methodologies used, your specific contributions, the challenges faced, and the measurable outcomes or impact.

• Process Over Polish: While visual quality matters, emphasize the strategic process and decision-making behind your designs. Show how you translated insights into solutions.

• Client Impact Focus: For a role like this, focus on how your design strategy influenced client decisions, improved processes, or achieved business objectives, particularly in government contracting contexts.

• Adaptability: Showcase your ability to adapt methodologies and approaches to different client needs and project complexities.

• Visual Clarity: Ensure your visuals are clean, professional, and effectively communicate complex ideas.

Challenge Preparation:

• Strategic Problem-Solving: Anticipate scenario-based questions where you'll need to apply design thinking and strategy to a hypothetical client challenge.

• Facilitation Skills: Be prepared to discuss your experience designing and leading workshops for diverse stakeholders.

• Government Contracting Acumen: Understand the nuances of working with government clients, including procurement processes and stakeholder management.

• Visual Communication: Practice articulating complex ideas and research findings concisely and visually.

📝 Enhancement Note: The portfolio review is critical. Candidates should select projects that best highlight their ability to bridge design, strategy, and business objectives, especially in complex environments like government contracting. Demonstrating how design thinking leads to tangible GTM outcomes—like improved client understanding, clearer value propositions, or more effective solution adoption—will be highly advantageous.

🛠 Tools & Technology Stack

Primary Tools:

• Adobe Creative Cloud: Essential for graphic design, visual communication, and prototyping. Proficiency is a must.

• Design Thinking & Collaboration Tools: Experience with platforms like Miro, Mural, Figma, or similar for virtual workshops, ideation, journey mapping, and collaborative design.

• User Research Platforms: Familiarity with tools for conducting and synthesizing user interviews, surveys, and usability testing.

Analytics & Reporting:

CRM & Automation:

• Not explicitly mentioned as a requirement for this role, but understanding how design strategy integrates with client relationship management and GTM processes would be a plus.

📝 Enhancement Note: Proficiency in Adobe Creative Cloud is a hard requirement. Beyond that, the emphasis on human-centered design and facilitation suggests a strong need for digital collaboration tools like Miro or Mural. Candidates who can demonstrate how they use these tools to drive strategic alignment and communicate complex ideas visually will be well-positioned.

👥 Team Culture & Values

Operations Values:

• Human-Centered: A deep commitment to understanding and prioritizing user needs in all strategic and design decisions.

• Collaborative: Encouraging strong partnerships across internal teams (engineering, strategy) and with clients.

• Impact-Driven: Focusing on delivering tangible results and measurable outcomes that advance client objectives and LINK's mission.

• Innovative: Continuously seeking new approaches and solutions to complex challenges through creative problem-solving.

• Clear Communication: Valuing the ability to translate complex ideas into accessible and compelling narratives.

Collaboration Style:

• Cross-Functional Integration: Actively working with diverse teams, including technical experts, to ensure strategies are both human-centered and technically feasible.

• Client Partnership: Building strong, trust-based relationships with government and industry clients, acting as a strategic advisor.

• Iterative Feedback: Embracing feedback loops throughout the design and strategy process to refine solutions.

• Knowledge Sharing: Contributing to the collective knowledge base of the LINK team through sharing insights and best practices.

📝 Enhancement Note: LINK's WOSB status and focus on human-centered design suggest a culture that is likely agile, supportive, and mission-oriented. The emphasis on collaboration and clear communication is crucial for bridging technical complexities with strategic vision, a hallmark of effective GTM operations.

⚡ Challenges & Growth Opportunities

Challenges:

• Navigating Complex Federal Environments: Understanding and adapting to the unique constraints, stakeholders, and procurement processes within the federal government.

• Translating Technical Complexity: Effectively bridging the gap between highly technical information and accessible strategic narratives for non-technical audiences.

• Driving Strategic Adoption: Ensuring that developed strategies are not just created but also adopted and implemented effectively by clients.

• Remote Collaboration Management: Maintaining strong team cohesion and client engagement in a fully remote setting, while balancing occasional travel requirements.

Learning & Development Opportunities:

• Advanced Design & Strategy Training: Access to a $2,000 annual reimbursement program for courses, conferences, and certifications to deepen expertise in design strategy, innovation, or related fields.

• Exposure to Diverse Projects: Working with a variety of clients and challenges within the federal and industry sectors, offering broad learning experiences.

• Mentorship & Leadership: Opportunities to mentor junior staff and potentially lead strategic initiatives within LINK.

• Industry Best Practices: Staying ahead of trends in human-centered design, GTM strategy, and federal contracting through continuous learning and application.

📝 Enhancement Note: The challenge of translating technical complexity and driving strategic adoption is directly relevant to GTM operations. The ability to articulate the value proposition of complex solutions and ensure client buy-in is key. The L&D program is a significant asset for continuous upskilling in these areas.

💡 Interview Preparation

Strategy Questions:

• "Describe a time you used human-centered design to solve a complex problem for a government client. What was your process, and what was the outcome?" (Focus on methodology, stakeholder management, and impact.)

• "How do you approach translating highly technical information or policy details into a clear, actionable strategy for executive-level decision-makers?" (Highlight your communication and synthesis skills.)

• "Walk us through a project where you designed and facilitated a workshop for diverse stakeholders. What were your objectives, how did you ensure alignment, and what were the key takeaways?" (Emphasize facilitation expertise and strategic alignment.)

Company & Culture Questions:

• "What interests you about LINK's mission and its focus on human-centered design for the federal government?" (Research LINK's values and recent work.)

• "How do you see your role as a Senior Design Strategist contributing to LINK's growth and success as a WOSB?" (Connect your skills to the company's objectives.)

Portfolio Presentation Strategy:

• Storytelling: Frame your portfolio projects as compelling stories with a clear beginning (the challenge), middle (your process and solutions), and end (the impact).

• Quantify Impact: Whenever possible, use data and metrics to demonstrate the success of your design strategies. This could include improvements in user engagement, efficiency gains, or successful client adoption.

• Role Clarity: Clearly articulate your specific contributions within each project, especially in team-based scenarios.

• Strategic Alignment: Emphasize how your design decisions align with broader business or client objectives, especially in a GTM context (e.g., how design influenced market positioning or client acquisition).

📝 Enhancement Note: Candidates should prepare to demonstrate how their design strategy expertise directly supports Go-To-Market functions, such as clarifying value propositions, improving customer experience, and enabling effective communication of solutions to target audiences. Highlighting any experience in translating complex offerings into understandable benefits for sales or marketing teams will be advantageous.

📌 Application Steps

To apply for this Senior Design Strategist position:

• Submit your application through the provided link on greenhouse.io.

• Portfolio Customization: Tailor your portfolio to highlight projects demonstrating expertise in human-centered design, strategy development, complex problem-solving, and successful client engagement, particularly within government contracting.

• Resume Optimization: Ensure your resume clearly articulates your 10+ years of experience, key skills in design strategy and facilitation, and any experience with federal agencies or complex stakeholder environments. Use keywords from the job description.

• Prepare for Portfolio Presentation: Practice presenting your selected case studies, focusing on your strategic process, problem-solving approach, and measurable impact. Be ready to discuss your contributions and methodologies in detail.

• Company Research: Thoroughly research LINK, its mission, its clients, and its approach to human-centered design. Understand their position as a WOSB and their work in the federal sector.

⚠️ Important Notice: This enhanced job description includes AI-generated insights and operations industry-standard assumptions. All details should be verified directly with the hiring organization before making application decisions.