Associate Director, Information Design or Design Strategy; Design Lead
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.
Let us be your partners in change.
About the Opportunity:
The Associate Director; Design Lead plays a critical role in supporting LINK ’s mission to deliver human-centered design and strategic solutions to our clients. This position focuses on leading internal design teams, partnering closely with cross-functional roles to drive consistent delivery of quality and brand appropriate deliverables.
This is an exciting opportunity for a professional in the Design Strategy or Information Design Competency. Ideal candidates will bring a proven track record of creative and strategic expertise to elevate LINK ’s business growth and deliver high-quality, human-centered design solutions.
Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree in Design Communications, UX Design, Visual Journalism, Visual Communications, Sociology, Psychology or related field.
- 10+ years of professional experience in design consulting, or a related field, with demonstrated success leading, managing, and developing high-performing teams.
- Deep understanding of human-centered design, design thinking processes, and visual design principles.
- Experience driving brand expression and consistency including brand design and formats.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills with a comfort in copy editing.
- Proven ability to lead, mentor, and grow design teams (often cross-disciplinary).
- Leader in visual communication and design principles & foundations.
- Experience and comfort designing intelligible information hierarchies and frameworks that support information navigability, understanding, and retention.
- Experience working directly with clients and developing positive client relationships.
- Mastery in applying information design principles and in visual storytelling through various media.
- The ability to navigate ambiguity and provide strategic guidance that brings clarity to goals, requirements, and outcomes—particularly in complex or high-visibility engagements.
- Strong portfolio demonstrating end-to-end design work (concepts, user flows, wireframes, prototypes, visual design, final execution).
Responsibilities:
Strategic & Creative Leadership
- Partner with Project Team Leadership to drive strategic design direction and organizational impact.
- Serve as the primary design point of contact for project team(s) and represent the design-thinking process in cross-functional and leadership forums.
- Identify strategic opportunities within the client space and recommend process improvements to ensure efficient application of the Systems Model.
- Drive visual brand expression, consistency, and standards—covering identity, architecture, and design systems.
- Guide internal teams through design execution by setting clear priorities, decision frameworks, and feedback loops.
Team Management & Development
- Mentor and guide the design process, modeling effective client engagement, deadline management, and creative problem-solving.
- Support onboarding and development of new information designers and design strategists to the project team, providing regular updates to PMs and the competency manager(s).
- Monitor team performance and resource utilization, ensuring collaboration, growth, and successful delivery.
- Participate in recruiting and interviewing candidates for design-related roles.
Project Execution & Quality Delivery
- Oversee design execution across the contract, ensuring high-quality, brand-appropriate deliverables.
- Apply human-centered design and design thinking methodologies to project workflows.
- Ensure consistent use of desi