Senior Strategist; Program Manager (Ft. Meade)

Location: We are actively hiring in the Fort Meade, Maryland area.

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 Senior Strategist; Program Manager (PM) is responsible for overseeing the successful delivery of assigned government and commercial contracts, managing cross-functional teams, and maintaining strong client relationships. This role ensures projects meet quality standards, timelines, and budget objectives while driving strategic outcomes. Acting as a trusted consultant and advisor, the Program Manager leads comprehensive project strategies, identifies opportunities to create business value, and guides teams to deliver impactful, client-focused solutions.

Qualifications:

Bachelor’s degree in Journalism, Communication, English, Business, or a related field

10+ years of experience in strategic communication, public affairs, program management, or strategy development

7+ years program/project management experience including familiarity with Agile methodologies and project delivery best practices

Top Secret Clearance with SCI and polygraph required

Excellent organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously, maintaining a strong focus on accuracy and attention to detail

Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to communicate in a clear, approachable, and knowledgeable manner

Government contracting experience

PMP certification preferred

Minimum active Secret clearance required

Experience with human-centered design and design thinking principles

Demonstrated ability to manage multiple complex projects simultaneously

Responsibilities:

Senior Strategist responsibilities include:

Client Partnership Strategic Leadership

Partner directly with clients to understand challenges, capture requirements, and define missions, visions, goals, and KPIs/OKRs.

Collaborate with clients through well-designed meetings and workshops to co-create solutions and gather critical inputs.

Perform high-quality primary and secondary research to inform strategic direction.

Apply human-centered design and design-thinking principles to complex problem sets.

Work iteratively by proactively gathering feedback from clients and internal partners to refine solutions.

Identify opportunities to create tangible business value through current-state assessments and high-level requirement definition.

Develop and maintain strong client relationships, including managing external stakeholders and converting new requests into business opportunities.

Oversee multiple client engagements, ensuring alignment, clarity, and strategic impact across projects.

Content, Storytelling Project Execution

Elevate content quality and thought leadership in partnership with the Strategy Competency Manager, ensuring strong standards for deliverables.

Translate ideas into compelling strategic narratives, campaigns, and solutions.

Identify content structures, hierarchies, and visual concepts for storytelling products, including content maps and wireframes.

Collaborate with design teams to develop infographics, charts, diagrams, presentations, and other visual products that convey complex information clearly.

Manage multiple internal project teams, organizing assignments and tracking progress, deadlines, and deliverables from both operational and financial perspectives.

Program Manager responsibilities include:

Strategic Leadership Program Management

Lead end-to-end project management for assigned contracts, from strategic planning through delivery, developing comprehensive approaches that create tangible business value based on client requirements and stakeholder feedback

Manage and report project budgets, timelines, risks, travel requirements, and deliverable quality to ensure successful outcomes

Identify opportunities to extend current contracts and develop new business with related clients

Client Relationship Advisory Services

Serve as primary client relationship manager and trusted consultant, providing expert guidance

Lead client engagements, including visioning sessions, discovery engagements, and review sessions

Collaborate directly with clients and stakeholders to understand challenges and design solutions

Facilitate regular stakeholder meetings, manage expectations and resolve conflicts.

Team Management Development

Oversee project-specific onboarding and integration of new team members

Supervise project teams, delegating work while maintaining the vision for deliverables.

Allocate tasks and time based on budget and team capacity.

Provide coaching and m…