Senior Design Researcher Jobs in Washington (NOW HIRING)

Location: We are actively hiring in the Fort Meade, Maryland 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. The Senior Design Strategist leads the development and execution of innovative, human-centered design strategies that address complex client challenges. This role partners closely with internal teams and executive-level clients to shape strategic direction, uncover insights, and translate them into compelling visual stories and solutions that drive meaningful impact and advance client objectives.

Qualifications: 

• Bachelor's degree in Design, Communication, Sociology/Psychology, or related fields
• 10+ years of experience in design strategy or related roles
• Top Secret Clearance with SCI and polygraph required
• 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 (e.g., service design, experience design, brand development, information design, graphic design) and able to propose the best solutions for each project
• 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
• Government contracting experience
• Design portfolio that highlights design strategy expertise and related project outcomes

Responsibilities:

Cross-Functional and Technical Leadership

• 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.

Information Strategy and Strategic Visualization

• 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.

Workshop Strategy, Facilitation, and Alignment

• 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.

User Research and Strategic Insight Development

• 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.

Work Schedule:

• Onsite schedule, 3-5-days per week
• Full time, 40 hours per week
• Occasional onsite presence may be required for client meetings, presentations, or working sessions. This could include local or national travel, depending on the locations of the employee and client.

Salary: We're 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 like experience and location.