{"id":2053257,"url":"https://alion.io/job/link-senior-strategist-program-manager","title":"Senior Strategist; Program Manager","company":{"id":678894,"name":"LINK","domain":"link.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/link-7","size_band":"51-200","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Greenhouse","truth_index":null},"role":"Management","role_family":"Management","seniority":"senior","employment_type":null,"work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["San Diego, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":{"min":112000,"max":151000,"currency":"USD","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":151000},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":10,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"Agile","optional":false}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-10-07T20:32:11Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-10-07","last_verified_at":"2026-10-19T12:17:56Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":11,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":11},"description":"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. \nLet us be your partners in change.\nLocation: We are actively hiring in the San Diego area.\nAbout the Opportunity\nLINK is actively seeking a Senior Strategist; Program Manager 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.\nThis 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, human-centered design solutions. You will work closely with clients to understand their challenges, develop compelling narratives, and implement design strategies that align with their mission, goals, and brand identity. Ideal candidates will have a proven track record of designing impactful visual experiences, utilizing data-driven insights, and collaborating cross-functionally to deliver exceptional client results.\nQualifications\nBachelor’s degree in Journalism, Communication, English, Business, or a related field\n10+ years of experience in strategic communication, public affairs, program management, or strategy development\n7+ years program/project management experience including familiarity with Agile methodologies and project delivery best practices\nExcellent organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously, maintaining a strong focus on accuracy and attention to detail\nExceptional written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to communicate in a clear, approachable, and knowledgeable manner\nGovernment contracting experience\nPMP certification preferred\nExperience with human-centered design and design thinking principles\nDemonstrated ability to manage multiple complex projects simultaneously\nResponsibilities\nSenior Strategist responsibilities include:\nClient Partnership & Design Strategy Leadership\nServes as a trusted advisor to clients by framing complex challenges, identifying opportunities, and applying human-centered design approaches to inform strategic decision-making.\nPartners directly with client stakeholders to understand organizational priorities, user needs, operational constraints, and desired outcomes.\nLeads the development of design strategy approaches that align stakeholder needs, business objectives, and mission requirements.\nGuides cross-functional teams through ambiguity, helping stakeholders build alignment and make informed decisions.\nIdentifies opportunities to create tangible business value and support long-term client success.\nProvides guidance that helps clients make informed decisions and navigate organizational complexity.\nContent Strategy, Storytelling & Execution\nTranslates complex ideas into compelling strategic narratives, executive-level presentations, communication strategies, and decision-support products.\nDevelops messaging frameworks that align leadership vision, organizational priorities, and stakeholder needs.\nDefine content structures, information hierarchies, and storytelling approaches that communicate complex concepts clearly and effectively.\nCollaborates with creative teams to develop high-quality visual products that support strategic objectives and audience understanding.\nEstablishes quality standards for strategic deliverables and provides guidance to team members to ensure consistency and excellence.\nLeads development of executive-ready materials that support decision-making, alignment, and organizational action.\nChange Management & Organizational Transformation\nDevelops and implements change management strategies, including stakeholder engagement plans, communications strategies, change impact assessments, and adoption roadmaps.\nDesigns governance frameworks, operating models, and implementation approaches that support successful transformation efforts.\nFacilitates cross-functional working sessions that drive alignment, accelerate decision-making, and address organizational resistance.\nEstablishes feedback mechanisms and performance measures that support continuous improvement and long-term success.\nMonitors progress, evaluates outcomes, and refines approaches based on stakeholder feedback and organizational needs.\nResearch, Insight Development & Systems Thinking\nLeads mixed-method research efforts, including stakeholder interviews, contextual inquiry, observations, journey mapping, ecosystem analysis, and systems mapping activities.\nSynthesizes qualitative and quantitative findings into actionable insights, opportunity areas, strategic recommendations, and design directions.\nApplies systems thinking to identify patterns, dependencies, root causes, and opportunities across complex organizational environments.\nTranslates technical, operational, and policy-focused challenges into human-centered insights and strategic considerations.\nGuides research activities that inform organizational transformation, service design, experience design, and strategic planning efforts.\nWorkshop Facilitation & Stakeholder Alignment\nDesigns and facilitates workshops, design sprints, stakeholder engagements, and co-creation activities that advance strategic objectives and drive organizational alignment.\nDevelops facilitation approaches, agendas, exercises, and collaborative experiences that enable productive dialogue and structured problem-solving.\nSynthesizes workshop outputs into actionable findings, recommendations, and implementation considerations.\nHelps stakeholders navigate competing priorities, organizational complexity, and change initiatives through structured facilitation and engagement.\nGuides teams in applying human-centered design methods throughout project lifecycles.\nTeam Development & Leadership\nMentors teammates through coaching, knowledge sharing, and constructive feedback.\nModels LINK values and contributes to a collaborative, inclusive, and high-performing team culture.\nShares tools, approaches, and lessons learned that improve the quality and consistency of work across engagements.\nProgram Manager responsibilities include:\nClient & Program Leadership\nServe as the primary point of accountability for contract performance, client satisfaction, financial health, and delivery success.\nMaintain strong client relationships and serve as a trusted advisor to client stakeholders.\nCollaborate with clients to understand challenges, define priorities, manage expectations, and identify opportunities to create additional value.\nLead strategic planning activities and establish program priorities, objectives, and delivery approaches.\nIdentify opportunities to extend existing work and support business development efforts within client organizations.\nTeam Leadership & Coordination\nEstablish delivery priorities and provide direction to project teams in support of contract objectives.\nOversee onboarding, offboarding, and transition activities for project team members.\nProvide coaching and feedback focused on delivery excellence, client satisfaction, and team effectiveness.\nCoordinate with Competency Managers and contribute project performance observations and feedback to support employee development and performance management processes.\nDelivery & Operational Excellence\nOversee program budgets, team utilization, schedules, staffing plans, risks, subcontractor performance, and deliverable quality.\nEstablish and maintain project management processes, Agile cadences, reporting mechanisms, and communication rhythms to ensure effective delegation of tasks, workload management, and on-time delivery.\nEnsure successful execution of contractual requirements, deliverables, reporting obligations, and period of performance requirements.\nMonitor program health and proactively identify risks, issues, and opportunities requiring leadership attention.\nCoordinate invoicing, reporting, travel, security, and operational activities necessary to support successful contract execution.\nDocument and share lessons learned, best practices, and operational improvements that strengthen delivery effectiveness.\nWork Schedule:\nOn-site with the client 2-3 days per week\nFull time, 40 hours per week\nSome travel required to attend relevant events and conferences, and participate in LINK team events\nSalary: 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.\nBenefits:\n$100 monthly internet/cell phone stipend\n$150 monthly commuter stipend for eligible participants\nLINK sponsored healthcare benefits including medical, dental, vision\nCompany-paid Short Term Disability Insurance\n401K with employer contribution of up to 4%\n11 Federal Holidays per year \n15 days of Paid Time Off (PTO) per year \nPaid Holiday Time Off (Christmas Eve through the New Year) \nAnnual bonus plan participation\nAnnual profit sharing participation\n$2,000 Learning and Development program reimbursement\nTechnology package that includes a LINK-owned MacBook Pro, monitor, mouse and keyboard\nLINK 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.\nIf you are unable to complete this application due to a disability, contact Human Resources to ask for an accommodation or an alternative application process.","description_format":"text","description_chars":10059,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":10,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"bachelor","optional":false},"security_clearance":false,"languages":[{"language":"English","level":"All levels","optional":false}]},"benefits":["401k plan","Apple Macbook"],"hiring_locations":[],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Branding","Management Consulting"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-10-07T22:30:33Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":86,"band":"hot","label":"Hiring now","p_open":1,"p_active":0.86,"p_room":1,"age_days":11,"expected_fill_days":45,"reasons":["conf:1","win:early"],"computed_at":"2026-10-19T05:45:15Z"},"pay":{"stated_usd_annual":151000,"is_top_pay":true},"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/link-senior-strategist-program-manager","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/link-senior-strategist-program-manager.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-19T15:18:24Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":11261,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-20T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":678894},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=678894"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Flink-senior-strategist-program-manager"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Flink-senior-strategist-program-manager"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Flink-senior-strategist-program-manager"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/link-senior-strategist-program-manager\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Flink-senior-strategist-program-manager"}]}