Director, Design Strategy; Competency Manager

About the role

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.

Responsibilities

• Talent Management & Employee Development:
  • Directly manage assigned employees within the competency.
  • Support employee engagement, retention, career growth, and professional development.
  • Foster a collaborative, inclusive culture aligned with LINK's values.
  • Address employee concerns, performance issues, and challenging personnel situations in partnership with leadership as needed.
• Talent Acquisition & Workforce Planning:
  • Partner with Talent and Leadership teams to shape recruiting priorities, workforce plans, and hiring strategies that support competency growth.
  • Identify capability gaps and anticipate future staffing needs to support competency growth.
  • Build and maintain relationships with prospective talent and external communities that strengthen the competency talent pipeline.
  • Define role requirements, capability needs, and hiring criteria for competency-related positions.
• Competency Health & Growth:
  • Establish and maintain competency standards, tools, frameworks, methodologies, and best practices.
  • Lead competency development initiatives, including learning opportunities, mentorship, knowledge sharing, and capability-building efforts.
  • Monitor emerging client needs, industry trends, and capability gaps to inform competency growth and investment priorities.
  • Identify and recommend investments in hiring, development, tools, and capability-building initiatives that strengthen the competency.
• Leadership Partnership & Operations:
  • Partner with Project Team Leadership to support staffing decisions, employee development, and project success.
  • Collaborate with Deputy Competency Managers to ensure consistency in employee experience and competency operations.
  • Represent and advocate for competency needs, priorities, and recommendations with leadership.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Design, Communication, Sociology, Psychology, Human-Centered Design, or a related field.
• 15+ years of experience in design strategy, service design, experience design, research, consulting, communications, or a related field.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a security clearance.
• Demonstrated people management experience, including performance management, coaching, employee relations, conflict resolution, and employee development.
• Demonstrated ability to mentor senior practitioners and foster a culture of continuous learning, collaboration, and design excellence.
• Experience building high-performing teams by shaping recruiting strategies, workforce planning, competency development, and learning initiatives aligned with business objectives.
• Demonstrated ability to assess organizational capability, identify emerging skill needs, and develop strategies that advance the long-term growth and maturity of a professional practice.
• Recognized expertise applying human-centered design, design thinking, systems thinking, facilitation, and research methodologies to solve complex organizational challenges.
• Experience designing and facilitating workshops, stakeholder engagements, and collaborative working sessions that drive alignment and informed decision-making.
• Demonstrated ability to advise senior leaders, shape strategic direction, and translate ambiguity into actionable strategies that drive organizational outcomes.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills and the ability to collaborate effectively with senior leaders, clients, and cross-functional teams.