Associate Director, Information Design; Deputy Competency Manager

LINK is a fast-growing Woman Owned Small Business (WOSB) that leverages human-centered design to support strategy and innovation within the federal government. The Associate Director, Information Design; Deputy Competency Manager will lead a team of Information Designers, shaping frameworks and tools while fostering a collaborative culture and developing talent to deliver impactful design solutions.

Responsibilities:

• Directly manage assigned employees within the competency
• Conduct performance management activities, including coaching, feedback, development planning, performance reviews, and promotion recommendations
• Support employee engagement, retention, career growth, and professional development
• Foster a collaborative, inclusive culture aligned with LINK's values
• Support onboarding and integration of new employees into the competency and broader organization
• Address employee concerns, performance issues, and challenging personnel situations, escalating issues as appropriate
• Participate in recruiting activities, including interviewing, candidate evaluation, selection, and onboarding
• Provide input on hiring needs, workforce planning, and capability gaps within the competency
• Support development of talent pipelines and recruiting efforts aligned with competency growth needs
• Build and maintain relationships with prospective talent and external communities that strengthen the competency talent pipeline
• Contribute to role requirements, capability needs, and hiring criteria for competency-related positions
• Partner with the Competency Manager to maintain and improve competency standards, tools, frameworks, methodologies, and best practices
• Contribute to competency development initiatives, including learning opportunities, mentorship, knowledge sharing, and capability-building efforts
• Identify employee trends, development needs, and capability gaps within the competency and provide recommendations for improvement
• Monitor emerging client needs, industry trends, and capability gaps and share insights with the Competency Manager
• Support implementation of investments in hiring, development, tools, and capability-building initiatives that strengthen the competency
• Partner with Project Team Leadership to support employee development, staffing discussions, and project success
• Provide support to project teams on an ad hoc basis
• Collaborate with the Competency Manager on employee concerns, competency priorities, and organizational needs
• Escalate employee issues, risks, trends, and recommendations to the Competency Manager as appropriate
• Represent the competency in meetings, discussions, and initiatives as delegated

Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree in Graphic Design, Visual Communication, Visual Journalism, Animation, Information Design, or a related field
• 12+ years of experience in graphic design, information design, visual communication, 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
• Experience recruiting, hiring, onboarding, and developing high-performing teams while fostering an inclusive and collaborative culture
• Strong expertise in information design, visual storytelling, and communicating complex information through visual means
• Well-versed in a variety of design disciplines (e.g., information design, graphic design, brand development, experience design) and able to select the appropriate approach for a given challenge
• Strong understanding of information hierarchy, accessibility considerations, visual communication principles, and human-centered design methodologies
• Ability to mentor and develop information designers by providing technical guidance, constructive feedback, and coaching that strengthens quality delivery
• Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to build trusted relationships across clients, senior leaders, and cross-functional teams
• Approaches work with optimism, curiosity, sound judgment, and a collaborative mindset
• Expertise with Adobe Creative Cloud and related design technologies, with the ability to promote best practices, guide design workflows, and evaluate emerging tools that strengthen the Information Design practice
• Portfolio that demonstrates both conceptual skills and design execution