Senior Strategist; Deputy Program Manager

LINK•Charleston, SC

10h•$112,000 - $151,000

About The Position

The Senior Strategist; Deputy Program Manager (DPM) supports program execution and delivery while providing a consistent layer of leadership across client programs. Partnering closely with the Program Manager (PM), the DPM ensures strategic alignment, smooth execution of deliverables, and clear visibility into project progress. This role strengthens cross-functional coordination, facilitates responsive communication with clients and teams, and enables the PM to focus on business growth and strategic initiatives. The DPM also ensures project teams are resourced, supported, and working toward shared goals. Depending on program structure, the DPM may serve as a Team Lead on specific projects, complementing the PM’s expertise and filling functional gaps as needed. Note: The DPM role is designed to complement the PM's specific skills and experience, filling functional gaps as needed. DPMs may also serve as Team Leads on specific projects depending on program structure and requirements.

Requirements

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
4-6 years of program or project coordination experience including familiarity with Agile methodologies and project delivery best practices.
Ability to build and maintain robust client relationships and foster positive interpersonal connections
Interest in visual storytelling, including data visualization and conceptualizing abstract ideas
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
Active Clearance: Secret required, Top Secret preferred
Detail-oriented with ability to thrive in dynamic environments

Nice To Haves

Experience in government contracting or client services preferred
Experience with defense communications or creative work for government clients valuable

Responsibilities

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.
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.
cross internal teams and ensure consistent delivery quality.
Act as a thought partner to the PM in managing day-to-day program operations and evolving client strategy
Track and manage delivery timelines, milestones, budgets, and team capacity across multi-workstream government contracts
Provide input to internal reporting on project health, budget usage, risks, and staffing capacity for informed PM decision-making
Support tracking of period of performance (POP) deadlines, deliverable quality, and communications related to project-specific changes
Coordinate internal resource allocation in alignment with PM priorities and contract scope
Assist with Agile ceremonies, including planning sessions, stand-ups, retrospectives, reviews, and kickoffs
Maintain key internal documentation, including timecard reviews, deliverable tracking, and project updates.
Serve as centralized operations manager to Team Leads, ensuring project delivery aligns with overall program strategy
Facilitate regular coordination syncs with Team Leads to gather progress updates, identify blockers, and manage interdependencies
Escalate risks and resourcing needs from Team Leads to the PM in a timely and structured manner
Ensure team members have the tools, templates, and documentation needed for success, and maintain visibility into workloads to identify bottlenecks or underutilization.
Cultivate team cohesion across distributed, cross-functional workstreams.
Assist the PM in gathering input for monthly performance evaluations related to project delivery
Participate in and coordinate logistics for client calls, meetings, and briefings as delegated by the PM
Draft and manage client communications including updates, reporting, and scheduling
Represent the PM when needed, ensuring project status, scope, and timelines are clearly communicated
Maintain transparency and trust with clients through consistent responsiveness and delivery follow-through

Benefits

$100 monthly internet/cell phone stipend
LINK sponsored healthcare benefits including medical, dental, vision
Company-paid Short Term Disability Insurance
401K with employer contribution of up to 4%
11 Federal Holidays per year
15 days of Paid Time Off (PTO) per year
Paid Holiday Time Off (Christmas Eve through the New Year)
Annual bonus plan participation
Annual profit sharing participation
$2,000 Learning and Development program reimbursement
Technology package that includes a LINK-owned MacBook Pro, monitor, mouse and keyboard