Senior Strategist

Senior Strategist

Position Overview

Serve as a Senior Strategist who will lead workstreams and help drive the human-centered design, research, and execution efforts within our Hana Defense Solutions (HDS) team, part of the Native Hawaiian nonprofit corporation The Hana Group.

From strategic vision to tactical implementation, we deliver adaptable, mission-centered solutions that help government and defense clients achieve lasting impact. Our team supports the mission-critical efforts of the Department of War (DoW) and federal clients through human-centered design, technology, and co-development.

As a Senior Strategist, you must have the skills, passion, and motivation to solve the wicked, complex problems the DoW faces by getting to the root cause. You'll work closely with senior leadership, stakeholders, and cross-functional team members, driving research, design frameworks, processes, and communications on initiatives across several multi-functional teams.

Primary Responsibilities

• Directly manage client workstreams and client relationships
• Develop products within client workstreams that meet DoW standards and security requirements using human-centered design methods
• Support creation and execution of strategic plans, frameworks, and recommendations that align with client and mission objectives
• Conduct qualitative and quantitative research to understand operational challenges, identify opportunities, and inform decision-making
• Work closely with Hana and client SMEs to ingest technical information for use on client products
• Synthesize complex insights and user research into clear narratives, reports, and visual frameworks for leadership and client stakeholders using human-centered design
• Support the design and facilitation of workshops, design sprints, and strategic planning sessions
• Collaborate cross-functionally with account leaders, designers, developers, strategists, and other team members
• Regularly attend in-person customer meetings on a weekly or bi-weekly basis, as required
• Support the maintenance of design systems, style guides, and design standards
• Document lessons learned, frameworks, and methodologies for reuse and knowledge sharing within the organization
• Support the preparation of client briefs, progress reports, and leadership summaries as required by the PM
• Track action items, milestones, and dependencies to ensure timeline completion, escalating as needed
• Other duties as assigned

What Sets You Apart

• Ability to navigate client workstreams and client relationships independently
• Strong interpersonal skills, with the ability to communicate and engage a variety of stakeholders at different levels
• Experience supporting strategic planning initiatives within the government and defense space
• Understanding of Adobe Creative Suite and other design tools as necessary to execute or direct work
• Ability to think strategically while executing tactically, moving comfortably between high-level plans and hands-on delivery
• Advanced active listening skills
• Ability to work across cross-functional teams
• Knowledge of government contracting, performance management, and budget execution
• Familiarity with tools like Jira, Confluence, and Figma
• Strong grasp of what to deliver to a client and when (i.e., we don't take orders for products, we generate what the client needs to meet their goal)
• History leading client workstreams and working directly with clients
• Functional understanding of contract language and contract requirement

Minimum Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Strategy, Business, Industrial Design, Engineering, MIS, Communications, or a related field
• 10+ years' experience working on DoW or government contracts in problem-solving and strategy roles
• Familiarity with DoW operations, regulation, and structure
• Proven ability to analyze complex problems and present structured, evidence-based recommendations
• Experience with human-centered design methods and frameworks
• Experience leading client work and interacting directly with clients
• Adaptable to client work environments (i.e., able to read the room and adjust for results)
• Ability to support the full project lifecycle, from kickoff through implementation and adoption
• Travel for in-person sessions with the customer
• Must be a U.S. citizen and possess a DoD Secret or higher security clearance

Preferred Qualifications

• Familiarity with defense logistics and acquisitions, cyber and technology, operational and infrastructure, and other defense workstreams
• Proven experience briefing senior military officers, SES-level officials, or other executive government leaders
• Strong organization, detail orientation, and writing skills
• Experience owning both strategic direction and tactical delivery within small, high-accountability team

Benefits

• Flexible Spending Account (FSA) for qualified Health, Dependent Care, and Transportation expenses
• Hana-owned MacBook Pro
• Flexible PTO
• Paid Federal Holidays
• Short term disability insurance
• 401k

Work Schedule

• Full time, 40 hours per week
• Hybrid and on-site within the Washington DC Metro area 

                                                                              HTS is an EOE/M/F/D/V/H