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Regulatory Compliance Manager, Outdoor Power Equipment
CA - La Mirada
Opportunity Snapshot
If you combine your technical aptitude with strong interpersonal skills, this position offers you the opportunity to make an impact as part of an initiative, backed by the reputation and stability of Makita. You will provide compliance leadership for handheld gas-powered outdoor equipment, including assuring compliance, interpreting and communicating regulations, actively participating in industry organizations and more. Quick question for you - click here
While our preference is that you bring compliance experience with you, we also will consider recent grads with the right skill set. Your success in this role will set you up to pursue promotional opportunities in our growing organization.
Makita is a worldwide leader in the professional power tool industry. Headquartered in La Mirada, CA, Makita USA has been bringing Makita's best-in-class engineering advantage to professional power tool users in America since 1970. The Outdoor Power Equipment group focuses on selling/supporting equipment (brushcutters, blowers, chainsaws, hedge/string trimmers and others) through a variety of channels. These products are designed for the commercial or casual user to work efficiently, but also to be sensitive to the environment (reducing our carbon footprint) and meet or exceed stringent regulatory requirements for safety and various types of emissions.
Pictured: Makita's 24.5 cc Blower is the world's lightest commercial 4-stroke blower. Its powerful and efficient engine exceeds EPA and CARB exhaust and evaporative emissions regulations, as well as being fuel efficient and lower in noise than typical 2- stroke units in the same category.
The Requirements
We are open to candidates from at least two different backgrounds, including:
-
Those who have solid relevant experience, even if they don't have a degree.
-
Recent grads with a relevant degree, such as in a Legal, Business or Technical area.
Whatever your background, key characteristics include:
-
Above average interpersonal skills and the ability to:
-
"Sell" compliance to internal stakeholders.
-
Contribute actively and effectively to industry organizations.
-
A high degree of comfort in an environment in which change is constant.
-
The ability to learn quickly.
In addition, to be a good fit for this opportunity you will have:
-
The ability to understand and interpret complex "legal type technical" English language used in writing federal, state and local regulations.
-
A general understanding of:
-
Internal combustion engines, particularly in regulatory contexts (types of fuel, oil, emissions, etc.). Quick question for you - click here
-
Manufacturing and supply chain processes, ideally related to outdoor power equipment.
-
Above average computer skills in the following programs:
-
Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook.
-
Analytical capabilities in Excel.
-
Adobe Acrobat (standard version).
-
Skills with database programs, ideally FileMaker.
-
Exceptional communication skills and sensitivity to cultural issues.
-
Good interpersonal skills and judgment capabilities to communicate directly with state and federal regulatory agencies in formal and informal settings.
-
Excellent reporting skills to communicate regularly to Makita groups as needed to inform and educate.
-
Resourcefulness and the ability to achieve goals independently.
You also will need to be willing and able to travel, sometimes internationally, up to 20% of the time. You may travel to industry meetings and Makita facilities in the USA, Europe or Asia. In fact, we prefer that you are flexible and open to the possibility of relocating to the San Francisco Bay Area in the future to take advantage of our excellent compliance testing facilities in Hayward.
The Role
Reporting to the Vice President of Outdoor Power Equipment, you will join a growing team that includes Product Management, a Sales team and R&D Engineers on the West Coast, Japan and Germany.
You'll have four primary responsibilities:
-
Completing and submitting regulatory documents to various regulatory agencies (namely EPA and CARB) on a timely basis. Quick question for you - click here
-
Communicating current and future regulatory information to Makita companies manufacturing and selling products for/in the US.
-
Providing competitive intelligence regarding industry trends as a result of regulatory actions.
-
Advising management on options to solve regulatory issues that affect sales of OPE products.
Your specific activities will fall into three main areas. You'll invest the largest part of your time in regulation interpretation and communication. This will include understanding regulations and translating them into business processes, but also communicating them effectively across our international organization. You will ensure that operations in the US, Japan and Germany are presenting a unified voice to the regulatory agencies, and also that manufacturing facilities overseas understand and adhere to US guidelines for products to be sold here. You also will make sure our organization is well informed of changes that may be coming over the next few years.
With regard to participating in OPE industry organizations, you will play an active role in organizations such as the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute (OPEI), which represents manufacturers of handheld equipment. OPEI committees are conduits of valuable information and our participation promotes goodwill and opens doors to cooperate or share competitive intelligence. OPEI committee members are sometimes assigned homework or projects to assist the industry. Other important organizations are the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), International Organization for Standardization (ISO).
Your administrative activities will involve submitting applications and reports to various agencies, receiving and documenting certificates of compliance, and more.
Note: this description is intended to give you a general overview of the position and is not an exhaustive listing of duties and responsibilities.
Why Makita
Jump-start your career -- whether you have compliance experience or not, you're sure to learn and grow in this role, including expanding your technical knowledge and your understanding of our business. Once you have proven yourself you might pursue a number of career paths; the more versatile you are, the more paths will be open to you.
Great environment -- you'll enjoy the entrepreneurial energy of the OPE initiative as well as the resources of an established global leader. Rather than micromanage our people, we empower them to achieve goals independently, offering support when they need it and "elbow room" when they don't. The culture is results oriented but informal, there is a tight knit family feeling, and initiative and great ideas are welcome.
Stability -- Makita has a solid financial profile and we remained profitable even through the recession. One reason for this stability is a strong brand: visit any construction site and you're sure to encounter a variety of Makita tools, because our quality and performance have earned us a solid reputation within the contractor community. We continue to lead the industry with the introduction of high quality, innovative tools.
Great people -- our people are the cornerstone of our success; in fact if you ask any of our long-tenured staff as to why they've stayed on the team for 20+ years, more often than not they'll say it's their peers. The Makita team, they say, is made up of some of the most appreciative and supportive -- not to mention talented -- professionals they've ever worked with.
Excellent compensation -- in addition to a competitive salary and bonus incentive program, we offer one of the most generous benefits packages in our industry, including medical, dental, vision, and life insurance; 401(k) and profit sharing plans; vacation time; tuition reimbursement, and more.
Pictured: this 64 cc Chain Saw offers a full line of features for the professional that depends on quality. Low emission engine, side chain tensioning, falling sights, cold weather adaptability, mechanical/interia chain brake and many other features are standard on this high quality product.
Keys to Success
Your success in this position will depend upon your ability to deal effectively with change; the OPE initiative is evolving and even once we're more "settled in" we'll remain responsive to market (and regulatory!) changes. You'll also need a degree of cross-cultural sensitivity as you interact with people from Japanese, German and Hispanic backgrounds. This will include helping people whose first language is not English to understand the legal/technical English of regulatory documents. In addition you will need to use your interpersonal skills to persuade others, helping them to understand complex regulatory language -- it won't be enough to be technically accurate; you'll also need to communicate in ways that are interesting, meaningful and capture the attention.
About Makita
Makita owes its reputation for manufacturing and distributing outstanding quality power tools to the drive and determination for excellence that began over 85 years ago as a manufacturer of electric motors. In 1958 we introduced our first electric tool, and today we are one of the world's largest power tool manufacturers, with seven manufacturing facilities globally and a selection of more than 350 superior and innovative tools.
Believing that the motor is the heart of any power tool, we take great pride in our motor expertise. We spare no expense in producing the most powerful, efficient and best performing motors available for each tool, carefully selecting only the best quality raw materials, employing the most advanced manufacturing equipment in the world, and using the most stringent manufacturing processes and quality control in the industry. To make certain that our quality standards are upheld, constant testing is performed during machining and assembly processes, including a final run-test under power before leaving the factory to ensure optimum performance.
Our success comes not only from producing top quality tools, but also from our unparalleled customer service. From our customer service representatives to our extensive sales team to our R&D group, we are dedicated to delivering complete customer satisfaction.
Pictured: Makita sponsors a variety of sports that appeal to users of our products, including soccer (both MLS and FMF leagues), supercross, motocross, paintball, ATV racing and more. Here Brett Metcalfe of Team Rockstar Makita Suzuki accepts the first-place trophy at the 2011 AMA Pro Motocross Championships. He rode a Yoshimura-equipped Makita-tooled Rockstar Makita Suzuki RM-Z450 to victory.
Opportunity Snapshot
If you combine your technical aptitude with strong interpersonal skills, this position offers you the opportunity to make an impact as part of an initiative, backed by the reputation and stability of Makita. You will provide compliance leadership for handheld gas-powered outdoor equipment, including assuring compliance, interpreting and communicating regulations, actively participating in industry organizations and more. Quick question for you - click here While our preference is that you bring compliance experience with you, we also will consider recent grads with the right skill set. Your success in this role will set you up to pursue promotional opportunities in our growing organization.
Makita is a worldwide leader in the professional power tool industry. Headquartered in La Mirada, CA, Makita USA has been bringing Makita's best-in-class engineering advantage to professional power tool users in America since 1970. The Outdoor Power Equipment group focuses on selling/supporting equipment (brushcutters, blowers, chainsaws, hedge/string trimmers and others) through a variety of channels. These products are designed for the commercial or casual user to work efficiently, but also to be sensitive to the environment (reducing our carbon footprint) and meet or exceed stringent regulatory requirements for safety and various types of emissions.
Pictured: Makita's 24.5 cc Blower is the world's lightest commercial 4-stroke blower. Its powerful and efficient engine exceeds EPA and CARB exhaust and evaporative emissions regulations, as well as being fuel efficient and lower in noise than typical 2- stroke units in the same category.
The Requirements
We are open to candidates from at least two different backgrounds, including:
-
Those who have solid relevant experience, even if they don't have a degree.
-
Recent grads with a relevant degree, such as in a Legal, Business or Technical area.
Whatever your background, key characteristics include:
-
Above average interpersonal skills and the ability to:
-
"Sell" compliance to internal stakeholders.
-
Contribute actively and effectively to industry organizations.
-
A high degree of comfort in an environment in which change is constant.
-
The ability to learn quickly.
In addition, to be a good fit for this opportunity you will have:
-
The ability to understand and interpret complex "legal type technical" English language used in writing federal, state and local regulations.
-
A general understanding of:
-
Internal combustion engines, particularly in regulatory contexts (types of fuel, oil, emissions, etc.). Quick question for you - click here
-
Manufacturing and supply chain processes, ideally related to outdoor power equipment.
-
Above average computer skills in the following programs:
-
Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook.
-
Analytical capabilities in Excel.
-
Adobe Acrobat (standard version).
-
Skills with database programs, ideally FileMaker.
-
Exceptional communication skills and sensitivity to cultural issues.
-
Good interpersonal skills and judgment capabilities to communicate directly with state and federal regulatory agencies in formal and informal settings.
-
Excellent reporting skills to communicate regularly to Makita groups as needed to inform and educate.
-
Resourcefulness and the ability to achieve goals independently.
You also will need to be willing and able to travel, sometimes internationally, up to 20% of the time. You may travel to industry meetings and Makita facilities in the USA, Europe or Asia. In fact, we prefer that you are flexible and open to the possibility of relocating to the San Francisco Bay Area in the future to take advantage of our excellent compliance testing facilities in Hayward.
The Role
Reporting to the Vice President of Outdoor Power Equipment, you will join a growing team that includes Product Management, a Sales team and R&D Engineers on the West Coast, Japan and Germany.
You'll have four primary responsibilities:
-
Completing and submitting regulatory documents to various regulatory agencies (namely EPA and CARB) on a timely basis. Quick question for you - click here
-
Communicating current and future regulatory information to Makita companies manufacturing and selling products for/in the US.
-
Providing competitive intelligence regarding industry trends as a result of regulatory actions.
-
Advising management on options to solve regulatory issues that affect sales of OPE products.
Your specific activities will fall into three main areas. You'll invest the largest part of your time in regulation interpretation and communication. This will include understanding regulations and translating them into business processes, but also communicating them effectively across our international organization. You will ensure that operations in the US, Japan and Germany are presenting a unified voice to the regulatory agencies, and also that manufacturing facilities overseas understand and adhere to US guidelines for products to be sold here. You also will make sure our organization is well informed of changes that may be coming over the next few years.
With regard to participating in OPE industry organizations, you will play an active role in organizations such as the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute (OPEI), which represents manufacturers of handheld equipment. OPEI committees are conduits of valuable information and our participation promotes goodwill and opens doors to cooperate or share competitive intelligence. OPEI committee members are sometimes assigned homework or projects to assist the industry. Other important organizations are the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), International Organization for Standardization (ISO).
Your administrative activities will involve submitting applications and reports to various agencies, receiving and documenting certificates of compliance, and more.
Note: this description is intended to give you a general overview of the position and is not an exhaustive listing of duties and responsibilities.
Why Makita
Jump-start your career -- whether you have compliance experience or not, you're sure to learn and grow in this role, including expanding your technical knowledge and your understanding of our business. Once you have proven yourself you might pursue a number of career paths; the more versatile you are, the more paths will be open to you.
Great environment -- you'll enjoy the entrepreneurial energy of the OPE initiative as well as the resources of an established global leader. Rather than micromanage our people, we empower them to achieve goals independently, offering support when they need it and "elbow room" when they don't. The culture is results oriented but informal, there is a tight knit family feeling, and initiative and great ideas are welcome.
Stability -- Makita has a solid financial profile and we remained profitable even through the recession. One reason for this stability is a strong brand: visit any construction site and you're sure to encounter a variety of Makita tools, because our quality and performance have earned us a solid reputation within the contractor community. We continue to lead the industry with the introduction of high quality, innovative tools.
Great people -- our people are the cornerstone of our success; in fact if you ask any of our long-tenured staff as to why they've stayed on the team for 20+ years, more often than not they'll say it's their peers. The Makita team, they say, is made up of some of the most appreciative and supportive -- not to mention talented -- professionals they've ever worked with.
Excellent compensation -- in addition to a competitive salary and bonus incentive program, we offer one of the most generous benefits packages in our industry, including medical, dental, vision, and life insurance; 401(k) and profit sharing plans; vacation time; tuition reimbursement, and more.
Pictured: this 64 cc Chain Saw offers a full line of features for the professional that depends on quality. Low emission engine, side chain tensioning, falling sights, cold weather adaptability, mechanical/interia chain brake and many other features are standard on this high quality product.
Keys to Success
Your success in this position will depend upon your ability to deal effectively with change; the OPE initiative is evolving and even once we're more "settled in" we'll remain responsive to market (and regulatory!) changes. You'll also need a degree of cross-cultural sensitivity as you interact with people from Japanese, German and Hispanic backgrounds. This will include helping people whose first language is not English to understand the legal/technical English of regulatory documents. In addition you will need to use your interpersonal skills to persuade others, helping them to understand complex regulatory language -- it won't be enough to be technically accurate; you'll also need to communicate in ways that are interesting, meaningful and capture the attention.
About Makita
Makita owes its reputation for manufacturing and distributing outstanding quality power tools to the drive and determination for excellence that began over 85 years ago as a manufacturer of electric motors. In 1958 we introduced our first electric tool, and today we are one of the world's largest power tool manufacturers, with seven manufacturing facilities globally and a selection of more than 350 superior and innovative tools.
Believing that the motor is the heart of any power tool, we take great pride in our motor expertise. We spare no expense in producing the most powerful, efficient and best performing motors available for each tool, carefully selecting only the best quality raw materials, employing the most advanced manufacturing equipment in the world, and using the most stringent manufacturing processes and quality control in the industry. To make certain that our quality standards are upheld, constant testing is performed during machining and assembly processes, including a final run-test under power before leaving the factory to ensure optimum performance.
Our success comes not only from producing top quality tools, but also from our unparalleled customer service. From our customer service representatives to our extensive sales team to our R&D group, we are dedicated to delivering complete customer satisfaction.
Pictured: Makita sponsors a variety of sports that appeal to users of our products, including soccer (both MLS and FMF leagues), supercross, motocross, paintball, ATV racing and more. Here Brett Metcalfe of Team Rockstar Makita Suzuki accepts the first-place trophy at the 2011 AMA Pro Motocross Championships. He rode a Yoshimura-equipped Makita-tooled Rockstar Makita Suzuki RM-Z450 to victory.
