Makita U.S.A., Inc. Career Opportunities
Within the last 5 years, what role did the following play in your job:
Trade show and/or event coordination.
Are you able to lift 50 lbs when required for booth set up and to prepare product displays?
Within the last 5 years, what role did the following play in your job:
Collaborate with marketing staff to build booth assets (structures, signage, demonstrations, lighting, etc.) that capture the brand
Please note that this position is no longer available.
If you would like to be considered for similar opportunities now or in the future, feel free to apply and/or set up a notifier for yourself.
Associate Trade Show Manager
CA - La Mirada
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Spotlight Your Planning & Execution Skills in an Important, 100% Trade Show Focused, Event Planning Role

Grow your skills as you work with creative, high-energy brands at a global leader in power tools.

If you combine outstanding organization and prioritization skills with the ability to manage fine details and track an array of moving parts, the role of Associate Trade Show Manager with Makita U.S.A. offers you the opportunity to highlight your skills while making an important contribution. You will manage the logistics and execution of trade show activities, including planning, calendar and budget building, booth and product shipping, and set up and breakdown. Your high-reaching mission will be to ensure everything is in place on time and within budget, and that the branding and messaging stand out in order to generate interest and excitement with dealers and end-users. Consider a few of the advantages of joining our team. You will: Makita is a worldwide leader in the professional power tool industry. Every day, on jobsites around the world, Makita delivers the power, performance and durability that professional users demand with products that are more compact, have less vibration and feel better. Headquartered in La Mirada, CA, Makita U.S.A. has been bringing Makita’s best-in-class engineering advantage to professional power tool users in America since 1970.

Video: Over 60,000 concrete pro’s converged on Las Vegas for the 2017 World of Concrete trade show. Makita was there with plenty of opportunities to try out the industry’s best technology for concrete forming, drilling, surfacing, chipping, and breaking. This is the concrete industry’s biggest annual event, and Makita exhibits outdoors with a hands-on booth experience that allows users to run the tools, from cordless drills to “jack hammers”.

The Requirements

To meet the basic qualification for this role you will have legal authorization to work permanently in the United States for any employer without requiring a visa transfer or visa sponsorship. In addition, to be a strong fit for the Associate Trade Show Manager role, you will have:
  • Professional project management or marketing experience
  • Trade show or event coordination experience preferred but not required Quick question for you - click here
  • Understanding the role of marketing communications, sales promotion and advertising
  • Ability to self-manage resources (time and budget) to achieve objectives
  • Ability to learn a range of procedures, from online forms to warehouse activity
  • Solid computer skills including Microsoft Office programs. MS Dynamics, trade-show, planogram  and/or CAD systems software is a plus but not required
  • Power tool knowledge or industry experience is a plus but not required
  • Schedule flexibility to work extended hours as needed to meet deadlines, attend shows, etc.
  • A valid driver’s license
  • Ability to travel 10% - 15% (approximately once every one to two months)
  • Ability to lift 50 pounds Quick question for you - click here
  • A high school diploma; an associate’s or bachelor’s degree preferred
In addition, success will require the following core competencies and characteristics:
  • The ability to work under deadlines and changing priorities
  • Strong interpersonal, verbal and written communication skills in order to work with internal and external stakeholders
  • Attention to detail with exceptional follow-up and follow-through skills 
  • Professionalism (e.g. timeliness, dedication, a commitment to meeting responsibilities, customer-facing polish, independent)
  • Self-motivation; the ability to work independently and as a strong team member

The Role

Opportunity Snapshot
Reporting to and working closely with the Communications Manager, as well as the in-house Marketing team, you will serve as the Associate Trade Show Manager, a hands-on position responsible for planning, coordinating and executing trade show activities for large to small shows throughout the year. Your efforts will help the Makita Brand come alive in front of dealers and end-users at events across the U.S.A.

There are approximately 40 trade shows on the schedule in any given year, with a dozen of those being large to very large. The larger events will take the majority of your time and are critical to highlighting our brand in the marketplace. You will travel to a minimum of four (and as many as 10) of those critical shows to ensure the smooth shipping/arrival of tools, equipment and marketing collateral, setup, execution and break down. The remainder of the shows will vary in size and be set up and worked by a combination of vendors/agencies and the local sales team. Whether taking on direct management, coordination, or oversight, you will touch every project and ensure they remain on budget and on time.

Role Details
Your primary duties will fall into the following core areas:
  • Planning: Calendar and budget building; asset allocation
  • Administration: Vendor management, purchase orders, invoices, inventory reconciliation, show orders, shipping, asset repair
  • Development: Co-design of new assets, participate in the creative process (work with in-house marketing, and new/existing vendors) . Quick question for you - click here
  • Hands-On Execution: Packing, shipping, building/construction/assembly, on-site booth building, personnel and staffing, on-site problem solving, teamwork, asset construction and repair
Some of your specific tasks will be to:
  • Work with the Communications Manager on the full range of trade show management activities
  • Build the annual U.S. trade show calendar and budget
  • Collaborate with in-house marketing staff to build booth assets (structures, signage, demonstrations, lighting, etc.) that capture the Makita brand
  • Coordinate show orders and shipping for select events
  • Coordinate on-site details for select events, including shipping, set-up, staff, and receiving
  • Work with warehouse staff to manage and track trade show assets
  • Track and implement execution timeline and expenses per event
  • Co-manage and/or work on-site at select trade shows /events (estimated travel: 4 to 10 events per year)
  • Work with the marketing team on related communications and activity
  • Manage and build booths that are 10 x 20 and larger, which may require that you lift up to 50 lbs
  • Update trade show booths to follow changing brand guidelines or seasonal objectives
  • Work with Trade Show Services company on select trade shows 
  • Work with 3rd party vendors as needed
A Physical Role
It should be clear that your areas of focus will be wide, ranging from budget and calendar planning to asset co-design and sourcing, inventory management, but also hands-on activity including booth set-up and re-packing at select events. When assets come back to the warehouse, you might also have to check their condition and make repairs. That means this role can become physically demanding. You must be able to squat, stand, lift 50 pounds -- do what it takes to ensure goals and requirements are met.

Note: this description is intended to give you a general overview of the position and is not an exhaustive listing of duties and responsibilities.

Video: In 2017, Makita opened a new distribution center/warehouse in the Dallas, TX region. The grand opening included a tradeshow-like exhibition and demonstration area.

Why Makita U.S.A.

Dedicated Team
Our marketing team is hands-on and heavily involved in making decisions. Each member of the department brings good ideas and inspiration, and we all help each other. It’s a great environment for learning and a place for someone who wants to be a true contributor.

Professional Growth
This role offers many opportunities to learn and further develop your skills. For example, we don't buy a lot of prefab, but design things from the ground up. You might jump on a whiteboard and design a component. You'll find multiple areas where it will serve you well. Apart from the cachet of working for one of the largest tool companies in the world, you’ll come away from this job with a resume full of projects you've completed with a number of big brand sponsors who partner with Makita.

Make an Impact Outside of Your Job Description
You'll make a day-to-day impact on trade show planning and logistics, but there could be other opportunities as well. For example, we are working on an exciting project to create a self-service web portal to catalog the assets for easy selection by Sales and others who need them for specific shows. You could have a hand in helping to determine the direction of the portal and/or curating the list once it’s complete.

Pride and Brand Recognition
Visit any construction site and you’re sure to encounter a variety of Makita tools. Our quality and performance have earned us a respected reputation, which has consistently grown over the past 100+ years since the company’s founding in 1915. Makita tools and accessories are engineered to help make professional users more productive and meet high-efficiency standards. At the same time, Makita Tools are engineered for increased user comfort and superior ergonomics, with leading solutions for vibration and noise reduction, improved dust extraction, and more.

Excellent Compensation
In addition to a competitive salary, we offer a variety of benefits including medical, dental, vision, and life insurance; a 401(k); expense reimbursement plans; PTO; cell phone reimbursement, tuition reimbursement, and more.

Video: The November STAFDA show draws about 5,000 top dealer/retailers each year.

Keys to Success

To excel in this role you’ll need to be a positive, enthusiastic contributor. We all participate in the creative process, so you’ll need to be willing to work with the team both to provide input and to take suggestions. The ideal candidate is versatile and willing to learn, whether from a senior level marketer about message layering or from a warehouse employee about the proper way to re-pack display materials for shipment. There is a great deal to learn too, so you will need to dedicate yourself to learning and retaining information. For example, we have more than 350 products and over 3000 accessories!

Flexibility and dependability will be key. You might need to make last minute changes or put in a 12+ hour day to ensure a deadline is met. You'll need credibility as a dedicated team player who follows through and gets meets/exceeds expectations. 

This role requires a high degree of professionalism to work with people at all levels of the organization, and to take things in stride, looking for the positive in every situation. Likewise, it takes a degree of self-motivation and independent thinking to take ownership of your responsibilities and get things done without waiting to be told each step of the way. 

Pictured: To reduce vibration in rotary hammers, Makita created Anti-Vibration Technology (AVT®), an internal counterbalance system that significantly reduces vibration for more efficient operation and increased user comfort.

About Us

Every day, on job sites around the world, Makita delivers the power, performance and durability that professional users demand . . .

. . . with products that are more compact, have less vibration, lower noise and superior ergonomics. Over 100 years ago it all started with the motor when the Makita Corporation was founded in 1915 as an electric motor sales and repair company. Today, as a global brand in over 40 countries, Makita is an innovation leader, manufacturing best-in-class products at 10 plants operating in 8 countries. The unmatched quality and durability of Makita products is driven by the company's strong R&D capabilities, and have earned the trust of professional users worldwide. Every day, on job sites around the world, Makita delivers the power, performance and durability that professional users demand with products that are more compact with less vibration, lower noise and superior ergonomics.

Makita believes the motor is the heart of any power tool and spares no expense in producing the most powerful, efficient and best-performing motors for each tool. Makita carefully selects only the best quality raw materials, employing advanced manufacturing equipment 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. Makita USA is headquartered in La Mirada, California.

Spotlight Your Planning & Execution Skills in an Important, 100% Trade Show Focused, Event Planning Role

Grow your skills as you work with creative, high-energy brands at a global leader in power tools.

If you combine outstanding organization and prioritization skills with the ability to manage fine details and track an array of moving parts, the role of Associate Trade Show Manager with Makita U.S.A. offers you the opportunity to highlight your skills while making an important contribution. You will manage the logistics and execution of trade show activities, including planning, calendar and budget building, booth and product shipping, and set up and breakdown. Your high-reaching mission will be to ensure everything is in place on time and within budget, and that the branding and messaging stand out in order to generate interest and excitement with dealers and end-users. Consider a few of the advantages of joining our team. You will: Makita is a worldwide leader in the professional power tool industry. Every day, on jobsites around the world, Makita delivers the power, performance and durability that professional users demand with products that are more compact, have less vibration and feel better. Headquartered in La Mirada, CA, Makita U.S.A. has been bringing Makita’s best-in-class engineering advantage to professional power tool users in America since 1970.

Video: Over 60,000 concrete pro’s converged on Las Vegas for the 2017 World of Concrete trade show. Makita was there with plenty of opportunities to try out the industry’s best technology for concrete forming, drilling, surfacing, chipping, and breaking. This is the concrete industry’s biggest annual event, and Makita exhibits outdoors with a hands-on booth experience that allows users to run the tools, from cordless drills to “jack hammers”.

The Requirements

To meet the basic qualification for this role you will have legal authorization to work permanently in the United States for any employer without requiring a visa transfer or visa sponsorship. In addition, to be a strong fit for the Associate Trade Show Manager role, you will have:
  • Professional project management or marketing experience
  • Trade show or event coordination experience preferred but not required Quick question for you - click here
  • Understanding the role of marketing communications, sales promotion and advertising
  • Ability to self-manage resources (time and budget) to achieve objectives
  • Ability to learn a range of procedures, from online forms to warehouse activity
  • Solid computer skills including Microsoft Office programs. MS Dynamics, trade-show, planogram  and/or CAD systems software is a plus but not required
  • Power tool knowledge or industry experience is a plus but not required
  • Schedule flexibility to work extended hours as needed to meet deadlines, attend shows, etc.
  • A valid driver’s license
  • Ability to travel 10% - 15% (approximately once every one to two months)
  • Ability to lift 50 pounds Quick question for you - click here
  • A high school diploma; an associate’s or bachelor’s degree preferred
In addition, success will require the following core competencies and characteristics:
  • The ability to work under deadlines and changing priorities
  • Strong interpersonal, verbal and written communication skills in order to work with internal and external stakeholders
  • Attention to detail with exceptional follow-up and follow-through skills 
  • Professionalism (e.g. timeliness, dedication, a commitment to meeting responsibilities, customer-facing polish, independent)
  • Self-motivation; the ability to work independently and as a strong team member

The Role

Opportunity Snapshot
Reporting to and working closely with the Communications Manager, as well as the in-house Marketing team, you will serve as the Associate Trade Show Manager, a hands-on position responsible for planning, coordinating and executing trade show activities for large to small shows throughout the year. Your efforts will help the Makita Brand come alive in front of dealers and end-users at events across the U.S.A.

There are approximately 40 trade shows on the schedule in any given year, with a dozen of those being large to very large. The larger events will take the majority of your time and are critical to highlighting our brand in the marketplace. You will travel to a minimum of four (and as many as 10) of those critical shows to ensure the smooth shipping/arrival of tools, equipment and marketing collateral, setup, execution and break down. The remainder of the shows will vary in size and be set up and worked by a combination of vendors/agencies and the local sales team. Whether taking on direct management, coordination, or oversight, you will touch every project and ensure they remain on budget and on time.

Role Details
Your primary duties will fall into the following core areas:
  • Planning: Calendar and budget building; asset allocation
  • Administration: Vendor management, purchase orders, invoices, inventory reconciliation, show orders, shipping, asset repair
  • Development: Co-design of new assets, participate in the creative process (work with in-house marketing, and new/existing vendors) . Quick question for you - click here
  • Hands-On Execution: Packing, shipping, building/construction/assembly, on-site booth building, personnel and staffing, on-site problem solving, teamwork, asset construction and repair
Some of your specific tasks will be to:
  • Work with the Communications Manager on the full range of trade show management activities
  • Build the annual U.S. trade show calendar and budget
  • Collaborate with in-house marketing staff to build booth assets (structures, signage, demonstrations, lighting, etc.) that capture the Makita brand
  • Coordinate show orders and shipping for select events
  • Coordinate on-site details for select events, including shipping, set-up, staff, and receiving
  • Work with warehouse staff to manage and track trade show assets
  • Track and implement execution timeline and expenses per event
  • Co-manage and/or work on-site at select trade shows /events (estimated travel: 4 to 10 events per year)
  • Work with the marketing team on related communications and activity
  • Manage and build booths that are 10 x 20 and larger, which may require that you lift up to 50 lbs
  • Update trade show booths to follow changing brand guidelines or seasonal objectives
  • Work with Trade Show Services company on select trade shows 
  • Work with 3rd party vendors as needed
A Physical Role
It should be clear that your areas of focus will be wide, ranging from budget and calendar planning to asset co-design and sourcing, inventory management, but also hands-on activity including booth set-up and re-packing at select events. When assets come back to the warehouse, you might also have to check their condition and make repairs. That means this role can become physically demanding. You must be able to squat, stand, lift 50 pounds -- do what it takes to ensure goals and requirements are met.

Note: this description is intended to give you a general overview of the position and is not an exhaustive listing of duties and responsibilities.

Video: In 2017, Makita opened a new distribution center/warehouse in the Dallas, TX region. The grand opening included a tradeshow-like exhibition and demonstration area.

Why Makita U.S.A.

Dedicated Team
Our marketing team is hands-on and heavily involved in making decisions. Each member of the department brings good ideas and inspiration, and we all help each other. It’s a great environment for learning and a place for someone who wants to be a true contributor.

Professional Growth
This role offers many opportunities to learn and further develop your skills. For example, we don't buy a lot of prefab, but design things from the ground up. You might jump on a whiteboard and design a component. You'll find multiple areas where it will serve you well. Apart from the cachet of working for one of the largest tool companies in the world, you’ll come away from this job with a resume full of projects you've completed with a number of big brand sponsors who partner with Makita.

Make an Impact Outside of Your Job Description
You'll make a day-to-day impact on trade show planning and logistics, but there could be other opportunities as well. For example, we are working on an exciting project to create a self-service web portal to catalog the assets for easy selection by Sales and others who need them for specific shows. You could have a hand in helping to determine the direction of the portal and/or curating the list once it’s complete.

Pride and Brand Recognition
Visit any construction site and you’re sure to encounter a variety of Makita tools. Our quality and performance have earned us a respected reputation, which has consistently grown over the past 100+ years since the company’s founding in 1915. Makita tools and accessories are engineered to help make professional users more productive and meet high-efficiency standards. At the same time, Makita Tools are engineered for increased user comfort and superior ergonomics, with leading solutions for vibration and noise reduction, improved dust extraction, and more.

Excellent Compensation
In addition to a competitive salary, we offer a variety of benefits including medical, dental, vision, and life insurance; a 401(k); expense reimbursement plans; PTO; cell phone reimbursement, tuition reimbursement, and more.

Video: The November STAFDA show draws about 5,000 top dealer/retailers each year.

Keys to Success

To excel in this role you’ll need to be a positive, enthusiastic contributor. We all participate in the creative process, so you’ll need to be willing to work with the team both to provide input and to take suggestions. The ideal candidate is versatile and willing to learn, whether from a senior level marketer about message layering or from a warehouse employee about the proper way to re-pack display materials for shipment. There is a great deal to learn too, so you will need to dedicate yourself to learning and retaining information. For example, we have more than 350 products and over 3000 accessories!

Flexibility and dependability will be key. You might need to make last minute changes or put in a 12+ hour day to ensure a deadline is met. You'll need credibility as a dedicated team player who follows through and gets meets/exceeds expectations. 

This role requires a high degree of professionalism to work with people at all levels of the organization, and to take things in stride, looking for the positive in every situation. Likewise, it takes a degree of self-motivation and independent thinking to take ownership of your responsibilities and get things done without waiting to be told each step of the way. 

Pictured: To reduce vibration in rotary hammers, Makita created Anti-Vibration Technology (AVT®), an internal counterbalance system that significantly reduces vibration for more efficient operation and increased user comfort.

About Us

Every day, on job sites around the world, Makita delivers the power, performance and durability that professional users demand . . .

. . . with products that are more compact, have less vibration, lower noise and superior ergonomics. Over 100 years ago it all started with the motor when the Makita Corporation was founded in 1915 as an electric motor sales and repair company. Today, as a global brand in over 40 countries, Makita is an innovation leader, manufacturing best-in-class products at 10 plants operating in 8 countries. The unmatched quality and durability of Makita products is driven by the company's strong R&D capabilities, and have earned the trust of professional users worldwide. Every day, on job sites around the world, Makita delivers the power, performance and durability that professional users demand with products that are more compact with less vibration, lower noise and superior ergonomics.

Makita believes the motor is the heart of any power tool and spares no expense in producing the most powerful, efficient and best-performing motors for each tool. Makita carefully selects only the best quality raw materials, employing advanced manufacturing equipment 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. Makita USA is headquartered in La Mirada, California.
Makita U.S.A., Inc. is an equal opportunity employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or protected veteran status.
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