Director, Experiential Marketing

ASSA ABLOY•New Haven, CT

2d•Onsite

About The Position

The Director of Experiential Marketing will lead the strategy, execution, and optimization of our physical brand presence across tradeshows, the mobile innovation fleet, and internal/external display programs. This role will be central to how we showcase our door, hardware, and access control solutions to customers, partners, and employees. You will oversee more than 250 annual tradeshows, manage our mobile innovation fleet (tradeshow booths on wheels), and ensure consistent, high quality branded displays across offices and customer sites. This leader must excel in fast-paced environments, maintain exceptional attention to detail, and bring strong operational, digital, and analytical capabilities.

Requirements

Demonstrated experience working within a high-volume, multi-faceted tradeshow program, with clear understanding of the planning, logistics, timelines, and stakeholder coordination required.
Strong familiarity with the scope, cadence, and operational demands of our tradeshow and experiential programming.
Experience leading programs to include process ownership, prioritization, and continuous improvement.
Proven ability to lead through influence across sales, product, marketing, and operations, even when not owning all resources directly.
Must possess strong decision-making skills, escalate issues to management, and have accountability for outcomes.
Track record of moving from “doer” to leader who sets direction, standards, and expectations.
Strong program management skills with the ability to oversee multiple workstreams, timelines, and vendors simultaneously.
Experience managing budgets, forecasts, and vendor relationships with an emphasis on accuracy, consistency, and execution quality.
Highly organized, detail-oriented, and able to operate calmly and effectively in fast-paced, deadline-driven environments.
Familiarity working with Salesforce, Marketing Cloud, and event-related reporting tools.
Experience using data to evaluate program effectiveness, identify gaps, and recommend improvements.
Ability to partner with digital and sales operations teams to ensure lead capture, follow-up, and reporting discipline.
Exhibits exceptional public speaking and communication skills, with the ability to deliver clear, engaging presentations to large audiences.
Clear, confident communicator who can translate operational details into insights and recommendations for leadership.
Able to balance strategic thinking with practical execution realities.
Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Communications, Business, or a related field (or equivalent experience).
10+ years of progressive experience in marketing, experiential marketing, or tradeshows.
5+ years of leadership experience, including responsibility for coaching, development, performance management, and workload prioritization.
Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite.

Nice To Haves

Previous experience supporting or leading internal experiential, tradeshow, or field marketing programs within the organization.
Direct involvement with mobile assets, permanent displays, or showroom-style environments.
Familiarity with B2B sales environments and longer commercial sales cycles.
Experience working closely with fabrication, logistics, or installation partners.

Responsibilities

Lead planning, execution, and optimization of 250+ tradeshows annually.
Ensure consistent brand representation, product accuracy, and operational excellence.
Partner with product, sales, and marketing teams to align tradeshow content with commercial priorities.
Oversee logistics, booth design, vendor management, and onsite execution.
Direct the strategy, scheduling, and operations of the mobile innovation fleet.
Ensure vehicles, displays, and product demos are maintained, updated, and compliant.
Integrate digital lead capture, Salesforce tracking, and Marketing Cloud campaigns.
Track utilization, performance, and ROI of fleet activations.
Manage the creation, installation, and maintenance of branded displays for internal offices and external customer sites.
Ensure displays accurately represent product lines, brand standards, and messaging.
Develop scalable processes for inventory, updates, and lifecycle management.
Use Salesforce, Marketing Cloud, and analytics tools to measure tradeshow performance and pipeline impact.
Build dashboards and reporting frameworks for tradeshows, fleet, and display programs.
Partner with digital teams to integrate campaigns, lead capture, and follow-up workflows.
Lead and develop a high-performing team responsible for tradeshows, fleet operations, and displays.
Foster a culture of precision, accountability, and continuous improvement.
Manage budgets, vendors, timelines, and cross-functional relationships.