Role description
Event & Field Marketing Manager
Kaizen LabsGovernment technology has failed citizens, veterans, public servants, and service members for decades.
Kaizen powers America’s application layer. We replace the legacy systems federal agencies run on with modern software, built with craft. The ticketing platform a resident uses to visit a presidential library. The marketplace DoW uses to procure counter-drone systems to protect lives and critical infrastructure. The system a Veteran uses to access benefits. We build systems of record, of national consequence. Our AI-native modules and harness allow us to do so in weeks, not years.
This year, our revenue has grown 35x. Next year, our software will serve over 100 million Americans across dozens of federal agencies.
Founded in 2022 and based in New York City and DC, Kaizen has raised $35 million from NEA, a16z, Accel, 776, and Carpenter Capital.
Before You Apply...
This is Kaizen's first dedicated events hire, and it's a build role. Our events have been run part time alongside other responsibilities. We have a conference presence, a set of shows we return to, and a handful of rooms that have worked well, but no owner and no playbook. You'll set the strategy, own the calendar and the budget, and be accountable for what the program produces.
The center of the role is the federal conference circuit: the Washington-area shows and agency-facing conferences where our federal buyers gather, the field motion that surrounds them, and the executive dinners and briefings we run alongside them. State and municipal events sit underneath the federal calendar rather than beside it. Kaizen-hosted events are a real ambition and you'll scope what we should own, but that work follows the circuit rather than leading it.
Events at Kaizen are a growth function, measured against pipeline and qualified meetings rather than attendance. Our buyers are public servants, and how we show up in a room is a direct statement about the quality of what we build. Politics is not a criterion at Kaizen: we don't screen for ideology, and we expect you to build trusted relationships on both sides of the aisle.
Location
This is a hybrid role based out of our New York or DC. Candidates must reside or be able to commute to New York City or DC to work out of our office at least four times a week (Monday - Thursday).
Who You Are
You've built an events program rather than inherited one, owning the strategy, the budget, the vendor bench, and the measurement
You know the federal conference landscape, or you'll learn it quickly, and you can tell a show that draws program offices and CIOs from one that only draws vendors
You have strong taste and can defend it. You've walked a venue and known it was wrong, and you've ended a sponsorship everyone assumed would renew
You think in pipeline rather than attendance, and you've defended an events budget with something more rigorous than photos and a headcount
You're comfortable in the operational detail: shipping, badge scans, AV failures, staffing, and the seating chart that determines whether a dinner works
You're credible with senior government audiences, from a two-star Army general to an agency CIO to a contracting officer
You manage vendors, agencies, and production partners by directing their output rather than depending on it
You thrive with high autonomy in ambiguous, fast-moving environments, and you self-generate the agenda rather than waiting for one
You're AI-pilled and default to these tools in your daily workflows
You're emotionally intelligent, thoughtful, and empathetic toward public sector missions
What You'll Do
Own Kaizen's events strategy end-to-end. Build and run the annual calendar, anchored to the federal buying year: fiscal year-end, agency budget windows, and the conferences where our buyers actually show up
Decide where Kaizen shows up and where it doesn't. Evaluate conferences and sponsorships, negotiate levels and booth placement with organizers, and be willing to walk away. A defensible no matters as much as a good yes
Own our physical presence. Booth design, demo staging, collateral, and swag that match the caliber of the product, along with the vendors and production partners who build them
Run the field motion alongside sales. Account targeting, pre-event outreach, on-site meeting scheduling, team travel and staffing, and the follow-up that determines whether the show produced anything
Own the satellite program around major shows. Executive dinners, agency roundtables, and closed-door briefings, most of them in Washington, where the highest-value conversations often happen off the show floor
Land Kaizen leadership on stage and in the content. Speaker placement, panel submissions, and awards in partnership with Brand & Storytelling and Government Affairs, with photo, video, and customer story capture planned into the run-of-show
Scope and build Kaizen-hosted events. Define what we should own, whether a summit, a dinner series, or a recurring briefing, and determine whether we host it outright or co-host with a govtech company, consulting firm, or systems integrator
Own the budget and the reporting. Manage spend and tradeoffs across the program, and build reporting with BizOps that ties events to pipeline, qualified meetings, and cost per meeting
Navigate federal ethics rules. Gift and hospitality limits vary by agency and shift again at the state and local level. Work with Legal to design programs that are both generous and compliant
What You'll Bring
4-10 years in events, experiential marketing, or field marketing, with direct ownership of strategy and budget rather than execution alone
Demonstrated experience owning a conference circuit: which shows to commit to, what a sponsorship is worth, how a booth gets built, and how the week runs
Experience running events for federal or public sector buyers is a significant advantage, as are relationships with the Washington venues, producers, and association organizers who make things happen
Experience partnering with sales on targeting and follow-up, and comfort being measured against pipeline
Experience producing owned events such as dinners, roundtables, and summits alongside conference work
Excellent written and verbal communication; comfortable drafting invitations, event briefs, run-of-show documents, and executive prep for senior audiences
Sound judgment under time pressure and public visibility
What Kaizen Offers
Health & Insurance
100% coverage across the board: medical through Oxford/United (Gold and Platinum PPO plans), dental through Guardian PPO, and vision through Beam — all fully covered for employees, with 100% coverage for dependents.
$100,000 in fully paid life insurance. FSA and Dependent Care FSA.
One Medical membership, on us — same-day primary care, 24/7 virtual visits, and offices all over the city.
Fertility and family-building support through Carrot.
401(k) through Guideline, with a 2% company match.
Family & Time Off
16 weeks of fully paid parental leave for birthing parents. 10 weeks fully paid for non-birthing parents.
Unlimited PTO, with a two-week minimum (we mean it when we say take time off!)
Closed for all federal holidays.
Company-wide winter break the week of Christmas.
Company offsites throughout the year.
Office & Remote Setup
Up to $750 one-time home office or desk setup stipend for NYC-based employees. $500 for remote employees.
$50/month commuter benefit (company contribution).
Expensed lunch while in the office.
Dinner and Uber rides home will be expensed if you choose to work in the office past 7pm.
Company-provided laptop of your choice.
Wellness
NYC employees: Fully covered gym membership at Grindhouse — right across the street from our office at 47 W 17th St (and in Williamsburg). A $225/month value, on us.
Non-NYC employees: $100 per month, dedicated to gym / physical fitness reimbursement.
Stipends
$100/month utility stipend.
$250/quarter home cleaning stipend
$500/year professional development.
$250/year recreation.
$300/quarter pet care stipend.