Breakthrough
Vice President, Engineering (Breakthrough)
Breakthrough, Green Bay, Wisconsin, United States, 54311
Vice President, Engineering (Breakthrough)
Position Summary
About the Role:
Breakthrough is looking for a VP of Engineering who loves building world-class engineering organizations. Someone who gets energized by making teams ship consistently, developing people into leaders, and building teams that own their outcomes. We're a 170-person freight tech company at an inflection point. You'll own delivery execution, people development, and engineering excellence partnering closely with our Chief Technologist. This role requires someone who drives results by developing capability in teams and leaders.
About Breakthrough Breakthrough is a strategic transportation partner empowering shippers with data, technology, and market knowledge to reduce cost, improve efficiency, and decarbonize transportation. Our flagship product, Fuel Recovery, is the industry's only market-based fuel reimbursement solution, replacing outdated national average fuel surcharges with precise, lane-level calculations based on real-time wholesale fuel prices. Backed by $32B+ in annual freight spend data and recognized on FreightWaves' FreightTech 25 list of leading freight technology companies, we're transforming how Fortune 500 shippers manage their transportation networks. As a profitable, growing company, we invest heavily in technology as a core part of our strategy.
Location Green Bay, WI (preferred) or Remote within the US - Midwest preferred. Our team is concentrated in Northeast Wisconsin with significant presence across greater Wisconsin and Chicagoland. For remote candidates, expect monthly visits to Green Bay plus additional trips as needed. Relocation assistance available for the right candidate.
Job Responsibilities What You'll Own Team Enablement & Delivery
Build autonomous teams that own their delivery outcomes. You're accountable for creating the systems and capability that make this possible
Create clarity around decision rights, accountability, and escalation paths
Enable teams through coaching, unblocking, and removing organizational friction
Establish when to engage directly vs. when teams have what they need
Engineering Excellence & Effectiveness
Establish SLAs, metrics, and engineering standards
Improve engineering effectiveness: deployment frequency, lead time, quality, velocity
Create structure that scales from 40 to 60+ engineers while maintaining high performance
Build systematic practices that enable scale without slowing teams down
People & Leadership Development
Develop engineers, engineering managers and directors into confident, capable leaders
Coach managers to make strong decisions independently
Drive performance reviews, promotions, and career development
Expand capacity for technical mentorship and creative problem-solving development
Foster a culture of experimentation where teams take calculated risks aligned with product strategy
Help shape the culture and define what high-performing engineering teams look like here
Delivery & Growth
Accountable that engineering ships predictably and meets roadmap commitments
Build recruiting infrastructure that attracts self-directed, senior talent
Design org structure that supports autonomous teams with clear boundaries and minimal dependencies
Implement onboarding that builds capability quickly
Grow the engineering team while maintaining team quality and culture
Qualifications Experience
10+ years in engineering leadership roles
5+ years leading engineering teams of 30+ engineers
Proven track record scaling engineering organizations
Experience developing engineering managers and leaders
Demonstrated success implementing engineering metrics, SLAs, and operational excellence practices
Leadership
Track record of hiring and building high-performing teams
Experience coaching managers to operate autonomously
History of creating systems and processes that enable team independence
Comfortable operating in ambiguous, fast-growing environments
Technical
Strong technical background with hands‑on engineering experience (not required to code daily, but must understand technical trade‑offs)
Experience with modern software development practices (CI/CD, DevOps, Agile)
Understanding of SaaS architecture and scalability challenges
Nice to Have
Experience in B2B SaaS or logistics/supply chain technology
Background scaling remote or distributed engineering teams
Previous experience at companies going through similar growth stages (50‑200 people)
Education
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field (or equivalent practical experience)
You're a Great Fit If
You've scaled an engineering org by building strong, autonomous teams
You take full ownership. Delivery, hiring, team health are YOUR outcomes
You proactively identify and solve systemic problems
You measure success by team outcomes, not your direct involvement
You love operational excellence. Metrics, SLAs, effectiveness improvements energize you
Learn more about Breakthrough's tech team and our culture here.
You're NOT a Fit If
You need to be involved in most decisions to feel effective
You prefer directing work rather than developing capability
Metrics and operational excellence feel like secondary concerns
Team structure
5 product teams with strong execution autonomy
Engineering managers/directors paired with staff/tech leads
Tech stack TypeScript, Node.js, Python, React, PostgreSQL, Firestore, BigQuery, Redis, GCP, Docker, Elastic search
DIVISION Breakthrough
Legal & Recruitment U.S. Venture requires that a team member have and maintain authorization to work in the country in which the role is based. In general, U.S. Venture does not sponsor candidates for nonimmigrant visas or permanent residency unless based on business need.
U.S. Venture will not accept unsolicited resumes from recruiters or employment agencies. In the absence of an executed recruitment Master Service Agreement, there will be no obligation to any referral compensation or recruiter fee. In the event a recruiter or agency submits a resume or candidate without an agreement, U.S. Venture shall reserve the right to pursue and hire those candidate(s) without any financial obligation to the recruiter or agency. Any unsolicited resumes, including those submitted to hiring managers, shall be deemed the property of U.S. Venture.
U.S. Venture, Inc. is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to inclusion and diversity. We ensure equal opportunity for all applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression, marital status, age, national origin, disability, veteran status, genetic information, or other protected characteristic.
If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, you may call Human Resources at (920) 739-6101.
Seniority level
Executive
Employment type
Full‑time
Job function
Engineering and Information Technology
Industries
Manufacturing
Referrals increase your chances of interviewing at Breakthrough by 2x
Get notified about new Vice President of Engineering jobs in
Green Bay, WI .
#J-18808-Ljbffr
About Breakthrough Breakthrough is a strategic transportation partner empowering shippers with data, technology, and market knowledge to reduce cost, improve efficiency, and decarbonize transportation. Our flagship product, Fuel Recovery, is the industry's only market-based fuel reimbursement solution, replacing outdated national average fuel surcharges with precise, lane-level calculations based on real-time wholesale fuel prices. Backed by $32B+ in annual freight spend data and recognized on FreightWaves' FreightTech 25 list of leading freight technology companies, we're transforming how Fortune 500 shippers manage their transportation networks. As a profitable, growing company, we invest heavily in technology as a core part of our strategy.
Location Green Bay, WI (preferred) or Remote within the US - Midwest preferred. Our team is concentrated in Northeast Wisconsin with significant presence across greater Wisconsin and Chicagoland. For remote candidates, expect monthly visits to Green Bay plus additional trips as needed. Relocation assistance available for the right candidate.
Job Responsibilities What You'll Own Team Enablement & Delivery
Build autonomous teams that own their delivery outcomes. You're accountable for creating the systems and capability that make this possible
Create clarity around decision rights, accountability, and escalation paths
Enable teams through coaching, unblocking, and removing organizational friction
Establish when to engage directly vs. when teams have what they need
Engineering Excellence & Effectiveness
Establish SLAs, metrics, and engineering standards
Improve engineering effectiveness: deployment frequency, lead time, quality, velocity
Create structure that scales from 40 to 60+ engineers while maintaining high performance
Build systematic practices that enable scale without slowing teams down
People & Leadership Development
Develop engineers, engineering managers and directors into confident, capable leaders
Coach managers to make strong decisions independently
Drive performance reviews, promotions, and career development
Expand capacity for technical mentorship and creative problem-solving development
Foster a culture of experimentation where teams take calculated risks aligned with product strategy
Help shape the culture and define what high-performing engineering teams look like here
Delivery & Growth
Accountable that engineering ships predictably and meets roadmap commitments
Build recruiting infrastructure that attracts self-directed, senior talent
Design org structure that supports autonomous teams with clear boundaries and minimal dependencies
Implement onboarding that builds capability quickly
Grow the engineering team while maintaining team quality and culture
Qualifications Experience
10+ years in engineering leadership roles
5+ years leading engineering teams of 30+ engineers
Proven track record scaling engineering organizations
Experience developing engineering managers and leaders
Demonstrated success implementing engineering metrics, SLAs, and operational excellence practices
Leadership
Track record of hiring and building high-performing teams
Experience coaching managers to operate autonomously
History of creating systems and processes that enable team independence
Comfortable operating in ambiguous, fast-growing environments
Technical
Strong technical background with hands‑on engineering experience (not required to code daily, but must understand technical trade‑offs)
Experience with modern software development practices (CI/CD, DevOps, Agile)
Understanding of SaaS architecture and scalability challenges
Nice to Have
Experience in B2B SaaS or logistics/supply chain technology
Background scaling remote or distributed engineering teams
Previous experience at companies going through similar growth stages (50‑200 people)
Education
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field (or equivalent practical experience)
You're a Great Fit If
You've scaled an engineering org by building strong, autonomous teams
You take full ownership. Delivery, hiring, team health are YOUR outcomes
You proactively identify and solve systemic problems
You measure success by team outcomes, not your direct involvement
You love operational excellence. Metrics, SLAs, effectiveness improvements energize you
Learn more about Breakthrough's tech team and our culture here.
You're NOT a Fit If
You need to be involved in most decisions to feel effective
You prefer directing work rather than developing capability
Metrics and operational excellence feel like secondary concerns
Team structure
5 product teams with strong execution autonomy
Engineering managers/directors paired with staff/tech leads
Tech stack TypeScript, Node.js, Python, React, PostgreSQL, Firestore, BigQuery, Redis, GCP, Docker, Elastic search
DIVISION Breakthrough
Legal & Recruitment U.S. Venture requires that a team member have and maintain authorization to work in the country in which the role is based. In general, U.S. Venture does not sponsor candidates for nonimmigrant visas or permanent residency unless based on business need.
U.S. Venture will not accept unsolicited resumes from recruiters or employment agencies. In the absence of an executed recruitment Master Service Agreement, there will be no obligation to any referral compensation or recruiter fee. In the event a recruiter or agency submits a resume or candidate without an agreement, U.S. Venture shall reserve the right to pursue and hire those candidate(s) without any financial obligation to the recruiter or agency. Any unsolicited resumes, including those submitted to hiring managers, shall be deemed the property of U.S. Venture.
U.S. Venture, Inc. is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to inclusion and diversity. We ensure equal opportunity for all applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression, marital status, age, national origin, disability, veteran status, genetic information, or other protected characteristic.
If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, you may call Human Resources at (920) 739-6101.
Seniority level
Executive
Employment type
Full‑time
Job function
Engineering and Information Technology
Industries
Manufacturing
Referrals increase your chances of interviewing at Breakthrough by 2x
Get notified about new Vice President of Engineering jobs in
Green Bay, WI .
#J-18808-Ljbffr