About Our Company

Built on over four decades of pioneering research at Princeton University, our platform represents the leading edge of innovation in freight and transportation planning. We help customers unlock double-digit revenue gains and drive smarter, data-driven operations at scale.

Today, Optimal Dynamics is a Series C company of ~70 employees, backed by top-tier investors including Bessemer Venture Partners, The Westly Group, Activate Capital, and Koch. We're on a mission to redefine the way logistics decisions are made—and we’re just getting started.

About Our Team

We are a team of bright, kind, and solution-oriented people focused on creating value for our customers. We can solve problems individually, but understand that the best solutions are found when the team brainstorms ideas together. We are excited about balancing the need to deploy new solutions quickly and designing solutions that are secured, reliable, maintainable, and scalable for the long run.

About the Role

Optimal Dynamics is searching for a VP of Engineering who is a builder at their core. As our senior engineering leader, the VP of Engineering reports directly to our COO, leads our engineering organization, oversees engineering team managers, and serves as Engineering’s voice to executive leadership.

You’ll set technical direction, turn business priorities into executable plans, and build strong, connected teams, all while staying hands-on in architecture and code. You’ll work closely and cross-functionally with Product, Design, AI, and Analytics leadership.

If you see yourself as both an architect and a connector who has successfully directed fast-moving, scaling technical teams, this could be the role for you.

What You’ll Do

Lead and Steward

Oversee and enable Engineering Managers, understand their priorities, and build a cohesive, connected engineering organization
Recruit, develop, and retain great engineers, building a team that can scale
Strengthen a low-ego, high-ownership engineering culture that delivers rapid and exceptional product

Set Technical Direction

Own engineering vision, architecture, and technology strategy with a focus on reliability, security, and scalability
Implement best CI/CD and QA practices–setting and defining policy on how we build, test, and deploy to production
Identify blockers and execute plans that create efficiency and excellence with a willingness to not only delegate, but step in on critical needs
Make pragmatic decisions that fit our stage, and know when to move fast and when to invest for the long term

Be the Glue

Partner with AI and Analytics leadership so our AI and optimization work turns into reliable, production-grade software
Foster agreement and collaboration - clear ownership where your teams’ work overlaps and intermingles
Work with Product leadership on vision, roadmap, prioritization, and tradeoffs
Represent engineering to the C-Suite: advocate for the team, provide progress reports, flag risks early, and set realistic timelines
Join and contribute to key customer, partner, and investor conversations, providing technical credibility

Enable the Organization

Implement lightweight processes, metrics, and operating rhythms that improve how fast and how predictably we deliver
Own engineering career pathing, headcount, vendors, and cloud spend
Ensure security, data privacy, and compliance standards meet enterprise customer expectations.

Who You Are

Experienced: Our ideal candidate has 10+ years of engineering experience and 3+ years of managing managers. Your work history showcases significant time designing and building production systems.
Leader: You’ve led a dynamic engineering organization in a scaling technical or startup environment. Ambiguity energizes you. (Bonus points if you’ve grown a technical organization in a research-born company).
Technical:
You’re a problem-solver and architect; you stay current with emerging tools and your experience showcases a history of technical decisions that have guided engineering organizations into the future.