DOT Engineering Chief - Career Executive

Apply your leadership skills and professional engineering experience as a DOT Engineering Chief with the Department of Transportation, Division of Transportation System Development, SouthWest Region (SWR)! SWR is currently recruiting to fill a DOT Engineering Chief that serves as our Planning Section Chief in the region. This position can be headquartered our Madison, WI or LaCrosse, WI offices.

WisDOT is a great place to work! In addition to meaningful and rewarding work, we offer a competitive benefits package featuring:

• Substantial leave time including at least 3.5 weeks of paid leave time to start, 9 paid holidays, and 130 hours of sick time that roll over each year.
• Excellent and affordable health, vision, and dental benefits (health plan options start at just $49/month for single plans and $122/month for family plans after two months of employment)
• A casual office atmosphere, flexible work schedules, and telework options depending on the position’s requirements
• An exceptional pension plan with employer match and lifetime retirement payment, plus an optional tax advantaged 457 retirement savings plan
• Well Wisconsin Wellness Program
• A free and confidential employee assistance program that offers employees and their immediate family dependents a variety of tools, resources, and professional consultation services to support their health, goals, and overall well-being
• Use this Total Rewards Calculator to see the total value of our competitive benefits package!

In addition to our generous employee benefits, we strive for inclusivity and celebrate different religious holidays and cultural observances and provide flexibility for utilizing paid time off for such celebrations. For more information on WisDOT you can visit our website by clicking here.

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation is an organization dedicated to creating transportation solutions through innovation and exceptional service. We are committed to fostering an environment rooted in Integrity, Diversity, Excellence, and Accountability. Click here to learn more about how we apply these values in our work.

Every day, WisDOT’s Division of Transportation System Development plays the leading role in the upkeep and improvement of nearly 12,000 miles of state highways and bridges used by millions of people. You’ll find that behind every barrel is a dedicated team from a wide array of backgrounds including engineering, planning, environmental services, public outreach, real estate, finance and many more. It can be a challenging job, but we think you’ll find it’s an awfully rewarding one, too.

We’re looking for detail-oriented critical thinkers to help deliver a quality program to build, improve and maintain transportation infrastructure throughout the state. We encourage anyone at any point in any career to take a look at WisDOT opportunities and give some thought to how your skills and resume line up. Having a good attitude, a willingness to learn and a passion for creating lasting, impactful work will go a long way here. It’s a big system with lots of opportunity and responsibilities.

Are you up for it? At WisDOT, you can Build the Future – NOW.

As a member of Region Management, you will perform highly responsible administrative and managerial functions in the development, implementation and evaluation of important and complex policy, budgetary and organization components of the department's transportation engineering programs. Activities require extensive communication wirhin and outside the Department.

This position has the authority to independently commit department resources to achieve established goals and objectives. It has managerial responsibility for program management planning, policy development and implementation, and exercises line responsibility for program management, as well as employee supervision. The responsibilities of the position require a high level of managerial, professional and technical judgement, which carry significant consequence of error.

This position is in schedule-range (81-02) with an annual salary of $118,872-$122,221, plus excellent benefits. Plus an additional $2,080 per year for a Professional Engineer License. A 2 year career executive trial period is required. Pay for current state employees will be set in accordance with the Wisconsin State Compensation Plan.

WisDOT does not sponsor work visas. Any appointment made will be contingent on the applicant being able to prove valid status to work in the United States. WisDOT is not an E-verify employer.

Prior to any appointments for position(s) filled from this announcement, candidates may be subject to a comprehensive criminal background check which may include FBI fingerprinting.

This position offers a hybridized work schedule. The position will be headquartered at and required to work from one of the DTSD state office buildings at least 3 days per week. All employees working a hybrid work schedule are still expected to telework from within the State of Wisconsin. This topic will be discussed more at the time of the interview.

Minimum requirement is possession of a valid Professional Engineering registration and be able to obtain a Wisconsin PE registration within 3 months if PE registration is from another state.

Qualified applicants will also have experience with all the following:

• Experience working with transportation engineering principles, practices, programs, budgets, and/or project management. (Duties may include: design, construction, planning development, operation, and/or maintenance of transportation or similar systems)
• Experience collaborating with a diverse group of stakeholders including external and internal parties (stakeholders may include a division, bureau, partner agency, the public, media, etc.)
• Experience leading a team of professional staff in formal or informal capacity. Experience may include formal supervisor role or lead a project team on a large scale. Activities may include coaching, mentoring, reviewing/analyzing work, assigning workloads, directing work, assessing employee performance, motivating staff/team.

In addition to having all the above, well qualified applicants will have experience with one or more of the following:

• Experience managing/supervising employees.
• Experience managing multiple complex transporation programs concurrently.
• Experience with data-driven decision making, process improvement, and/or risk analysis.

Apply online! To apply, click “Apply for Job” to start the application process. Then, you will access your existing account or to create a new account if you don’t have an account. Once you are logged in, click “Apply for Job.” Follow the steps outlined in the application process and submit your application.

Your application materials are very important parts of your application and are used during our evaluation process to determine your qualifications as they relate to the job. For instructions on how to develop and what should be included in these materials, click here. For more information on the basics of the selection process and how the State of WI ensures fair and equitable treatment of all applicants, click here. The vast majority of applicants are able to outline their background and experience in their resume in 1-3 pages. Any resumes submitted with more than 3 pages will not be considered after page 3. If this job posting requires a letter of qualifications, the same limit applies.

Current Wisconsin state employees with Career Executive status need only apply with a resume and letter of qualifications submitted directly to Jay Taylor at Jay.taylor@dot.wi.gov

The State of Wisconsin offers a special program for qualified veterans with a 30% or greater service-connected disability. If you are a qualified veteran, please visit the Veterans Employment page for application instructions to be considered for the Veterans Non-Competitive Appointment program.

Submitted materials will be evaluated by a panel of job experts and the most qualified applicants will be invited to participate in the next step of the selection process. Questions related to the job and how to apply can be directed to Jay Taylor at Jay.taylor@dot.wi.gov or 608-266-7460. For general wisc.jobs user information and technical assistance, please see the wisc.jobs Frequently Asked Questions page.

Applications are due at 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, May 17th, 2026.