Hi, I'm
Tim Woodruff
Engineering Leader, Principal Architect, Author, Builder, Standard Nerd.
Sr. Director of Cloud Engineering at Lumen Technologies.
Author of 7 books. Builder of things that skip podcast ads and things that catalog tech disasters.
About Me
I'm an engineering leader, published author, and chronic builder of things. I've spent 17+ years writing code, leading teams, and occasionally convincing executives that yes, we really do need to refactor that.
My career started the way most good ones do - by teaching myself to code and then stubbornly refusing to stop. From individual contributor to principal architect to Sr. Director of Cloud Engineering at Lumen Technologies, I've picked up a few things along the way. I've worked at places like Symantec, Expedia, The Home Depot, GoDaddy, and Lumen Technologies - usually doing something involving enterprise architecture, cloud platforms, or making ServiceNow do things it wasn't designed to do.
I've written 7 books - printed on actual paper and everything - including the Best-Selling ServiceNow Development Handbook, which some generous reviewers have called "the definitive guide for ServiceNow developers". I also run SN Pro Tips, one of the most popular ServiceNow platform developer blogs on the web.
When I'm not writing books or leading engineering teams, I build side projects. My latest indulgence is STFUAI Podcasts : the world's first ad-blocking podcast app. I also built The Vibe Graveyard: a collection of real-world tech disaster and AI failure stories in the news, which serve as a cautionary tale for anyone who thinks they don't need real developers, information security, or anyone who actually knows what they're doing.
I've also founded two non-profit charities focused on social good, because I guess I care about people or... something.
📍 Vancouver, Washington, USA · Remote Only
Engineering Leader
Sr. Director of Cloud Engineering driving technical strategy, scaling organizations and technologies, and delivering at the executive level.
Published Author
7 books, a popular dev blog, and enough opinions on software development to fill several more.
Builder of Things
Side projects, startups, non-profits, and the occasional AI-powered podcast ad blocker.
Career
17+ years of building, breaking, fixing, and occasionally revolutionizing things.
Career Highlights
Led and mentored teams of up to 100 engineers, building enterprise-scale tools and applications
Oversaw and led large-scale engineering modernization & simplification initiatives, saving hundreds of millions of dollars annually
Directed, architected, and led decommissioning of legacy enterprise systems including mainframes and home-grown applications, while building out modern platforms to replace them
Architected and built new applications and integrations responsible for over $100M/yr in revenue
Architected and developed many enterprise applications including Integration Core SDK, Live CI UI, JIT Discovery, and dozens more
Inducted into the SN Information Security Hall of Fame, won multiple hackathons, presented with Symantec Innovator Award, received Top Talent recognition, and many more
Lumen Technologies
Sr. Director of Cloud Engineering
- Responsible for $60-80M/year in revenue from applications built and promoted
- Built Tanium Integration Core SDK and Live CI Introspect applications
- Led and mentored teams of up to 100 developers
MariaDB
Sr. Princ. ServiceNow Architect & Developer
GoDaddy
Sr. Princ. ServiceNow ITSM Architect & Developer
USPS
Sr. Princ. ServiceNow ITSM Architect & Developer
KPMG
Sr. ServiceNow Architect & Developer
SNG & SN Pro Tips
Owner & Founder, Lead Architect
- Founded snprotips.com - one of the most popular ServiceNow dev blogs
The Home Depot
Sr. ServiceNow Architect & Developer
Expedia
Sr. ServiceNow Developer
Symantec Corp
Sr. ServiceNow Developer
- Won the Symantec Innovator Award
- Recognized as Top Talent
Books
7 books across 3 series, including multiple Best-Sellers.
ServiceNow Development Handbook - 4th Edition
A compendium of pro-tips, guidelines, gotchas, and best-practices that every ServiceNow developer will wish they knew on day one. Click here to see a list of excerpted sections of the Handbook.
Learning ServiceNow - 2nd Edition
Learn administration and development on the ServiceNow platform. Meant for those with less experience, who want to learn the platform from the ground up.
Projects
Things I build when nobody's paying me to. Sometimes they even work.
STFUAI Podcasts
The world's first ad-blocking podcast app
Uses AI-driven semantic diarization and transcription to detect and automatically skip ads, sponsor reads, self-promotional bits, closing credits, and other skippable content. Because life's too short for podcast ads.
Visit STFUAI Podcasts →Vibe Graveyard
Real tech failures and cautionary tales from the world of rushed shipping and bad decisions
A curated collection of real-world AI and tech failures, cautionary tales, and disasters. From hallucinated legal citations to chatbots gone rogue to critical security vulnerabilities.
Visit Vibe Graveyard →Writing
Featured articles from SN Pro Tips - one of the most popular ServiceNow developer blogs on the web.
Media & Appearances
Podcasts, interviews, and the occasional video where I try to explain what I do for a living.
Titans of ServiceNow: Tim Woodruff
Listen / Watch →Podcast - CJ & The DukePerspectives with Tim Woodruff
Listen / Watch →Podcast - Break PointA conversation with Tim Woodruff
Listen / Watch →Video Interview & DemoTanium/ServiceNow SDK & CI Introspect UI Demo
Listen / Watch →Video DemoCI Introspect UI Demo
Listen / Watch →Video DemoCI Introspect UI Demo 2
Listen / Watch →Giving Back
If I'm going to spend my career building technology, I want to try to do some good with it.
The Precipice Foundation
Founded Nov 2017As someone who grew up in poverty, I know firsthand the devastating impact that homelessness can have on individuals and families. That's why I founded Precipice Foundation. Preventing homelessness more efficiently - before it happens - for the 44% of Americans who live paycheck to paycheck.
Virtual Retirement Foundation
Founded Nov 2018Providing the 11,000,000 Americans who suffer from age-related macular degeneration with meaningful, engaging, social experiences. Macular degeneration symptoms are drastically diminished in VR, allowing users to experience the world in full fidelity.
Camelot Society
Founded Aug 2015IT & Network Security Lead
Supporting education through technology, with Camelot Society: a non-profit charity dedicated to providing opportunities for and empowering individuals with disabilities, and those who support them.
Skills & Credentials
Languages
Platforms
Domains
Tools & Integrations
Other
Certifications
- ServiceNow CSA
- ITIL
- Advanced White-Hat Hacking & Penetration Testing
- C# .NET Programming
- JavaScript Programming
- TCP-IP Programming
- Advanced Microsoft Excel
- Certified Trainer
Awards
- SN Information Security Hall of Fame
- Symantec Innovator
- Symantec Top Talent
- Tanium Top Talent
- CreatorCon Hackathon Winner
Get in Touch
Got a question, opportunity, or just want to say hi? I'm always happy to hear from fellow builders.