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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 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 companies big and small, including places like Symantec, Expedia, The Home Depot, GoDaddy, and Lumen Technologies; usually doing something involving technical architecture, cloud engineering leadership, or bending ITSM platforms to my will.

I've written 7 books on software development, including all four editions of the Best-Selling ServiceNow Development Handbook, which some generous reviewers have called "the definitive guide for 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 organizations, I have a few side projects. My latest indulgence is STFUAI Podcasts: the world's first ad-skipping podcast app. I also built The Vibe Graveyard: a collection of real-world vibe-coding 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 technology is awesome, but humans are pretty cool too.

๐Ÿ“ Vancouver, Washington, USA ยท Remote Only

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Engineering Leader

Sr. Director of Cloud Engineering driving technical strategy, scaling organizations and technologies, and delivering at the executive level.

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Published Author

A popular dev blog, 7 books, and enough objectively correct opinions on software development to fill several more.

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Builder of Things

Side projects, startups, non-profits, an AI-powered podcast ad blocker, and a graveyard for vibe-coding failures.

Career

17+ years of building, breaking, fixing, and occasionally revolutionizing things.

Career Highlights

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Led and mentored teams of up to 100 engineers, building enterprise-scale tools and applications

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Oversaw and led large-scale engineering modernization & simplification initiatives, saving hundreds of millions of dollars annually

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Directed, architected, and led decommissioning of legacy enterprise systems including mainframes and home-grown applications, while building out modern platforms to replace them

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Architected and built new applications and integrations responsible for over $100M/yr in revenue

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Architected and developed many enterprise applications including Integration Core SDK, Live CI UI, JIT Discovery, and dozens more

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Inducted into the SN Information Security Hall of Fame, won multiple hackathons, presented with Symantec Innovator Award, received Top Talent recognition, and many more

Jul 2020 - Present

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
Aug 2019 - Jun 2020

MariaDB

Sr. Princ. ServiceNow Architect & Developer

Feb 2018 - Apr 2020

GoDaddy

Sr. Princ. ServiceNow ITSM Architect & Developer

Feb 2017 - Feb 2018

USPS

Sr. Princ. ServiceNow ITSM Architect & Developer

Dec 2016 - Apr 2017

KPMG

Sr. ServiceNow Architect & Developer

Jan 2016 - Present

SNG & SN Pro Tips

Owner & Founder, Lead Architect

  • Founded snprotips.com - one of the most popular ServiceNow dev blogs
Feb 2016 - Dec 2016

The Home Depot

Sr. ServiceNow Architect & Developer

Jul 2015 - Feb 2016

Expedia

Sr. ServiceNow Developer

Feb 2009 - Jul 2015

Symantec Corp

Sr. ServiceNow Developer

  • Won the Symantec Innovator Award
  • Recognized as Top Talent

Skills & Credentials

Languages

JavaScript (ES5/ES6+)TypeScriptJavaC#/.NETSQLHTML/CSSEnglish, I guess

Platforms & Frameworks

ServiceNowSalesforce / ITSCReact Native/ExpoElectronNode.jsDeno

Domains

ITSM/ITILEnterprise ArchitectureREST API IntegrationApplied AI & Machine LearningCloud Engineering

Tools & Integrations

JIRAStripeChargifyMarketoSSO/OIDC

Security & Networking

TCP/IPWhite-Hat Hacking & Penetration TestingMicrosoft Excel (Advanced)

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

Books

7 books across 3 series, including multiple Best-Sellers.

ServiceNow Development Handbook cover
ServiceNow Development Handbook cover

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.

Editions4 editions
Amazonโญ Best-Seller, 5.0-star rating
Learning ServiceNow cover
Learning ServiceNow cover

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.

Editions2 editions
PublisherPackt Publishing
Amazonโญ Best-Seller, 4.8-stars w/hundreds of reviews
ServiceNow: Building Powerful Workflows cover
ServiceNow: Building Powerful Workflows cover

ServiceNow: Building Powerful Workflows

Automating IT Service Management. For IT professionals, admins, and developers designing automated workflows.

PublisherPackt Publishing
Co-AuthorsAshish Rudra Srivastava, Martin Wood

Writing

I write and maintain the ServiceNow Pro-Tips blog, where I share articles and publish loads of free tools and resources for the ServiceNow developer community.

References and Testimonials

A few words from people Tim has worked with over the years.

I had the pleasure of managing Tim for 3 years. Tim is the ultimate all-round improvement superstar. I have never met an individual such as Tim who is able to develop creative solutions to company wide problems in seconds. Tim always goes far above and beyond to ensure he is an absolute subject matter expert in anything related to his role. Tim is a rare breed being highly technical but also very creative. During his time, Tim wrote tools that saved the company millions of dollars as well as enhanced the customer experience.

Brian Watson

Manager, Engineering & Support

I started working with Tim after he was promoted into his QA Role at Symantec, and it was immediately clear that he was highly technical and knowledgeable about all things technical. Tim has been a valuable source of information, and his ideas and creativity has significantly helped us develop and grow our in-house teams. He is already missed as the go-to person for technical issues. I recommend Tim in any role where he can help train, up-skill or grow employee technical knowledge, as well as any role where he is building technical solutions.

Rob Bunt

Director of Operations

I had the fortunate opportunity to work with Tim at Symantec. He is truly an expert in what he does. After working with him closely on couple of projects, I can assure you that his technical expertise known to folks around him is just a tip of the iceberg. He is simply a genius who strives for solving people's problems technically with great inventions. I would love to work with him again and learn from him.

Arun Chenchugopal

Sr. Software Engineer

Tim is an outstanding, innovative, mission minded member of the team who looks to contribute far beyond the call of duty for the customer and the team. He has on many instances recognized a customer need and on his own time and expense developed tools & process flows to meet this need. I would highly recommend Tim.

Ming Chai

Sr. Manager, Engineering

Tim is an excellent technician with a great ability to learn what he does not know. Tim has created tools that made escalations much easier to assist customers with. Tim would be a valued asset to any position he is in.

Levi Smith

Sr. Manager, Operations

I only had a chance to work with Tim for a short time, but in that time I found him to be a wealth of technical knowledge. He is very collaborative, really enjoys sharing what he has learned and open to feedback from other parts of the organization. Tim is also very well respected as a trainer. I would be happy to serve as a reference for Tim in any of his future endeavors.

Elaine Powers

Sr. Lead Program Manager

Tim is a very detail oriented 'go-getter'. His knowledge and skills extend well beyond the roles he has had thus far. Tim would be an excellent addition to any highly technical team or any department looking for a no-nonsense kind of employee. I highly recommend Tim for any technical or advanced role.

Nate Robbins

Engineering Lead

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 2017

Founder

As 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 2018

Founder

Providing 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 2015

IT & 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.

Get in Touch

Got a question, opportunity, or just want to say hi? I'm always happy to hear from fellow builders.

Other Ways to Reach Me

LocationVancouver, Washington, USA
Work StyleRemote Only