Chris Wiegman
I am a technology professional with experience leading teams and projects to successful completion across a variety of industries. With a focus on putting people first, I have built tools, trained, mentored and lead engineering teams and given back to various communities with a goal of ensuring the entire community can do their best work.
Professional Experience
Engineering Manager
WP Engine - Dec 2021 - Present
- Lead the Faust.js team to build a robust framework to make headless development with WordPress easy and accessible.
- Drove Faust.js through a change in mission and technology to ensure it becomes the de-facto standard for headless WordPress development.
- Built and managed a team of 5 engineers who worked directly on Faust.js and related code.
- Sponsored the company's internship program for high school and college interns in engineering.
Senior Software Engineer
WP Engine - Sep 2018 - Nov 2021
- Helped launch the Atlas Content Modeler WordPress plugin to improve the content editing experience for headless developers
- Design an implement products and solutions to improve the performance and usability of eCommerce sites on the WP Engine platform.
- Build scalabable microservices, WordPress plugins and other projects with languages including PHP, GoLang, Pyhton, Ruby, JavaScript and more.
- Manage project build pipelines and workflow with technologies such as Docker, Kubernetes, Terraform, Helm, Jenkins, Google and Amazon cloud services and numerous others.
- Build WP Engine's DevKit local development environment throughout the lifespan of the product.
- Helped build WP Engine's relationship with the WordPress developer community through speaking, writing and related advocacy.
- Assisted in the hiring and training of new team members through code reviews, interviews and mentoring engineers throughout the organization.
- Served as the teams "agile advocate" to help facilitate and organize projects and other work through the use of Agile techniques and the Scrum framework.
- Served as a mentor for employees looking to level-up on various skills used in WP Engine's engineering organization.
Senior Web Developer
University of Florida - Sep 2016 - Sep 2018
- Maintained and improved the organization's many websites across both WordPress and Drupal platforms.
- Helped scale team workflow with tools such as CI and other automated tools to improve security and performance of all web properties.
- Built various tools in Laravel and various other technologies for use throughout the organization.
- Built and maintained a Vagrant configuration using puppet to replicate the specific nuances and configuration of our production servers.
Senior Web Engineer
10up - Feb 2015 - Sep 2016
- Contributed in the building of enterprise level WordPress solutions such as ElasticPress for internal and client use.
- Provided support and guidance for clients such as Brightcove and others.
- Developed project estimates and other documentation for use in planning, execution and further development of client projects.
- Promoted 10up and gave back to the WordPress community by speaking throughout the US on WordPress and related topics.
Developer
iThemes.com - Dec 2013 - Feb 2015
- Converted Better WP Security to iThemes Security and launched a companion pro version.
- Guided the development of iThemes Security support and related areas.
- Helped manage the growth of the project with the addition of team members providing services such as design and support.
Senior Developer
Springbox - Apr 2013 - Nov 2013
- Developed websites and solutions for national brands such as Nestle, The Air Force Academy and others.
- Furthered the use of WordPress internally with training and other education while utilizing the platform in numerous sites and projects.
- Developed internal infrastructure including development and production servers, deployment systems and supporting systems.
- Led the developer intern program helping college students gain valuable agency experience.
Adjunct Faculty - Computer Science
St. Edward's University - Aug 2012 - Dec 2013
- Taught an Introduction to Computer Science Course as well as an advanced course on computer security.
- As an adjunct I was awarded my own course in computer security during my first semester teaching.
Web Developer
St. Edward's University - Jan 2012 - Apr 2013
- Developed university websites in Drupal, PHP and other technologies.
- Worked with a close, professional team to present solutions to further university goals.
- Participated in projects ranging from marketing to identity management.
Developer, Blogger, Owner
Bit51 - May 2003 - Nov 2013
- Developed the Better WP Security plugin which, at the time of its sale, was one of the most popular plugins on WordPress.org.
- Created the Better Google Tasks Chrome Extension which received accolades from users including Matt Cutts.
- Developed other WordPress plugins and Chrome Extensions.
- Built sites for small clients in WordPress and Drupal.
- Helped give back to the community with blogging and speaking.
- Hired and managed a team of professionals to provide customer service to users of Better WP Security.
LAN Systems Specialist
Southern Illinois University - Aug 1998 - Jan 2012
- Took SIU Aviation from a mostly paper based organization to one utilizing over 400 computers and servers supporting faculty, staff and students.
- Developed the departmental web infrastructure in Drupal and WordPress which grew to contain over 10,000 pages.
- Hired, trained and supervised a team consisting of student workers and graduate assistants utilized in helping efforts in marketing and user support.
- Guided the department in all areas of technology as a member of the department's advisory panel.
- Gave back to the rest of the university community in time and expertise in matters related to website development and digital marketing.
Captain/Training Captain
Pacific Wings Airlines - Nov 2005 - Nov 2006
- Transported passengers and cargo throughout the Hawaiian islands as a captain in charge of my aircraft, crew and fare.
- Trained new captains and first officers on procedures relating to the Cessna 208 aircraft utilized by the company.
- Guided and mentored new pilots throughout their initial operating experience with the airline.
Pilot/Flight Instructor
Northern Illinois Flight Center - Aug 2004 - Oct 2005
- Transported owners and clients on Citation and Falcon business jets.
- Taught individuals how to fly in pursuit of their private and commercial pilot's licenses as well as toward instrument ratings.
- Helped new aircraft owners transition to their planes for the company's Cessna dealership.
Flight Instructor
Southern Illinois University - Sep 2001 - May 2003
- Taught students of the university's aviation program from private pilot to certified flight instructor.
- Managed lesson plans, coursework and FAA records for a variety of students each semester.
Certifications and Licenses
- Certified ScrumMaster® (CSM®) - Jan 2021
- A+ Certified - Jul 1997
- FAA Certified Flight Instructor, Instrument (CFI-I) - Jul 2020
- FAA Commercial Pilot - ASEL, AMEL - Jun 2001
Education
M.S. Computer Science
- Southern Illinois University - Dec 2011
B.S. Aviation Management
- Southern Illinois University - May 2002
Speaking Engagements
- WordFest Live, March 2022
- WP Engine Summit 2021
- WP Engine's DE{CODE} 2021
- WP Agency Summit 2020
- WordCamp Miami 2020
- WordCamp Seattle 2019 | full talk
- WordCamp US 2019 | full talk
- WordCamp Orlando 2019
- WordCamp Ottawa 2019
- WordCamp Atlanta 2019 | full talk
- WordCamp Miami 2019
- WordCamp Orlando 2018
- WordCamp Utrecht 2018 (Keynote speaker) | full talk
- WordCamp St Louis 2018 (Keynote speaker)
- SXSW Interactive 2018
- WordCamp Orlando 2017 | full talk
- HighEdWeb 2017
- WordCamp Miami 2017
- WordCamp London 2017 | full talk
- WordCamp Tampa 2016
- WPCampus
- WordCamp Chicago 2016
- WordCamp Miami 2016 | full talk
- WordCamp US 2015 | full talk
- WordCamp Orlando 2015 | full talk
- WordCamp Tampa 2015
- Web Conference at Penn State
- WordCamp Miami 2015 | full talk
- Loopconf
- WordCamp San Diego 2015
- WordCamp DFW 2014
- WordCamp Providence 2014 | full talk
- WordCamp Maine 2014 | full talk
- MyNAMS 12
- WordCamp Miami 2014 | full talk
- WordCamp Austin 2014
- SXSW Interactive
- WordCamp Austin 2013
- HighEdWeb 2012
- WordCamp Austin 2012 | full talk
- as well as numerous Meetups and other events
Other Activities
- Speaker Deputy for WordFest Live 2022
- Volunteer organizer for WordCamp US 2020
- Volunteer organizer for WordCamp US 2018
- Co-organizer of WordCamp Utrecht 2018
- Moderator of jobs.wordpress.net (2013-Present)
- Co-organizer of the Sarasota WordPress Meetup (2015-2016)
- Co-organizer of the Austin WordPress Meetup Group (2012-2015)
- Organizing committee member for WordCamp Austin (2012-2014)
- Admin of the Advanced WordPress (AWP) Facebook group (2015-2016)