Jeff Bowman

Senior Staff Software Engineer in San Jose, CA · he/him
 jbowman.com· jeff-bowman· jeffbowmancs· jeffbowmancs

Tech Lead of Google Maps Platform SDKs for Android, iOS, and Javascript. In my role I support and advocate for cross-organization solutions: Propose, design, measure, get buy-in, track, and deliver.

I love inheriting hacks old and new and engineering them into solid, clean solutions, particularly regarding internal and external APIs. I also enjoy honing my writing and presentation skills and helping fellow developers through my contributions on StackOverflow.

Recent work

Google
Senior Staff Software Engineer (2010 - present, 4 promotions)

  • Google Maps Platform (2020 - present)
    Area Tech Lead across all Maps Platform mobile SDKs and Javascript APIs, representing the work of 40+ engineers. I create and track cross-cutting proposals for improved performance, API surfaces, and reliability efforts including testing. I also support, advocate for, and measure team efforts to executives and to other TLs. In 2026 I launched an AI-centric commercial product as an Area Tech Lead accountable for strategy, metrics, and cross-company coordination.
  • Google Maps for Android (2013 - 2019)
    Contributing engineer and Platform Architecture TL for one of the most widely-used mobile applications in the world. Codebase-wide refactors and testing, including unit, integration, and screenshot tests. Tech Lead of a team of 5 engineers.
  • Internal CRM tool (2010 - 2013)
    Contributing engineer on a Java/JSP/GWT internal tool.

Volunteer/personal work

Anthropomorphic Arts and Education, LLC
Convention staff (2012 - present) and nonprofit Board of Directors (2017 - present)

Executive staff for a 6000+-attendee fan convention with a $600k+ annual budget held annually at the San Jose Convention Center. Roles include Convention Chair (2015, 2017), Vice Chair (2014, 2027), Programming Director, Marketing Director, and Executive Secretary. Elected to Board as a Director at Large in 2017. Responsibilities include scheduling and data tracking, business arrangements with partner hotel and business organizations, graphic design work, leadership of 250+ volunteer staff members, and public speaking on behalf of the organization.

StackOverflow
Personal contributions (2012 - 2024)

As of September 2026, I am in StackOverflow’s top 1500 contributors or top 0.2% (by reputation points). I am one of two gold badge contributors to dagger-2, and I am the sole gold badge contributor on the topics of guice and mockito. Based on pageviews to my highly-ranked answers, StackOverflow has estimated my total impact as reaching ~9.6 million people. See my Q&A highlights page.

Previous experience

  • Livescribe, Inc. (consumer tech startup): Oakland, CA, 2007 - 2010
    Web Developer / Web Services Intern: ActionScript 3, Javascript, HTML
  • The Daily Californian (student newspaper): Berkeley, CA, 2006 - 2008
    Web Developer / Online Manager: PHP/HTML, developed CMS, led team of 3
  • Democratic Education at Cal: Berkeley, CA, 2005 - 2008
    Webmaster / Program Co-Director: PHP/HTML, developed CMS (still in use as of 2021)
  • Xanga.com Inc. (blogging platform): Freelance Designer, 2004 - 2006
    Web and Interactive Ad Developer: Flash/ActionScript 2