Recommendations

I had the opportunity to work under Joel Lawler at IDEXX Laboratories, and I'm genuinely grateful for the experience.

As a manager, Joel consistently demonstrated clarity in technical direction, calm leadership during complex projects, and a deep understanding of cloud architecture and DevOps workflows.

What stood out most was his ability to foster trust and autonomy — allowing me to take ownership while being available for thoughtful guidance. His leadership helped shape a collaborative team environment where quality and accountability came naturally.

Whether it was leading discussions on infrastructure design, navigating cross-team alignment, or mentoring individuals, Joel led with both intelligence and integrity.

I'd confidently recommend him for any leadership role involving technology strategy, team development, or enterprise-level cloud transformation.

I've had the privilege of working closely with Joel, and I can confidently say he exemplifies what true collaboration and leadership look like. He consistently fosters teamwork by creating an environment of open dialogue and trust. Whether it's diving into Terraform Cloud or AWS tooling, Joel is always willing to jump on a call, ask thoughtful questions, and provide constructive feedback. His patience and engagement make every interaction productive and enjoyable.

What truly sets Joel apart is his unwavering customer focus. He goes above and beyond to ensure solutions are secure, reliable, and aligned with best practices—even when that means taking the harder path. This commitment not only protects sensitive data but also enhances the overall experience.

Joel is results-driven and passionate about his work. He tackles high-impact initiatives like security enhancements and cloud migrations with persistence and focus, inspiring confidence in everyone around him. His adaptability during major transitions is remarkable. He navigates change with grace and keeps teams moving forward without losing sight of the end goal.

Beyond technical expertise, Joel values diverse perspectives and creates an inclusive environment where every voice matters. His humility and openness strengthen collaboration and lead to better solutions. Coupled with his positive attitude and professionalism, working with Joel is always a rewarding experience.

If you're looking for someone who combines technical excellence with collaboration, adaptability, and a customer-first mindset, Joel is that person. I never pass up an opportunity to work with him, and I highly recommend him to any team or organization.

Not only is Joel a pleasure to work with, he is a great technologist. I've enjoyed getting to know Joel and like the fact that is a forward thinking professional.

I had the pleasure of working with Joel at FreightWise, LLC. Joel is an outstanding individual who consistently demonstrated a positive attitude and a highly professional approach. He is a dedicated and well-respected individual. If you have an open position, I strongly recommend reaching out to Joel; his presence is encouraging, and time spent with him is truly time well spent.

Joel is a compassionate team member who consistently goes above and beyond to support and uplift his team. He is always willing to listen, provide guidance, and offer a helping hand. He is particularly invested in helping teams grow through certifications, continuing education, and learning projects. Joel is not afraid to jump into the weeds and work alongside teammates to help them hit their goals. He genuinely cares about his team's well-being and is invested in their success.

Joel and I collaborated at Freightwise, where I reported directly to him. Joel is an exceptional manager with a keen understanding of team dynamics. He possesses a deep understanding of each team member's strengths and weaknesses. Joel is always open to and supportive of new ideas. He has hands-on technical skills, enhancing his effectiveness as a manager. Joel's managerial skills make him a valuable asset to any company.

Joel is an exceptional leader and mentor. During my time working under his management, I was consistently impressed by his kindness, supportiveness, and willingness to help team members in any capacity.

Joel's passion for data is contagious. He's always excited to share new insights or tools he's discovered, which really helped me grow in my role. He encouraged me to take on challenging projects and supported me every step of the way.

What sets Joel apart is his genuine commitment to the team's success. He is always available to offer guidance, share knowledge, or lend a helping hand, no matter how busy his schedule is. He has a knack for keeping the team motivated, even during stressful times, and he always gives credit where it's due.

I am grateful for the opportunity to have worked with such a supportive manager. If you're looking for a manager who truly invests in his team's success and creates a positive work environment, Joel is your person.

Partnering with Joel was a game changer for me. His leadership style is all about empowerment and genuine support. Joel has this rare ability to spot potential and bring it out, making you feel like you can tackle anything.

He's got a strategic mind and communicates in a way that makes even the toughest projects feel doable. What stands out most is how approachable he is—always open to feedback and making everyone on the team feel valued. Joel's leadership helped me feel seen and like a true member of the team.

If you need a leader who inspires, motivates, and gets results, Joel is the one. Highly recommend him and grateful for the time I spent partnering with him. I recommend without any reservation!

I had the pleasure of working with Joel Lawler during my time at Freightwise.

He was an empathetic leader that was easy to report to when difficult problems arose during the day to day development process. He would also encourage understanding the problem in depth as to not to jump into decisions that would cause more work further into development.

The one on ones he offered were very insightful and were helpful in deciding the path I would want to take in my career. It was also during these sessions he was very candid with the feedback of performance and company direction.

Would definitely recommend Joel.

I had the privilege of working closely with Joel during his tenure at Kroll. He is an exceptional leader with a remarkable ability to inspire and guide teams toward success. He has a visionary leadership skills and consistently demonstrated a forward-thinking approach. Joel has a knack for identifying opportunities and creating strategic plans that drive organizational growth. His clear communication style fosters alignment and motivates team members to perform at their best.

In summary, Joel is a true leader who inspires confidence, fosters growth, and creates a positive work culture. I wholeheartedly recommend Joel for any leadership role.

I would highly recommend Joel Lawler for a software leadership position.

In my past capacity as Director, Application Development at Kroll, I was directly involved in recruiting and hiring Joel in 2019 as a Software Engineer Manager (Vice President) and tasking him with growing and leading a large team of local and international engineers.

As well as lead the team, Joel was responsible for the technical architecture of several high-profile products and worked alongside product owners to develop and align the IT and product strategies. He did all this while also rolling up his sleeves and coding when needed. I promoted Joel after 2 years to be a Director of Software Engineering which came with more responsibilities and a larger team to manage. Joel succeeded with this new challenge, and I was sad to see him leave Kroll.

Joel is a strong leader, great mentor, and staff manager and would be a tremendous asset in any organization.

I had a great privilege in working alongside Joel. He's a well-respected leader and his teams always valued what he brought to the table. Any organization would be lucky to have him. His ideas has shaped much of the product/tech working relationship and process that still rings true to our organization today.

Joel is one of the kindest, most supportive managers I've ever worked with. He hired a great team and was always there to help out his team. He has an amazing heart and stepped up many times in hard situations. I wish the best for him in his future ventures!

Joel is a real problem solver. I saw him go above and beyond to support 3 teams of engineers, and have countless examples of times he came through for the team. Beyond being a cherished manager by his direct reports, he was a great partner to other teams. He partnered with the product team and other managers to make sure the systems we were using were up to our needs, and he personally spent extra time setting up our tools to support our work flow. He also steps up addressing issues directly and is really good at managing different personality types and developing people's unique skill sets. In addition to supporting process improvements and helping engineers manage their workloads, he is one of the greatest and kindest people to work with. He's a great addition to any team -- I can't recommend him highly enough.

Joel is a savvy leader, a thoughtful engineer, and a kind friend. He leads by serving - partnering with developers to help them grow, contribute, succeed and ultimately enjoy their work. He fosters the environment, empowering the developer and the organization to clearly see the path forward, to work efficiently, to achieve their goals. He engineers with care - systematically working through problems, identifying solutions, guiding others, and removing roadblocks. And on a personal note, he is an authentic person - every interaction is encouraging and heartfelt, and I am proud to know him. Joel will empower any team he works with.

I worked with Joel Lawler for many years at Kroll technology department. He is a very knowledgeable and versatile technology manager, with proven record of successful productivity and corporate leadership.

Joel always had deep understanding of project scopes, timelines, and successful deliveries metrics. He takes pride in mentoring and leading both new and experienced team members.

Any firm would be lucky to get him.

Joel is easily one of the best managers I have worked with. I am lucky to have worked with him and grateful for the opportunity I have had to learn from him. He has been very encouraging, commending every small achievement, and always making sure to challenge me and help me grow in the right direction. It is rare to find someone who is genuinely invested in your growth like he is.

Joel is someone who gauges developers' needs before them and I have witnessed him on numerous occasions going out of his way to support the team and team members. His easy-going personality, openness to ideas and challenges, and his genuine investment in helping developers to be at their personal best are a few of the many things that make him an amazing leader.

Any team would be lucky to have him as their manager and I would highly recommend him. If our paths were to cross in the future, I would be happy to work with him again.

I was fortunate to have Joel as a manager. He is a genuine and compassionate individual. He cares deeply about the well-being and professional growth of his team members, always taking the time to offer guidance and support. He fosters a positive work culture that encourages collaboration, creativity, and continuous learning.

One of Joel's greatest strengths lies in his ability to lead and inspire his team members. He creates an environment of collaboration and trust, where everyone feels valued and motivated to excel. Joel has a remarkable talent for recognizing the unique strengths of his team members and empowering them to reach their full potential. His exceptional communication skills and approachable demeanor make him an effective leader who can bridge the gap between technical and non-technical stakeholders.

His combination of technical expertise, leadership abilities, and personal qualities make him an outstanding colleague. Any organization would be lucky to have him as part of their team.

Joel is that rare leader with all the right skills.

He has the technical chops to directly mentor engineers, review code and specifications, make recommendations for tooling. But he's wise enough to know when to step aside and let other experts lead the way, and never inserts himself when he shouldn't.

He has an eye for process improvement, knowing that the right processes gain efficiencies. But he doesn't believe in process for process's sake, allowing for collaborative creativity on his teams.

He follows the data, knowing what metrics to follow and when to course correct. But he knows when data can mislead, and follows his keen instincts and will consult with others before reacting.

He has empathy and a love of people, valuing what everyone brings to the table and being their number one champion at all times. But he does not shy away from difficult conversations and mentoring to help bring out the best in others to grow their careers.

It was a joy to work alongside and learn from Joel. He'd be a stellar addition to any organization.

Joel is a phenomenal technical leader. He has a very good eye for the needs of the engineering team, and is a people-driven leader at his core. He has a distinct way of molding members of the team in a way that both challenges them to step up while providing them critical growth. I found myself particularly impressed with Joel's professionalism and leadership.

Before working with Joel on his team, he originally interviewed and hired me for my role in the organization. The way he conducted himself and handled my technical interview will stay with me for the remainder of my career. It was human-first, constructive, empathetic, and challenged my preconceived notion of technical interviews. He somehow the best out of me when I had lots of nerves, and draws the best out of those around him constantly. I believe this separates leaders from managers, and this hallmark quality made me want the position even more so that I could learn and develop with Joel. I cannot recommend him more strongly.

Joel is an excellent leader and supporter. He grows, mentors, and motivates software engineers. Beyond managing people and team, he also manages deliverables and business relationships. He led several strategic application development at Kroll and demonstrated his capabilities through solving difficult problems under pressure. It was a pleasure working with Joel.

Joel is an excellent leader and is always open to questions, which is a major bonus when working under someone in the tech industry. During his time at Kroll, Joel was the voice of the Software Engineering team. Joel is an excellent mentor and never failed to deliver career development opportunities and even opened up the software engineering lunch-and-learn meetings to members of the data and greater IT organization.

I would gladly work for Joel in a heartbeat!

Kroll has been fortunate to have found such an incredible leader in Joel during its initial years of digital transformation. He is a natural leader and a true enabler for talents in software engineering. Joel takes immense pride in his team and is an amazing marketeer for his engineers. He shields his team and absorbs all the heat coming from up, down and centre; letting "engineers be engineers". At the same time puts the team at the centre stage of appreciation at the smallest of wins.

I have been lucky to have such an amazing manager and mentor like Joel who has listened and guided me and countless others at every moment of their professional journey at Kroll. He is an upbeat personality and always reflects kindness and positivity even in the toughest situations. He has an amazingly calm head and finds creative solutions to any complex problem. Any organisation would be fortunate to have Joel on their side. I wish him the best for his professional and personal journey.

It was an inspirational and amazing experience to have been able to work with and on Joel Lawler's team. Joel is extremely talented and true servant leader. Joel has always promoted and encouraged creativity and the free exchange of ideas that have led to the growth of his team as well as the Kroll brand. Joels tireless efforts to create a collaborative culture allowing all his team to grow as professionals in a healthy work environment never went unnoticed. As a leader Joel has set an example of what dedication looks like. He never gave up and did whatever it took to deliver the best possible outcome for the firm and his staff. No matter if we were on or off the clock Joel was always working. He had effectively managed many of Kroll's dev teams and continued to build comradery and culture by holding events and conducting specific exercises to strengthen these teams. Nothing was more impressive than Joels devotion to technology. He always saw true talent in all his reports and worked to put people in the best roles to succeed. Joel was always exploring and investigating cutting edge technology allowing us to remain on the forefront of innovation. No matter what challenges we encountered Joel always remained partial and worked to find creative solutions to these complexed problems. He always took the burden and pursued a diplomatic approach to conflict resolution to help guide us to a solution that was best for the firm and all parties involved. He always was fair and treated every employee on his team equally and respectfully. Joel is a valuable asset, and any organization would benefit from his contributions.

Joel has been instrumental in turning Kroll into a technology powerhouse. Under his leadership, Kroll built a modern global application architecture and development group with capabilities to deliver world-class APIs, sleek UX/UI, and cloud-native applications.

He also implemented scrum practices across the development teams, coached businesses on how to become agile, mentored dozens of technologists (include myself), and streamlined project and team utilization. He did all of this while overseeing production applications worth $50m+.

Joel achieved all of this in under 3 years, all while being amazingly calm, focused, and exceptionally upbeat. He's a natural leader with all the right qualities of someone you're happy to work with. It's a pleasure to work with Joel, and I am very proud to recommend him.

I had the privilege and honour of working with Joel for 8 years at Waller.

His kindness, work ethic, and creativity are inspiring.

A colleague that has become a dear friend for life.

I had the opportunity to work with Joel for several years. He is a creative developer who understands business use cases and does a great job at building software that serves the use case. He's a great listener, which is key to hearing and learning a client's needs. Joel can piece together rough ideas provided by a client into a concise and well thought out software design. Joel is also very thoughtful and innovative in his development work. Definitely a rare find in the development world!

Joel came to Kroll during what I can readily call a volatile time and despite us basically throwing him in the deep end of engineering team management, saw him excel both as a senior developer and senior team lead. Joel was instrumental in helping us flesh out and abide by what were loosely-followed Agile principles, taking it upon himself to serve as the much needed Scrum Master for our particular scrum team.

Furthermore, Joel was always a considerate and kind team player, the kind of person who cared about the people he worked with and was always looking for ways to uplift his colleagues, be they direct reports or not, through self-care and professional development. He is also a stalwart believer in "letting engineers be engineers," encouraging his development team to come up with answers and solutions on their own, rather than being told what to do by those more senior to them. While I only got the chance to work with Joel for a few months before I left Kroll / Duff & Phelps, I hope to once again work with him in the future and would readily recommend him for any engineering management or pure software development role he may seek in the future.