About Me
My name is Omar, and I am a hands-on technology leader with over 20 years of experience delivering cloud-based software solutions. My career spans roles as both a leader and individual contributor, working on projects ranging from startups to multinational corporations. I bring expertise in both the technical and business aspects of product development, along with extensive experience managing distributed teams across different countries, raising venture capital, and engaging with board-level stakeholders.

I have a diverse background in developing desktop and web-based applications across industries such as Financial Services, Online Video, Artificial Intelligence, and Tourism. My work has included both customer-facing and internal applications, with a strong focus on software engineering best practices and code quality.

Education
I hold an honors degree in Computational Systems Engineering from Universidad Autónoma de BCS in Mexico, where I specialized in advanced software development. I earned my Ph.D. from the University of Liverpool in the UK, where my research focused on multi-agent option-trading mechanisms for market-based control of distributed computational systems (thesis).

During my seven years in academia, I worked as a Research Associate on the PRIMA project, where I coordinated the development of agent-based modeling and simulation systems.

Expertise and Passion
My primary expertise lies in designing complex, scalable systems in the finance sector, but I am drawn to solving all types of Computer Science and Software Engineering challenges. I enjoy leveraging cutting-edge technologies and algorithms, such as Machine Learning and real-time communication systems, to solve complex problems.

One of my greatest passions is advocating for proper software engineering practices, including unit testing, continuous integration, thoughtful use of design patterns, and code reviews.

Recent Professional Experience

** Mexican Startup | B2B SaaS and Crypto Infrastructure Provider – Fintech**

Remote, Mexico (August 2023 – Present)

CTO (August 2023 - Present)

  • Implemented from the ground up API services, mobile applications, SDKs and the underlying high scalability/availability infrastructure for a Crypto SaaS operation.

US Startup | B2B SaaS Trust and Crypto Infrastructure Provider – Fintech

Remote, Mexico (April 2021 – August 2023)

VP of AI & Machine Learning (May 2022 – Present)

  • Reporting to the Chief Data Officer (CDO), built and led a Machine Learning and AI team to develop solutions for risk and fraud detection, as well as user behavior classification.
  • Designed and implemented advanced AI and Machine Learning solutions for financial applications.

Technologies: Python, TypeScript, Gremlin, AWS-Neptune, Spark

Lead Technical Architect (April 2021 – May 2022)

  • Reported to the CTO and led the design of a high-performance ledger system, scaling transaction processing from hundreds to tens of thousands per second.
  • Transitioned a monolithic application into a scalable microservices architecture using asynchronous communication.
  • Developed Solidity Smart Contracts for securing transaction history as part of a Blockchain infrastructure.

Technologies: TypeScript, Ruby, Angular, AWS, Node.js, Solidity, Cassandra, PostgreSQL, Ethereum

US Startup | B2B SaaS Payment Network Provider – Fintech

Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico (March 2018 – April 2021)

VP of Engineering (February 2020 – April 2021)

  • Reported to the CEO, built the technical team, and managed software development and production infrastructure.
  • Directed SOC2 and PCI-DSS Level 1 compliance processes, achieving certification.
  • Optimized AWS infrastructure, reducing costs by 30%.

Technologies: Node.js, Angular, AWS, MySQL, TypeScript, Ionic, RabbitMQ, Solidity, ElasticSearch

Head of Product (October 2018 – January 2020)

  • Executed the CEO’s product vision, ensuring effective communication across stakeholders.
  • Built the Product Team and designed the second company product (Expense Management via Virtual Cards).

Technologies: JIRA, HubSpot, Google Analytics, Ruby

Director of Engineering (March 2018 – January 2020)

  • Opened and managed the Guadalajara office, scaling the team from 1 to 15 employees.
  • Improved production system efficiency and response times through technology adoption.

Technologies: Node.js, Angular, AWS, MySQL, TypeScript, PHP, RabbitMQ, Nginx

Mexican Startup | Consumer Online Lending – Fintech

Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico (January 2014 – February 2018)

Sr. Director of Engineering (May 2016 – February 2018)

  • Scaled the technology team from 5 to 20, transitioning from ad hoc processes to structured workflows.
  • Spearheaded the migration to a microservices-based infrastructure, supporting 10x traffic growth.

Technologies: Ruby, C++, MySQL, JavaScript, AWS

Director of Analytics (September 2015 – April 2016)

  • Built a Data Science team to develop risk assessment models, improving credit default rates.

Technologies: R, Python, Hadoop, CERN-Root, Ruby

Technology Specialist/First Engineer (January 2015 – August 2015)

  • Developed core systems, including frontend, backend, and infrastructure, for the startup’s launch.

Technologies: Ruby, C++, JavaScript, AWS, MongoDB

US Startup | B2B Online Video Platform – Streaming

Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico (April 2012 – December 2013)

Sr. Software Engineer

  • Created custom video solutions and on-demand platforms for major media clients.

Technologies: Python, Ruby, PHP, ActionScript3, JavaScript, ElasticSearch

Skills and Technologies

Programming Languages:

  • Fluent: TypeScript, Ruby, JavaScript, Python, Linux Bash scripting.
  • Experienced: C, C++, PHP, ActionScript, C#, SQL (PostgreSQL, MySQL, MSSQL), Assembler (80x86).

Technologies:
Docker, Vagrant, Ionic, Angular, React, AWS stack, Serverless, Airflow, and more.