Remote leadership or senior technical role in payments/fintech. 18+ years in payment infrastructure: transaction switching (ISO 8583), HSM cryptography, PCI DSS, Mastercard/Visa certifications. I combine strategic ownership — architecture, roadmap, compliance — with hands-on depth when production is on the line. I value autonomy, reliability, and teams that take security seriously.
Open to opportunities
Federico Fuentes
@fgfuentes
CTO with 18+ years building payment infrastructure. ISO 8583 switching, HSM cryptography, PCI DSS L1, Mastercard/Visa certifications end-to-end.
VenezuelaWhat I'm looking for
Technology executive and payments infrastructure architect with 18+ years designing, deploying, and operating mission-critical transaction processing platforms.
As Co-Founder & CTO of a payment processor with direct Mastercard and Visa integrations, I've led the full lifecycle of payment ecosystems: ISO 8583/20022 transaction switching, acquiring and issuing platforms, card management systems, and EMV processing. I've personally driven Mastercard certification programs (MDFS, MAS, MTIP POS), a zero-downtime migration from a legacy AS400 switch to EFTLab EftHub, and FIME EMV terminal certifications.
Deep hands-on expertise in cryptographic infrastructure (Futurex/Thales HSM administration, key management, ARQC/ARPC validation), PCI DSS 4.0.1 compliance leadership, high-availability VMware environments, SAN storage, IBM MQ messaging, and SQL Server/PostgreSQL/MySQL at transactional scale.
I combine executive leadership — strategic planning, budgeting, vendor negotiation, board communication — with the ability to go all the way down the stack when it matters. Comfortable leading teams or debugging an ISO 8583 message at 2am.
Open to remote CTO, VP of Engineering, Head of Payments Infrastructure, or senior architect roles in fintech and payments.
Experience
Work history, roles, and key accomplishments
EO
Current
Co-Founder & CTO
Empresa de Tecnología Avanzada Orionis
Aug 2016 - Present (9 years 11 months)
Led the architecture, deployment, and operation of mission-critical payment processing infrastructure and related integrations. Drove PCI DSS and payment certification initiatives, including MasterCard acquiring/issuing certifications and a payment switch migration with no service interruption.
MasterCard integrationData Center InfrastructureVMware virtualizationHigh availability environmentsFuturex HSMCryptographic key managementPayment security operationsIBM MQTransaction switchesAuthorization platformsFibre Channel SAN storagePCI DSSQSA coordinationARQC ARPCISO 8583Network parameter configurationHSM integrationsEMV certificationEMV cryptographic key generationARQC ARPC cryptographic validationEFTLab EftHubVISA IntegrationPayment CertificationAS400 Migration
PS
Current
Co-Founder & Technology Director
PBX Tech Services
Aug 2011 - Present (14 years 11 months)
Designed and deployed enterprise VoIP platforms and led end-to-end technology projects from design through production deployment. Managed corporate network infrastructure including firewalls, switching, VLANs, and WAN connectivity.
RE
Current
Co-Founder & Technology Director
RS & Associates Enterprise
Jul 2010 - Present (16 years)
Delivered infrastructure and telecommunications consulting services to corporate customers in the United States. Managed network operations including incident response, service continuity, and infrastructure optimization.
RA
Technology Manager
Representaciones Addcel
Jan 2014 - Jan 2019 (5 years)
Led PCI-compliant platforms supporting mobile banking and e-commerce operations. Owned platform operations and compliance-oriented delivery over the 2014–2019 period.
PI
Technology Manager
Platamovil International
Jan 2010 - Jan 2012 (2 years)
Managed corporate datacenter operations and enterprise IT services, including infrastructure and networking. Oversaw infrastructure operations and service management from 2010 to 2012.
AL
Senior Operations & Maintenance Engineer
Alcatel-Lucent
Jan 2006 - Jan 2010 (4 years)
Supported and optimized CDMA 3G/EVDO networks for major telecommunications operators. Performed troubleshooting, performance analysis, and network audits.
Education
Degrees, certifications, and relevant coursework
Universidad Metropolitana
Electrical Engineering
2000 - 2005
Studied Electrical Engineering at Universidad Metropolitana in Caracas from 2000 to 2005.
Tech stack
Software and tools used professionally
Availability
Open to opportunities
Location
Venezuela
Colombia
United States
Canada
Mexico
Spain
AustraliaSalary expectations
80k-120k USD
Social media
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