Hello, I'm
Ricardo Fernandez.
Technical & Business Leader | Head of Engineering
I Solve Problems.
From business strategy to technology — I bridge both worlds to turn complex challenges into scalable solutions. Building data ecosystems, empowering teams, and driving innovation that delivers measurable impact.
About Me.
A little bit about who I am and what I do
I'm an experienced Data Leader based in Barcelona, specializing in transforming data into a strategic asset that fuels innovation, efficiency, and growth. With over five years of leadership in top-tier data departments, I design robust data architectures, optimize processes, and deliver impactful projects that drive measurable results.
I'm also passionate about teaching — as an Assistant Professor at UPC, I guided students through programming, algorithms, and software project development. I believe in people-centric leadership that combines technical expertise with a people-first mindset.
Technologies I work with
Experience.
Where I've worked and what I've built
Head of Engineering
DEBOS
Accountable for the system in which engineers operate, enabling teams to deliver high-quality outcomes in a predictable and sustainable way. Retaining ownership of the Data department's direction and long-term evolution.
- • Own people management for engineers: growth plans, performance evaluation, and career development
- • Primary alignment point between engineering, product, and operations
- • Developing future Tech Leads and Engineering Managers within the organization
Head of Data
DEBOS
Defined and led the execution of the company's data and technology strategy, aligning product, operations, and engineering around a coherent, scalable technical vision.
- • Designed the core data and analytics platform for product capabilities and operational monitoring
- • Established architectural and governance principles for regulated, multi-stakeholder environments
- • Built a durable data foundation supporting product growth, operational efficiency, and regulatory readiness
Assistant Professor
Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya
Guided students in programming techniques, algorithms, and data structures, enabling them to undertake medium-sized software projects.
- • Taught software project development from documentation to design principles and OOP
- • Led medium-sized development teams and organized project stages
- • Fostered collaborative learning in problem-solving and logical reasoning
Head of Data
Habitissimo
Spearheaded the company's transformation into a fully data-driven organization, excelling in strategic data management, infrastructure modernization, and advanced analytics.
- • Migrated on-premise infrastructure from OVH to AWS (Redshift & Aurora)
- • Optimized Airflow ETL pipelines achieving 35% reduction in processing times
- • Achieved 18% reduction in overall costs through strategic data practices
- • Deployed ML models for tag prediction, CPL optimization, and automated description generation
Data Specialist: Scientist, Engineer & ML Engineer
CaixaBank
Played a key role in the company's strategic shift towards digital transformation within AI and the Data-Driven World. Led AI innovation projects and cloud migration strategy.
- • Built fraud detection with Autoencoders, LOF, and XGBoost; fake signature detection with GANs
- • Led on-premises to Cloud architecture migration with DataLake/LakeHouse strategy
- • Defined CI/CD, storage, data lineage, and ML lifecycle strategies
- • Mentored junior candidates from CaixaBank and Microsoft WONNOW Award
Data Science Engineer & Business Intelligence
Atrápalo
Defined and implemented ML infrastructure and AWS data architecture. Managed BI engineering including real-time event consumption and legacy system migrations.
- • Built ML infrastructure from AWS ML services to intelligent gateway for local and cloud models
- • Defined AWS data architecture with S3, Kinesis, Redshift, and EC2
- • Migrated legacy SAP BO infrastructure to AWS Redshift with User Centric DWH
Get in Touch.
Have a project in mind or just want to say hello?
I'm always open to new opportunities and interesting conversations. Whether you have a question or just want to connect, feel free to reach out!
Say Hello