Senior Infrastructure Engineer with over 20 years of experience in infrastructure, security, and network integration. Based in Leiden, Netherlands.
Experience
Independent Infrastructure Engineer — Nuclear Lighters (AS214304)
Jun 2025 – Present · Leiden, Netherlands
Running multi-site infrastructure across 4 countries under my own ASN (AS214304 ). BGP anycast routing with IPv6, Kubernetes clusters with Cilium CNI, GitOps with ArgoCD and Terraform, and 60+ containerized services. This is the homelab I always wanted to build — the kind of setup where I own the full stack, not just the layers someone else lets me touch.
- Obtained and operationalized own ASN with BGP peering across 4 European countries
- Built HA Kubernetes cluster (Cilium, ArgoCD, Atlantis) managing 60+ services
- Developed MeshSat — open-source Meshtastic-to-Iridium satellite bridge
- Published IPoUGRS Internet-Draft with the IETF
- Pursuing CKA certification — learning by building, not just studying
Adyen — SWIFT Engineer
Dec 2020 – May 2025 · 4 yrs 6 mos · Amsterdam (Hybrid)
Maintained and expanded the SWIFT banking platform at Adyen, enabling secure financial transactions for clients including Facebook, Uber, and Spotify. Having worked at SWIFT itself for three years prior, I brought direct knowledge of the platform’s internals — how the systems actually work, not just how the documentation says they should.
- Managed SWIFT infrastructure (SAA, SAG, SNL, HSM) in a Linux environment
- Handled critical issues in a 24/7 on-call rotation
- Scaled the platform to handle increased transaction volumes as Adyen grew
- Worked closely with the banking department to align technical operations with treasury requirements
Artsen zonder Grenzen Nederland (MSF) — Senior IT Infrastructure Lead
Apr 2019 – Mar 2020 · 1 yr · Amsterdam
Led IT infrastructure for Doctors Without Borders Netherlands. The job was straightforward on paper — servers, networks, cloud — but the context made it anything but. The systems supported medical operations in conflict zones and disaster areas, which meant reliability had real consequences.
- Led the team responsible for servers, networks, and cloud services supporting global operations
- Implemented security measures for sensitive data in high-risk environments
- Worked across medical, logistics, and finance departments — each with different needs and different definitions of “urgent”
- Mentored team members and built processes that would outlast my tenure
SWIFT — Network Engineer
Mar 2018 – Mar 2019 · 1 yr 1 mo · Leiden
Part of the deployment team implementing and maintaining the backbone of SWIFT’s network infrastructure — the system processing trillions of dollars in transactions daily. Moved from support into engineering, which is where I’d been trying to get.
- Deployed and configured network infrastructure for mission-critical financial services
- Troubleshot backend network issues across the global infrastructure
- Maintained security protocols for compliance with financial industry standards
- Wrote scripts to automate routine network tasks
SWIFT — Technical Support Engineer
Jul 2016 – Mar 2018 · 1 yr 9 mos · Leiden
This was my way into SWIFT — starting in support, learning the platform inside out. The job was third-line support for Alliance Access, Alliance Gateway, and SwiftNet Link. I learned more about HSMs and VPN infrastructure here than in any previous role.
- Resolved complex issues with SWIFT Alliance Access, Alliance Gateway, and SwiftNet Link
- Supported HSM and VPN technologies
- Wrote and maintained knowledge base documentation
- Eventually moved into the network engineering team (see above)
Bitlibre — Senior Network Engineer
Feb 2013 – Jun 2016 · 3 yrs 5 mos · Hoofddorp
Managed network infrastructure for headquarters and co-located data centers. This was the first role where I was fully responsible for the network end-to-end — design, implementation, monitoring, and troubleshooting.
- Designed and maintained the network, keeping uptime above 99.9%
- Ran F5 load balancers, VPN tunnels, leased lines, and DKIM configurations
- Set up monitoring with Rancid, OpenNMS, and syslogd
- Worked across all DTAP environments with the applications team
- Mentored junior engineers
Sapienza Consulting (contractor to ESA ESTEC) — Systems Administrator
Jan 2012 – Feb 2013 · 1 yr 2 mos · Noordwijk
Administered Solaris and Linux servers at the European Space Agency’s technical center, hosting applications for space research and operations. The security requirements were strict — ESACERT guidelines governed everything.
- Managed Solaris and Linux servers across multiple ESA sites
- Provided third-line support, resolving issues that had already been escalated twice
- Deployed server environments for acceptance and production stages
Allshare / All Media Banking BV — Systems and Network Engineer
Feb 2011 – Jan 2012 · 1 yr · Hoofddorp
Managed IT infrastructure for a financial services provider. The Dutch central bank (DNB) mandated specific security restrictions, which shaped most of the work.
- Redesigned the network with a focus on redundancy and cloud integration
- Set up monitoring with Nagios and Zabbix
- Applied security restrictions mandated by DNB for regulatory compliance
- Kept critical banking services running at 99.9% uptime
WellProjex — Systems and Network Engineer
Jan 2010 – Feb 2011 · 1 yr 2 mos · Thessaloniki (Hybrid)
Designed and delivered IT solutions for small and medium-sized businesses. This was a consulting role — each client had different needs, different budgets, and different ideas about what “secure” meant.
- Analyzed requirements and implemented ICT solutions for a range of clients
- Led e-security projects: firewalls, VPNs, secure architectures
- Provided presales technical support
- Coordinated outsourced technical teams
Makios Logistics S.A. — Lead Systems and Network Administrator
Feb 2008 – Jan 2010 · 2 yrs · Thessaloniki
Ran IT infrastructure for a logistics company. Supply chain systems need to be up 24/7 — when the network goes down, trucks don’t get dispatched.
- Maintained 24/7 infrastructure for logistics operations
- Brought previously outsourced services in-house, cutting SLA costs significantly
- Implemented firewalls and intrusion detection
- Supervised the technical and helpdesk teams
Technopolis — Assistant IT Manager
Jun 2007 – Jan 2008 · 8 mos · Thessaloniki
Managed IT across five educational sites — over 100 workstations running real-time online certification exams. The exams had zero tolerance for downtime; if a workstation failed mid-test, someone’s certification attempt was lost.
- Kept 100+ workstations running across five sites
- Troubleshot issues during live certification exams
- Set up wireless links between sites to replace leased lines
Hellenic Army, 476th Electronic Warfare Battalion — COMSEC/INFOSEC Specialist
May 2006 – May 2007 · 1 yr 1 mo · Xánthi (Compulsory Service)
Compulsory military service, assigned to the Signal Corps. What started as mandatory service turned into actual security work — COMSEC and INFOSEC for classified communications. This is where I first learned that security isn’t a feature you bolt on; it’s a constraint that shapes everything.
- Provided technical support for secure networks (TCP/IP, VPNs, firewalls, Cisco)
- Supported R&D for electronic warfare projects
- Maintained critical infrastructure uptime for the battalion
- Operated the battalion call center and managed secure communications logistics
Compucon S.A. — Telematics Systems Technician
Feb 2004 – Apr 2006 · 2 yrs 3 mos · Thessaloniki
Maintained navigation and communication systems for a fleet of 800+ taxis. The systems combined TCP/IP, wireless networking, and GPS — and they broke constantly, because taxis are not gentle environments for electronics.
- Kept fleet systems running across 800+ vehicles
- Ran back-office testing and repairs
- Managed warehouse operations for spare parts
AMD Telecom S.A. — Computer Systems and Networks Support Technician
Apr 2003 – Jan 2004 · 10 mos · Lagkadas
Remote and on-site technical support in a telecommunications company. This was early in my career — the job where I first realized I liked fixing networks more than fixing desktops.
- Provided remote and on-site support
- Researched and deployed open-source alternatives to reduce costs
- Handled hardware debugging and vendor coordination
Planet Internet Café — Assistant Systems and Network Administrator
May 2002 – Mar 2003 · 11 mos · Thessaloniki (Part-time)
Where it started. A hundred workstations, a perpetually overloaded internet connection, and a clientele that would find new and creative ways to break things. I maintained the machines, ran the billing system, and learned more from troubleshooting broken game installs than from any course.
- Built and maintained HD images for 100+ workstations
- Administered the time-charging billing system
- Provided helpdesk support
Certifications & Training
- Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) — In preparation
- Claude Certified Architect — Anthropic, In preparation
- Building Agentic AI Applications with LLMs — NVIDIA, April 2026
- Agentic AI — DeepLearning.AI, April 2026
- Model Context Protocol: Advanced Topics — Anthropic, April 2026
- Building with the Claude API — Anthropic, April 2026
- Claude Code in Action — Anthropic, March 2026
- Kubernetes Administration – CKA Exam Preparation Course — Pearson, December 2025
- Network Automation Engineering Fundamentals — Cisco, November 2025
- SWIFT Alliance Access Advanced — SWIFT, November 2016
- TSIA Certified Support Professional — October 2016
- SWIFT Managing Alliance Access and Entry — SWIFT, October 2016
- Microsoft Certified Professional — Windows Server, Network Infrastructure, November 2008
- Interconnecting Cisco Network Devices (ICND) — Cisco, November 2007
Education
Hellenic Open University — Information Technology
2007 – 2009
University of Sheffield — Computer Science
2003 – 2004
Computer Systems & Networks Support — Vocational Diploma
2000 - 2003
About the Recommendation Letters
The letters linked above are from supervisors at each organization. They provide third-party verification of the roles described. Not all positions have letters available — some organizations do not provide them as policy, and some from earlier in my career were not retained.