Senior technical leadership. In your office or remote.
I'm Joe Ybarra and Focal55 is my consulting business. I am an engineering delivery leader with 20+ years modernizing software for businesses including Fortune 500s. I work with agency owners, founders, and engineering teams as an elite, hands-on freelance engineer and technical director. Based in Manhattan, I can come straight into your NYC office to whiteboard, untangle complex architecture, or roll up my sleeves and produce high-quality code.
How I Work & What I Charge
I keep my pricing straightforward and unpadded. Whether you need an ad-hoc architecture deep dive, an on-site whiteboard session in your Manhattan office, or an intensive multi-sprint commitment, you work directly with me.
- • In-Person in NYC or Remote — Happy to come to your office in Manhattan or embed directly in your Slack and GitHub.
- • Direct Collaboration — You get my personal attention and 20+ years of enterprise experience on every line of code and architectural decision.
- • Transparent Invoicing — Weekly or milestone billing with clear deliverables and zero long-term lock-in.
Fractional Technical Director
Technical strategy, RFP scoping, team mentorship, client-facing representation
Senior Technical Architect
System architecture, API design, cloud infrastructure, performance profiling
Specialized Systems Consulting
Enterprise CMS (AEM), Microsoft Fabric, custom AI/agentic SDLC integration
Full-Stack Product Engineering
TypeScript, React, Next.js, Node.js, Python, Tailwind, cloud microservices
20+ Years in the Trenches
Joe Ybarra
Freelance Technical Director & Engineering Delivery Leader
I live and work in Manhattan. Over the past 20+ years, I've led massive platform transformations for Fortune 500 enterprises like Prudential and PGIM, scaled cross-functional engineering pods, and embedded modern AI-assisted SDLC workflows into production.
I bring that exact enterprise caliber to agencies, startups, and product teams as a senior freelance technical partner. Whether we whiteboard at your office in NYC, meet over coffee, or work async in GitHub, you get a dedicated partner who cares deeply about architecture, velocity, and real business results.
CAREER & LEADERSHIP TIMELINE
Fortune 500 & Agency HistoryDirector, Tech Lead — Digital Marketing
Prudential Financial & PGIM
- • Led a $5M+ enterprise platform transformation, migrating the core digital presence to Adobe Experience Manager (AEM).
- • Drove release cadence from monthly to bi-weekly — 2× deployment frequency — via parallel branching and streamlined delivery governance.
Principal Consultant & Tech Lead
Capco (Client: Prudential & PGIM)
- • Helped win the Adobe Experience Manager migration off Drupal/Angular — foundation of the $5M+ transformation — through technical advisory on complex regulatory requirements.
- • Scaled and led two Agile pods (9 each, 18 engineers) across engineering, QA, and product, delivering BAU, enhancement, and integration objectives.
Director of Engineering
Thinkbean, LLC
- • Progressed from frontend developer to backend engineer to Director of Engineering, growing into full ownership of technical strategy, architecture, and delivery.
- • Implemented a structured design-to-engineering handoff process that aligned design and development, reducing rework and improving delivery fidelity.
Founder & CEO
Focal55, Inc (Software Development Agency)
- • Founded and ran a software development agency for 8 years, owning all operations — sales, delivery, hiring, and P&L — scaling to a peak team of 5 and a best year of $200K revenue.
- • Delivered for clients across education, travel, manufacturing, food, and fine-art printing — including UCLA, Fox Rent A Car, and Tampico Spice.
CORE COMPETENCIES & TECHNICAL STACK
AI & Agentic Delivery
- › Claude Code & agentic orchestration
- › Multi-agent workforce design
- › Prompt engineering
- › AI-assisted SDLC
- › Model-tiered cost controls
Engineering Leadership
- › On/offshore team leadership & mentorship
- › Delivery governance & SDLC
- › Cross-functional collaboration
- › Executive & stakeholder alignment
- › Engineering culture development
Platform & Cloud
- › Adobe Experience Manager (AEM)
- › Microsoft Fabric & data platform
- › AWS cloud architecture
- › CI/CD & release engineering
- › Scalable system design
Full-Stack Development
- › TypeScript, JavaScript & Python
- › React & modern frontend
- › Backend development (Java, PHP)
- › Drupal, Contentful & headless CMS
- › Code review & test-driven development
Looking for my formal CV for an executive advisory role, vendor onboarding, or full resume?
Open Full Interactive CV Page →Let’s talk about your project.
I'm based right here in Manhattan. We can grab coffee, I can come to your office to whiteboard with your team, or we can jump on a quick Zoom call. Tell me about what you're trying to build or unblock.
- ✓ In-person office visits in NYC — Available across Manhattan, Brooklyn, or anywhere in the city.
- ✓ Direct with me — No account managers, recruiters, or delegated junior developers.
- ✓ Mutual NDA signed upfront — Total confidentiality before looking at private code or proprietary roadmaps.
- ✓ Honest feedback within 24 hours — I'll tell you straightforwardly if I can help and the fastest path to ship.