F55
FOCAL55 Technical Partner
📍 BASED IN MANHATTAN, NYC · IN-PERSON & REMOTE

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.

Let's Grab Coffee or Chat Featured Projects (XOCP & ChronoCast) ↓ How I Work: Scrum & QA My track record & background ↓
Manhattan, NYC In-person at your office, whiteboard sessions, or hybrid across NYC
Direct with Joe Zero account managers or junior pass-offs — you work directly with me
Mutual NDA 100% white-label discretion, confidentiality, and clean IP ownership
< 48 Hours Rapid kickoff turnaround on architecture audits & delivery sprints
Featured Engineering Showcase

Current Flagship Systems: XOCP & ChronoCast

Deep dive into two active production platforms built from first principles: from deterministic sport mathematics and live draft room network interception to on-device audio transcription, vector search, and grounded RAG knowledge graphs.

Active Production · Season 2026
Live App

XOCP / X's & O's & Couch Potatoes

Deterministic fantasy football intelligence platform computing player valuations under exact custom league scoring rules.

0.000 Max scoring delta vs Yahoo
62,201 Resolved crosswalk IDs
29 Automated test gates
Intent

Zero-drift custom scoring recalculation replacing generic PPR; empirical pruning of uninformative metrics.

Tech Stack

Next.js 16, PostgreSQL, Drizzle ORM, Parquet file streams, and Chrome MV3 Side Panel.

Data Movement

Columnar Parquet & API ingest → 62k crosswalk → Scoring Oracle → Precomputed Snapshot Board.

Dev Process

29 strict automated test gates run before build; zero runtime database dependency on draft day.

Next.js 16 (App Router) React 19 PostgreSQL Drizzle ORM Parquet Chrome MV3 Side Panel Vitest
Explore Presentation & Architecture Launch Live Deployment ↗
Production v1 · Live Platform
Live App

ChronoCast / Personal AI Memory & Grounded RAG

On-device transcription, pgvector memory engine, and dynamic knowledge graph turning trapped social bookmarks into cited answers.

1,536 Embedding dimensions
0.30 Calibrated similarity floor
100% On-device local STT (Whisper)
Intent

Rescuing trapped social video bookmarks; transcribing speech locally and grounding answers in citations.

Tech Stack

Next.js, Supabase with pgvector, OpenAI embeddings, Claude Haiku, local faster-whisper, and Chrome MV3.

Data Movement

10-stop pipeline: Bookmark → Extension → Local Audio Transcription → 1,536-dim Embedding → Hybrid Search RRF.

Dev Process

Empirical 0.30 similarity floor prevents hallucination; fail-soft decoupled stages; automated RLS tests.

Next.js App Router Supabase pgvector text-embedding-3-small faster-whisper Claude Haiku react-force-graph-2d
Explore Presentation & Architecture Launch Live Deployment ↗
AGILE SCRUM & EMBEDDED QA

How I Work: Scrum Cadence & Embedded QA

I don't deliver black-box code or disappear into a silo. I embed directly into your sprint cycles — bringing 20+ years of structured Scrum delivery, automated CI/CD gating, and end-to-end quality engineering so your team ships clean, tested software on a predictable cadence.

MY SPRINT CEREMONIES & STANDARDS
  • • Sprint Planning & Estimation: Defined sprint backlogs with transparent scope, risk analysis, and realistic commitments.
  • • Strict Definition of Done (DoD): Every ticket requires clean code review, automated test coverage, and staging verification before sign-off.
  • • In-Person or Embedded Remote: On-site whiteboard planning in your Manhattan office or daily async standups in your Slack and Linear/Jira.
  • • Sprint Demos & Retrospectives: Continuous visibility into running software at the end of every cycle, with rapid feedback loops.
SPRINT LEADERSHIP 01

Scrum Architecture & Technical Direction

Setting the technical foundation, de-risking complex epics, and steering sprint velocity.

✓ Sprint planning, backlog grooming, and precision story pointing
✓ System architecture, API contracts, and database schema design
✓ Translating product roadmaps into actionable engineering tasks
✓ Executive & stakeholder alignment on technical trade-offs
PRODUCTION DELIVERY 02

Hands-On Feature Engineering

Writing clean, resilient code alongside your team to unblock milestones.

✓ Modern TypeScript, React, Next.js, Node.js, and Python microservices
✓ Strict fidelity to Figma design systems and UX specifications
✓ Scalable backend architectures and third-party API integrations
✓ Refactoring legacy bottlenecks and eliminating technical debt
EMBEDDED QUALITY 03

Automated QA & Test Engineering

Embedding quality directly into the SDLC so defects never escape to production.

✓ Test-Driven Development (TDD) across unit, integration, and E2E suites
✓ Automated regression testing integrated into PR workflows
✓ Performance benchmarks, latency profiling, and security auditing
✓ Strict Definition of Done (DoD) enforcement before release approval
RELEASE GOVERNANCE 04

CI/CD & Zero-Downtime Release Engineering

Ensuring predictable, repeatable deployments with automated safety checks.

✓ Continuous integration pipelines with automated linting and test gating
✓ Preview staging environments for seamless sprint demo reviews
✓ Parallel branching governance and peer pull-request reviews
✓ Zero-downtime production cutovers with automated rollback protocols
Have a sprint backlog, upcoming release, or QA bottleneck to discuss? Let's talk through your next sprint →
ABOUT ME & TRACK RECORD

20+ Years in the Trenches

View Full Executive CV → LinkedIn
JY

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.

📍 Manhattan, New York, NY • 💼 20+ Years Experience • ✉️ joe@focal55.com
$5M+ Platform Modernization Enterprise migration to Adobe Experience Manager (AEM).
2× Deployment Frequency Shifted releases from monthly to bi-weekly via CI/CD.
+30% Delivery Velocity Championed AI-assisted & agentic SDLC workflows.
18+ Engineers Scaled Directed multi-pod cross-functional delivery teams.

CAREER & LEADERSHIP TIMELINE

Fortune 500 & Agency History
Jul 2024 - Present

Director, Tech Lead — Digital Marketing

Prudential Financial & PGIM

CURRENT
  • • 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.
Jan 2022 - Jul 2024

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.
May 2016 - Dec 2021

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.
May 2008 - May 2016

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 →
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Common Questions & Engagement Details

Clear answers on how I collaborate, Scrum & QA standards, Manhattan in-person availability, and mutual NDA protocols.

Who is Joe Ybarra and what is Focal55?
Joe Ybarra is a senior engineering delivery leader and hands-on technical architect with 20+ years of experience modernizing software delivery for businesses including Fortune 500 enterprises (Prudential Financial, PGIM, Capco). Focal55 is his independent consulting practice, providing high-caliber freelance technical direction, architecture reviews, automated QA, and sprint engineering.
Can Joe work on-site at our office in Manhattan?
Yes. Joe is based right in Manhattan, New York, NY. He is readily available for in-person working sessions, whiteboard architecture deep dives, and sprint planning at your office across Manhattan and Brooklyn, as well as embedded hybrid and remote sprints.
How does Joe embed into our Scrum sprint cycles and QA?
Joe integrates directly into your team's existing workflow (Slack, GitHub, Linear/Jira). He helps lead sprint planning, backlog refinement, and story estimation while writing production code and establishing automated unit, integration, and E2E regression test suites under strict Definition of Done (DoD) standards.
What types of companies and teams does Joe work with?
Joe collaborates with digital/creative agencies needing senior technical horsepower for client deliverables, venture-backed startups scaling from MVP to production, and engineering organizations looking to compress delivery cycles and modernize platform architecture.
How are confidentiality, NDAs, and intellectual property handled?
Discretion is absolute. A mutual Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) is executed upfront before inspecting private code or proprietary roadmaps. 100% of all intellectual property, source code, architecture documentation, and test suites belong completely to the client.
What is the typical turnaround time to kick off an engagement?
Initial scoping calls and architecture reviews can typically be scheduled within 24 to 48 hours. Once mutual NDA and sprint scope are aligned, hands-on delivery begins immediately.
Have a specific question about your tech stack, team size, or upcoming release? Ask Joe directly →
GET IN TOUCH DIRECTLY

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.

MANHATTAN & REMOTE COLLABORATION
  • ✓ 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.
📍 Based in Manhattan, New York, NY
📞 Direct: (949) 302-6068
✉️ Email: joe@focal55.com