Did my blog pique your interest? Great to hear! This page will give you more information about what I do. If you are considering working together, feel free to contact me at adolfo@ochagavia.nl, so we can figure out if there is a match between what you need and what I have to offer.

Things I can do for you:

• Systems programming. My skills are especially geared towards technical challenges where the solution is more complex than using a ready-made framework. Examples include implementing the MySQL wire protocol as a library, creating container images without Dockerfiles, and developing a package manager.
• Open source development. I contribute to open source projects on behalf of companies, backed by my experience as a contributor to the Rust open source ecosystem, and by a strong ability to find my way in new codebases. I’m currently on a contract for ISRG, makers of Let’s Encrypt, to work on the Rustls library.
• Technical writing. As you can probably deduce from my blog, I love sharing ideas with others through writing. During my engagements, I make sure to take note of all interesting things I come across, so I can tell the world about them (with your permission). For me it is a way of giving back to the programmer community, while at the same time offering people the chance to see how interesting your business is.

Ways of working together:

• Within a team. Colleagues see me as a highly talented, passionate and caring team member. Someone who not only helps deliver new features, but also has an eye for the overall architecture and dares to challenge the status quo in healthy doses. If you are looking to enhance your team, I’d be happy to be on board.
• Solo. I am a very intrinsically motivated person, and have no problem organizing myself to deliver high-quality work with little guidance. I proactively ask the right questions, and know where to look for answers. I am also able to summarize and explain my findings, in such a way that you can follow my progress without being burdened with the day-to-day minutiae of the project.

Technologies of choice

Given enough time, I am able to get familiar with whatever technology you are using. There is a chance I am already acquainted with your tech stack, since in the past I have worked in the .NET, Java, Rust, Erlang and Node.js ecosystems (and experimented with a few more).

When evaluating new projects, I have a strong preference for statically typed languages, because they align better with my way of thinking. Also, I prefer ecosystems with mature tooling, which allows me to focus on the essential aspects of the problem (instead of being bogged down by accidental complexity).

Testimonials

Dirkjan Ochtman (@djc), open source maintainer:

Adolfo was able to quickly get up to speed with our open source project, filling up any domain-specific knowledge gaps by reading specifications, diving into the source code, inspecting other implementations and working with us as maintainers. He was eager to tackle our feedback to pull requests, and a very pleasant person to interact with. Highly recommend working with him!

Wolf Vollprecht (@wolfv), founder and CEO of Prefix.dev:

We had the pleasure to work with Adolfo on multiple projects and it was always a rewarding experience. He dives head first into the problem, thinks deeply about it and comes up with clean solutions. We can absolutely recommend working with Adolfo on challenging computer science problems.

Jeroen Heijmans (@jeroenheijmans), CTO at Infi Utrecht:

At Infi I’ve had the pleasure of working together with Adolfo. His technical skills make him part of the top 1%, even regardless of the specific technology! He was ever thoughtful in his interactions with colleagues, other team members, and clients. Always finding a great balance between being pragmatic and not avoiding any hard discussions or problems. If you consider doing a project or work together with Adolfo I can highly recommend doing so!

Matthew Quinn, software engineer:

When I first started working with iChoosr, there was an enormous amount of different systems, rules and standards to learn. Adolfo played an integral part in getting me up to speed and helping me to improve as a developer, and a team member. At the start he took an active role in mentoring me through pair programming, code reviews, and taking time to talk and get to know me. His warm character and deep technical knowledge had a way of empowering me and raising my confidence in my own technical abilities. I have found him a very supportive colleague, who has put a lot of effort into making my time with this team so pleasant. I have to credit a great deal of my skills already to the advice and guidance that he has provided me with over this past year. From pair programming, to code reviews, to mentoring, Adolfo is your man!

See more testimonials on my LinkedIn profile

Practicalities

• Location. I am based in Amsterdam and have a preference for remote work (on-site might be possible if your team is in Amsterdam).
• Working across time zones. I am open to collaborating with colleagues in different time zones, as long as the kind of work is compatible with asynchronous communication.
• Working hours. I am interested in contracts for 3 days a week, 8 hours a day.
• Languages. I am fully proficient in English, Dutch and Spanish.
• Company. I am registered as a one-person company (eenmanszaak) at the Dutch Chamber of Commerce, under number 80893503.
• Legal. I work under these terms and conditions (also available in Dutch). They are required by my insurance, but we might deviate from them if there are good reasons to do so and we agree to limit my liability.