His first experience as technical director in the Liga MX was in the Clausura 2007, as an internship with Veracruz, on 17 February 2007, when he directed a team against the San Luis and won.

Failing to reach an agreement in the Torneo de Clausura 2009 with La Volpe, the club Monterrey offered the opportunity of managing the team to Víctor Manuel Vucetich and Barra served as his assistant.

After several years of success, during the 2013 Apertura tournament, Vucetich was stopped and, as a consequence, Carlos Barra was handed over the direction of the team.

In the middle of the 2014 Clausura tournament José Guadalupe Cruz was invited by Monterrey to relieve the managing of the team, together with Jose Treviño.

On 15 February 2015, Barra was sacked from Monterrey due to poor results in Clausura 2015.