WordPress Developer — Pennsylvania, United States

Description

Summary:

WordPress Developer (Contract)

The ideal candidate possesses strong full-stack development skills, advanced knowledge of WordPress architecture, and demonstrated experience building custom themes and plugins without reliance on third-party page builders or field-management plugins such as Advanced Custom Fields (ACF).

This role requires strong technical problem-solving capabilities, including the ability to review unfamiliar codebases, evaluate complex application architectures, identify security vulnerabilities, troubleshoot production issues, and implement maintainable solutions.

Key Responsibilities

Custom WordPress Development

• Develop, maintain, and enhance fully custom WordPress themes and plugins.

• Build WordPress websites from the ground up using native WordPress functionality without reliance on ACF, Elementor, or other third-party page builders.

• Implement custom post types, taxonomies, metadata, administrative interfaces, and content-management functionality using native WordPress APIs.

• Develop reusable templates, components, and custom functionality using WordPress hooks, filters, and REST APIs.

• Follow WordPress Coding Standards and established PHP and JavaScript development best practices.

• Write clean, secure, maintainable, and well-documented code.

• Evaluate existing implementations and recommend appropriate improvements to architecture, performance, and maintainability.

Front-End Development & Build Tools

• Develop responsive, accessible front-end interfaces using HTML5, CSS3, SCSS, and JavaScript.

• Work with Node.js, npm, and modern front-end build tooling.

• Develop and maintain customized Bootstrap implementations, including SCSS overrides, reusable components, and responsive layouts.

• Translate approved Figma designs into accurate, production-ready WordPress implementations.

• Optimize CSS, JavaScript, and other front-end assets for performance and maintainability.

• Implement accessibility requirements aligned with WCAG 2.1/2.2 standards.

Code Assessment, Debugging & Remediation

• Independently read, understand, and evaluate unfamiliar or legacy WordPress codebases.

• Troubleshoot PHP errors, JavaScript issues, plugin conflicts, database queries, API integrations, and application runtime failures.

• Perform root cause analysis and implement sustainable solutions.

• Evaluate complex or nonstandard WordPress implementations incorporating external PHP frameworks, Composer-managed dependencies, and custom packages.

• Assess dependency structures, namespaces, autoloading, package compatibility, and application integration.

• Identify architectural weaknesses, unnecessary dependencies, technical debt, and maintainability concerns.

• Efficiently refactor existing and legacy code into readable, modular, maintainable components while preserving functionality and avoiding unnecessary rewrites.

• Recommend and implement approved code refactoring and remediation strategies.

• Review code for security, performance, coding standards, and overall technical quality.

Application Security & Runtime Evaluation

• Perform application-level and runtime security assessments of custom WordPress themes, plugins, and dependencies.

• Identify and remediate vulnerabilities, including cross-site scripting (XSS), SQL injection, cross-site request forgery (CSRF), insecure file handling, and file permissions .

• Apply secure coding practices, including input validation, sanitization, output escaping, nonces, capability checks, and secure database interactions.

• Evaluate third-party dependencies and Composer packages for known vulnerabilities and compatibility risks.

• Assess WordPress core, PHP runtime, and plugin compatibility.

• Investigate security-related application behavior and implement approved remediation.

• Support ongoing vulnerability management, security patching, and regression testing.

Documentation, Testing & Quality Assurance

• Maintain technical documentation covering application architecture, custom functionality, dependencies, integrations, and deployment procedures.

• Document significant code changes, technical decisions, root cause findings, and remediation activities.

• Perform development-level testing, regression testing, and validation before submitting deliverables for review.

• Ensure deliverables meet established coding, security, accessibility, and performance standards.

• Provide clear technical handoff documentation to support ongoing maintenance.

Communication, Reporting & Collaboration

• Provide consistent, accurate progress updates covering completed work, work in progress, blockers, risks, and next steps.

• Maintain current task statuses and communicate changes to estimates or delivery timelines promptly.

• Proactively identify and escalate technical issues, dependencies, security concerns, and potential delays.

• Clearly communicate technical findings, implementation recommendations, and tradeoffs.

• Demonstrate reliability, accountability, responsiveness, and follow-through on commitments.

Required Qualifications

• Minimum 5 years of professional WordPress development experience, with extensive hands-on custom development.

• Advanced proficiency in PHP, including object-oriented programming and modern PHP development practices.

• Demonstrated experience developing custom WordPress themes from scratch.

• Proven ability to develop custom WordPress functionality without relying on ACF or third-party page builders.

• Strong experience authoring custom WordPress plugins.

• Deep understanding of WordPress core architecture, template hierarchy, hooks, filters, custom post types, metadata, and REST APIs.

• Strong proficiency in JavaScript, HTML5, CSS3, SCSS, and responsive front-end development.

• Experience with Node.js-based tooling, npm, and customized Bootstrap implementations.

• Strong understanding of WordPress Coding Standards and secure coding practices.

• Experience with Composer, PHP namespaces, autoloading, dependency management, and modern PHP architecture.

• Demonstrated ability to independently assess unfamiliar code, debug complex issues, and perform root cause analysis.

• Practical experience with application security assessment, vulnerability identification, and remediation.

• Hands-on experience supporting WordPress websites hosted on WP Engine.

• Proficiency with Git-based development and deployment workflows.

• Working knowledge of technical SEO, structured data, and AEO implementation.

• Experience documenting custom development, technical findings, and deployment procedures.

• Excellent communication, organizational, problem-solving, and collaboration skills.

The Individual Is Expected To

• Execute assigned work in accordance with established technical requirements and development standards.

• Independently investigate technical issues and propose appropriate solutions.

• Provide realistic estimates and communicate progress, risks, and blockers proactively.

• Maintain consistent communication and accurate project reporting.

• Demonstrate accountability for assigned deliverables and agreed timelines.

• Follow established security and quality assurance

• All deliverables will be subject to technical review, quality control, and approval prior to production release.

Education/Experience:

• Bachelor's degree in computer science or equivalent training required.

Pay Rate Range: $40-48/hr depending on experience