Senior WordPress Developer (PHP)

About Respona
 

Respona is a done-for-you service that helps brands increase their visibility in AI answers and improve their Google rankings by earning authoritative brand mentions and backlinks from top-tier publications. We sit at the intersection of two of the most important shifts in marketing right now: the rise of AI search and the enduring importance of authority in Google. We deliver results without our customers lifting a finger.
 

The Role
 

We're hiring a Senior WordPress Developer on a part-time, hourly basis to help us extend and maintain the custom WordPress stack that powers respona.com.
 

This is not a "fix my WordPress site" gig. Our site runs on a custom theme (Respona 2.0) and a custom OOP-based plugin (Respona Core) that we built ourselves. It's an organized, modern codebase with proper class architecture, custom post types, custom shortcodes, REST API endpoints, Webpack-based asset builds, and Cloudflare-aware caching. We want a senior developer who appreciates that and can work inside it like a craftsperson, not bolt on twelve plugins and call it a day.
 

We care a lot about code quality, performance, and long-term maintainability, so we're looking for a developer who shares that mindset and wants an ongoing engagement.
 

What You'll Own
 

Theme and plugin development

• Build new features inside the Respona Core plugin using the existing OOP architecture (Element, Hook, Shortcode, CPT, REST, and Ajax classes)
• Develop and maintain custom page templates in the Respona 2.0 theme (Homepage, Pricing, Tools, Integrations, Glossary, Use Case, and more)
• Build custom shortcodes, hooks, and elements following the existing modular structure under /shortcodes, /hooks, and /elements
   

Custom post types and content models

• Extend our custom post types (Elements, Templates, Integrations, Glossary) and their associated taxonomies as new content needs emerge
• Work closely with ACF Pro to give the team flexible, structured ways to manage page content
   

Performance and infrastructure

• Maintain and improve our Webpack-based asset pipeline (CSS/JS minification and bundling per page template)
• Keep caching layers healthy across LiteSpeed Cache, Cloudflare, and Cloudflare APO
• Optimize page load performance, Core Web Vitals, and rendering of our custom Bootstrap-based frontend
   

Modernization and code health

• Help us continue migrating legacy patterns from Respona 1.0 into the cleaner Respona 2.0 architecture
• Refactor older code where it makes sense (for example, modernizing AJAX endpoints into REST API routes for consistency)
• Keep dependencies, security, and best practices up to date
   

REST API and integrations

• Maintain and extend our custom REST endpoints under the respona/v1/ namespace (Turnstile validation, MailChimp subscription, lead submission, Backlink Checker, Email Verifier, Email Finder)
• Implement new endpoints with proper permission checks, parameter validation, and clean JSON responses
   

Who You Are
 

• Senior WordPress developer. You have 5+ years of professional WordPress development experience and you've built real custom themes and plugins, not just configured them
• Strong PHP and OOP fundamentals. You're comfortable working inside class-based architectures, you understand abstraction, and you write code that other developers can read and extend
• Deep WordPress internals knowledge. Hooks, filters, custom post types, taxonomies, REST API, transients, the template hierarchy, and Gutenberg are second nature to you
• Modern frontend tooling. You're comfortable with Webpack-based asset pipelines, Bootstrap, and writing maintainable CSS and JS
• Performance-minded. You think in terms of Core Web Vitals, caching strategy, asset loading, and render performance, and you've shipped sites that score well in production
• Quality-obsessed. You sweat the details, you write clean code, and you'd rather slow down to do it right than ship something fragile
• Comfortable working independently. You're hourly and part-time, which means you can scope your own work, manage your time, and ship without needing to be managed
   

Bonus Points

• Experience with ACF Pro, Yoast SEO Premium, LiteSpeed Cache, Cloudflare APO, and Smush Pro
• Custom Gutenberg block development
• Experience migrating legacy WordPress codebases into cleaner modern architectures
• Familiarity with custom Bootstrap builds and design system work
• Experience integrating WordPress with third-party APIs (MailChimp, Cloudflare Turnstile, custom services)
• Background working on high-traffic content sites where SEO and performance matter
   

Why Join Us

• Work on a real, well-organized codebase, not a wild plugin zoo
• Profitable, founder-led, and growing. No growth-at-all-costs theater
• Flexible hours, fully remote, and a long-term ongoing engagement (not a one-off project)
• Competitive hourly rate based on experience
• Direct collaboration with a small, sharp team that respects developer craft