Job Title: WordPress Web Engineer
Location: New York City, NY Local Candidates Only Client: Versant
Rate: $55/hr
Experience: 5+ Years
Work Arrangement: Onsite / Local Candidates Only

Job Summary

We are seeking an experienced WordPress Web Engineer with 5+ years of hands-on experience to develop, maintain, and optimize high-performance WordPress-based web applications.

The ideal candidate will have strong expertise in custom WordPress plugin and theme development using PHP, along with modern React, JavaScript/TypeScript, GraphQL, REST APIs, content modeling, caching, accessibility, SEO, and web performance.

Experience running WordPress at scale, particularly on WordPress VIP or comparable high-traffic managed platforms, is highly valuable. The candidate should also be comfortable troubleshooting production issues across CMS, frontend, APIs, caching layers, and third-party integrations.

Core Responsibilities

WordPress Engineering

Develop and maintain scalable WordPress applications using PHP.
Build custom WordPress plugins and themes based on business and technical requirements.
Design maintainable and reusable WordPress components and functionality.
Configure and optimize WordPress for high-traffic production environments.
Work with WordPress VIP or comparable managed WordPress platforms where applicable.

React & Modern Frontend Development

Develop modern frontend experiences using React and JavaScript/TypeScript.
Design reusable component architectures.
Implement efficient state management and data-loading strategies.
Write unit, integration, and frontend tests.
Optimize frontend performance and accessibility.
Build responsive web experiences across desktop, tablet, and mobile devices.

GraphQL Development

Design and maintain GraphQL schemas.
Implement GraphQL resolvers and data-access patterns.
Optimize GraphQL query performance.
Implement caching strategies for GraphQL APIs.
Manage authentication and authorization for GraphQL services.
Support backward-compatible schema evolution and API versioning.
Create and maintain GraphQL API documentation.
Support mobile engineering teams through GraphQL contracts, mocks, schema introspection, versioning, and integration testing.

WordPress Content Modeling

Design and manage WordPress content models using:
- Custom Post Types
- Custom Fields / Meta
- Taxonomies
- Gutenberg Blocks
Support revision and publishing workflows.
Implement redirects and content-management processes.
Optimize search and indexing functionality.
Design content structures that support scalable publishing workflows.

API & Systems Integration

Integrate WordPress with REST and GraphQL APIs.
Work with scheduled jobs, cron processes, and webhooks.
Integrate third-party content feeds and external services.
Implement and maintain caching layers.
Troubleshoot integrations between WordPress and external platforms.
Ensure reliable data exchange between CMS, frontend, APIs, and downstream systems.

Production Support & Troubleshooting

Debug production issues across CMS, frontend, API, caching, and external integrations.
Analyze application performance and identify bottlenecks.
Troubleshoot cache-related issues and cache invalidation problems.
Monitor application health and production performance.
Participate in incident resolution and root-cause analysis.
Implement long-term fixes to prevent recurring production issues.

Performance, Accessibility & Security

Implement web accessibility best practices aligned with WCAG.
Develop responsive and mobile-friendly web experiences.
Apply SEO fundamentals across web applications.
Optimize Core Web Vitals and overall website performance.
Implement secure coding and development practices.
Support performance and load testing activities.
Design effective caching and cache-invalidation strategies.

Collaboration & Documentation

Work closely with product managers, designers, content teams, editorial teams, and other stakeholders.
Communicate technical concepts clearly with non-engineering partners.
Participate in technical design and architecture discussions.
Create and maintain clear, maintainable technical documentation.
Collaborate with mobile engineering teams on GraphQL contracts and integrations.

Required Technical Skills

5+ years of hands-on WordPress engineering experience.
Strong PHP development experience.
Hands-on experience with custom WordPress plugin and theme development.
Strong React experience.
Strong modern JavaScript/TypeScript experience.
Strong understanding of component architecture.
Experience with frontend state management and data loading.
Experience writing and maintaining automated tests.
Strong GraphQL experience including schema design and resolver implementation.
Experience with GraphQL query optimization, caching, authorization, and API documentation.
Experience with REST APIs and GraphQL APIs.
Strong knowledge of WordPress content modeling.
Experience with Custom Post Types, Custom Fields/Meta, Taxonomies, and Gutenberg Blocks.
Experience with revision and publishing workflows.
Experience with redirects, search, and indexing.
Experience with scheduled jobs/cron and webhooks.
Experience integrating third-party content feeds.
Experience working with cache layers.
Strong production debugging and troubleshooting experience.
Strong understanding of WCAG, responsive design, SEO, Core Web Vitals, and web security.

Strongly Preferred Skills

Experience in media, publishing, streaming, newsroom, or high-traffic consumer web environments.
Experience with WordPress VIP or comparable high-traffic managed WordPress platforms.
Experience with live-streaming and VOD integrations.
Experience with DRM-protected content.
Experience with identity and authentication systems.
Experience with subscription and entitlement flows.
Experience with Node.js.
Experience with modern build tooling.
Experience with CI/CD pipelines.
Experience with Docker.
Experience with cloud services and observability tooling.
Experience with Elasticsearch and search technologies.
Experience with CDN and image optimization.
Experience with ad-tech and analytics platforms.
Experience with community/commenting platforms.
Experience supporting mobile engineering teams through GraphQL contracts, mocks, schema introspection, versioning, and integration testing.
Experience with performance and load testing.
Strong understanding of cache invalidation strategies.

WordPress Web Engineer

Key skills

About this role