Senior WordPress / Web Platform Engineer

Compensation: $60k – $80k

Senior WordPress / Web Platform Engineer (Conversion-Focused) Summary: You build the tools that turn our website traffic into qualified institutional leads — starting with a self-select lead router for cities, counties, chambers, and foundations. Company: Braven Agency Engagement: Contract-to-Hire Structure: Milestone-based ($2,000–$4,000 per milestone; ~$60,000–$80,000 annualized equivalent for full-scale implementation) Location: Remote (U.S. preferred; Long Beach, CA a plus) Platform stack: WordPress Core, Elementor Pro, custom PHP (CPTs / ACF Pro), Google Tag Manager, GA4, webhook/API integrations (CRM + email)

About Braven Agency Braven Agency is a minority-owned marketing and AI training agency based in Long Beach, CA (MBE / SBE / LSBE certified). We've helped train and digitize 500+ small businesses across 11 states through government, chamber, foundation, and corporate partnerships. Our work sits at the intersection of AI enablement, digital marketing, and economic development — and our website is central to how institutional partners find and choose us.

The outcome we need Braven helps cities, counties, chambers, and foundations train their small businesses in AI and digital marketing. We need a website engineer who can turn into a lead-generation engine for those institutional buyers. Your first and most important deliverable: build a self-select lead-routing tool where a prospective partner picks their type (city, county, chamber, foundation) and their training need, then gets routed to the right intake form, booking link, or tailored next step — with the lead captured cleanly in our CRM and email workflow. If you can ship that tool — fast and well — you're the person we're looking for. This is a builder's role, not an advisory one. We are not hiring a strategist or an AI-tool specialist — our AI capability is in-house. We're hiring someone who lives in WordPress, writes clean custom code, and makes things convert. 1. Core deliverables — in priority order

• Milestone 1 — Self-Select Lead-Routing Tool (PRIMARY) A guided self-selection experience (by buyer type + training track) that routes each visitor to the correct intake form, booking link, or tailored landing view, and pushes the qualified lead into our CRM and email workflow. Fast, mobile-first, low-friction.
• Milestone 2 — Tracking & Analytics Integrity Overhaul the tracking perimeter with a clean GTM + GA4 implementation — custom click events, scroll depth, form submissions, and tool-interaction telemetry — so every step of the funnel is measurable.
• Milestone 3 — Conversion Funnels & Speed Design and build conversion-optimized landing and lead-capture pages in the WordPress/Elementor stack. Hold Google PageSpeed Insights above 90 (mobile + desktop) by eliminating WordPress bloat — not by installing more plugins.
• Milestone 4 — Categorized Video Repository Re-engineer our video content into a structured, searchable library segmented by Track (Digital Marketing, Social Media, AI) and Proficiency (Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced) — built on custom PHP / Custom Post Types for performance, not a heavy plugin.
• Phase 2 (integrates with Braven's AI team) — Gated "Smart" Utilities Down the road we'll layer AI-driven personalization on these tools — e.g., a gate that generates a customized learning syllabus or worksheet on the fly. You won't build the AI/generative logic — our AI team owns that. You will architect clean hooks, APIs, and data structures so that layer plugs in without a rebuild.

2. Required technical competencies

• WordPress full-stack: deep fluency in PHP, JavaScript (ES6+), custom database structures, Custom Post Types (CPTs), and Advanced Custom Fields (ACF Pro).
• Custom builds inside WordPress: comfortable bypassing page builders for deep logic (custom PHP modules) while keeping Elementor clean and usable for day-to-day marketing pages.
• Conversion Rate Optimization: a proven track record designing high-converting user flows, low-friction forms, and layouts that move people to act.
• Data layer mastery: expert-level GTM data layers and GA4 event parameters; server-side tagging a plus. *** Elementor optimization:** advanced performance protocols to hold PageSpeed above 90 and eliminate standard WordPress bloat.
• API & automation plumbing: connecting web forms to backend ecosystems (CRM, automated email workflows, document generation) via webhooks and Zapier.
• Accessibility for civic buyers: familiarity with WCAG 2.1 AA / Section 508 — our audiences are government and institutional, and accessible builds are non-negotiable.

3. How we'll screen you — three non-negotiable tests

1. The Build Test. Show us a live, operational site where you personally engineered the functionality or custom data structures — an interactive tool, a custom-coded feature, a database-driven library. Aesthetic-only design portfolios won't pass.
2. The Speed Test. Explain exactly how you'd build a multi-tiered, searchable video library inside WordPress without tanking page load. If the answer is "install more plugins," that's an automatic disqualification.
3. The Routing Test. Walk us through how you'd architect the self-select tool: the conditional logic, the form-to-CRM handoff, and how you'd push each step's data cleanly into GA4.

4. Are you the right fit? You are: A hands-on WordPress engineer who ships working tools Someone who writes clean PHP/JS and hates bloat Obsessed with speed, tracking, and conversion Happy to own a build end-to-end and prove it with live examples You are not: Primarily an AI / LLM tool builder (we have that in-house) A strategist or consultant looking to advise, not build A designer whose portfolio is visuals without engineering Reliant on stacking plugins to solve every problem

5. Engagement & path Milestone-based contract to start $2,000–$4,000 per milestone. Strong delivery on Milestones 1–2 opens a clear path to an ongoing retainer or a core team placement. We move fast, we pay on delivery, and we give builders room to build.

How to apply Send us (1) links to live builds you personally engineered, and (2) a one-paragraph answer to the Speed Test above. Applications without live build examples won't be reviewed.