Senior WordPress PHP Engineer - Agency Career Growth in Columbus

Location: Remote — Anywhere (Open to applicants located anywhere around the globe.)

Fueled is a leading digital strategy, design, and engineering agency. We are a 300+ person team that has designed and built hundreds of digital products and experiences for brands like Google, Apple, The New York Times, ESPN, Victoria's Secret, MGM Resorts, Albertsons, and CLEAR.

As a Contract Senior Web Engineer at Fueled, your mission is to architect the foundational systems that power dynamic, large-scale digital experiences. You will define the technical backbone of our projects, leveraging deep WordPress expertise to build robust, scalable solutions with modern PHP and sophisticated Gutenberg architecture.

Your work bridges critical business needs and elegant technical execution, ensuring the platforms you build are performant, maintainable, and capable of evolving with our clients' ambitions. By setting a high bar for back-end craftsmanship and mentoring through your code, you'll leave a lasting imprint on our products, our team, and the millions of users who interact with your work.

Intentionally remote, our team thrives in a culture that values flexibility, creativity, and cutting-edge technology. Together, we're shaping the future of digital experiences.

What You Will Do

• Architect and build the core of enterprise-level WordPress solutions, developing high-performance plugins and themes with modern PHP and sophisticated Gutenberg blocks in React.js.
• Define the back-end technical vision and strategy for large-scale projects, making critical decisions on architecture, performance, and scalability that set the stage for long-term success.
• Elevate the entire team's output by providing expert code reviews that champion code quality, security, and maintainability.
• Solve complex performance and caching challenges, transforming slow, brittle systems into fast, resilient platforms that can handle millions of visitors.
• Create the tools and systems that power digital experiences for a global audience, forming the foundation upon which clients build.

What You Will Achieve

• Within your first month, you'll have taken ownership of a significant back-end feature or system, shipping code that demonstrates your architectural expertise.
• By the 3-month mark, a performance or caching improvement you championed will have resulted in a measurable increase in site speed or stability for a client project.
• Your technical guidance will have directly shaped a project's strategy, with your architectural recommendations being implemented and praised by both the team and the client.
• You will have established a new pattern or best practice for WordPress development that has been adopted by other engineers, elevating the team's collective output.
• By the end of your contract, you'll leave behind a legacy of robust, well-architected systems that continue to perform at scale and a standing invitation for future collaboration.

About You

• You have a deep passion for pushing WordPress to its limits, with expert-level mastery in modern PHP and a sophisticated understanding of the Gutenberg ecosystem.
• Your GitHub is a testament to your craft, filled with real-world WordPress code that demonstrates your ability to build elegant, scalable solutions — no whiteboard tests needed.
• You are a strategic partner and communicator, comfortable leading technical discussions with clients and translating their business needs into a powerful technical vision.
• You are a master of the back-end development lifecycle, with extensive Git workflow experience and a proven ability to expertly debug and optimize complex systems.
• You thrive on a distributed team, proactively collaborating and leading from the remote location of your choice to deliver exceptional results.

Contractor Fee

Compensation is determined based on a variety of factors, including relevant experience, projects, geographic location, and business needs.

Join Our Contractor Pool

This role is designed as a contract position, offering you the opportunity to experience our team and culture while showcasing your contributions. When the fit and business needs align, some contractors are invited to explore a transition into full-time roles.

If you are passionate about Fueled's mission and think you have what it takes to be successful in this role, even if you don't check all the boxes — please apply. We'd appreciate the opportunity to review your application. Everyone gets a response.

Upon meeting the necessary criteria, you'll join the Fueled contractor network, granting you access to project invitations tailored to your expertise and availability when they arise.

Any data provided will be processed in accordance with applicable law and our privacy policy. Curious about what to expect during our talent process? Check it out here.

We don't want you to miss any communication from us! To ensure you receive updates on your application, please add [email protected] to your contacts list!