We’re on a mission to improve representation in government — but our website’s first-time load speeds are unacceptably long and are holding us back. Can you help?
About the Role:
We are seeking an experienced WordPress Performance Optimization Engineer to address first-time load speed issues on our civic engagement website. While cached pages load quickly, the initial load for new visitors is unacceptably slow. We need a WordPress expert who can significantly improve first-visit performance while keeping our existing platform stable.
Responsibilities:
Conduct a full performance audit (frontend, backend, APIs, CDN).
Implement edge rendering, critical rendering path optimizations, and resource loading strategies.
Optimize API response handling, server-side rendering, and delivery pipelines.
Optimize HTML/CSS/JS delivery (critical CSS, code splitting, async/defer strategies).
Recommend structural or platform-level changes if WordPress cannot meet requirements.
Deliver measurable improvements in Core Web Vitals for first-time visitors.
Provide clear documentation for long-term maintenance.
Requirements:
Proven track record optimizing WordPress performance at scale.
Demonstrated success optimizing large, content-heavy or API-driven sites
Deep expertise in Cloudflare APO (or equivalent CDN caching), Redis/Memcached, and WP optimization plugins (WP Rocket, FlyingPress, etc.).
Ability to troubleshoot database queries and plugin bottlenecks.
Familiarity with Core Web Vitals benchmarks and real-user monitoring tools.
U.S. or Canada based; remote work acceptable.
Nice-to-have:
Experience with API-heavy WordPress builds.
Contributions to WordPress performance community or open-source projects