WordPress Technical Web Developer, Security & Troubleshooting

About the Role We are a growing Local SEO agency working primarily with local service businesses. We are looking for a highly technical WordPress developer who can help manage, troubleshoot, repair and improve our clients' websites. We need someone who is comfortable getting into the technical side of WordPress and figuring out problems when something breaks. You should be able to diagnose issues involving PHP, plugins, themes, hosting, DNS, malware, redirects, databases and server configurations without needing step-by-step instructions. You will work alongside our SEO team to ensure our clients' websites remain fast, secure, functional and technically optimized. Responsibilities WordPress Development & Troubleshooting Diagnose and fix WordPress errors and broken websites Troubleshoot PHP errors, fatal errors and compatibility issues Identify plugin and theme conflicts Troubleshoot WordPress admin and frontend issues Fix broken functionality after WordPress/plugin/theme updates Work with Elementor and other common WordPress builders Make HTML, CSS, JavaScript and PHP changes when required Troubleshoot contact forms and email delivery issues Security & Malware Diagnose hacked or compromised WordPress websites Identify malicious PHP files, injected scripts and suspicious code Remove malware and malicious files Investigate unexpected administrator accounts or unauthorized changes Clean compromised WordPress installations Secure WordPress after malware removal Review plugins, themes, users and files for vulnerabilities Help prevent reinfection rather than simply deleting infected files Restore websites from clean backups when appropriate Hosting & Server Troubleshooting Work with hosting platforms such as Cloudways, GoDaddy, SiteGround, cPanel and similar environments Troubleshoot PHP versions and PHP configuration Diagnose server errors including 403, 404, 500, 502 and 503 errors Work with SSL certificates Troubleshoot DNS issues Configure redirects Diagnose redirect loops and redirect chains Work with .htaccess Troubleshoot caching and CDN issues Perform website migrations and domain changes Create and restore backups Technical SEO Support Implement and troubleshoot 301 redirects Fix 404 errors and broken URLs Diagnose indexing and crawling problems Review robots.txt Review and fix XML sitemap issues Implement canonical tags Fix internal linking and URL problems Implement schema markup Help maintain technical SEO during domain migrations Improve Core Web Vitals and website performance Ensure development changes do not negatively impact SEO What We're Looking For You should have strong experience with: WordPress PHP MySQL HTML CSS JavaScript Elementor WordPress database troubleshooting WordPress malware removal Website security DNS SSL cPanel/server environments Website migrations Domain migrations 301 redirects .htaccess Website speed optimization Backup and restoration Experience with Cloudways, Cloudflare, GoDaddy and Google Search Console is a major plus. Most Important Skill Problem solving. We don't expect you to know the answer to every issue immediately. We do expect you to be able to investigate an unfamiliar technical problem, identify the root cause, explain what happened and implement a safe solution. For example, if a WordPress website suddenly goes down after PHP code is added, we don't just want someone who can remove the code. We want someone who can determine: What broke → Why it broke → How to fix it → How to prevent it from happening again. Security Expectations Because you will have access to client websites and hosting environments, security is extremely important. You must: Follow least-privilege access practices Never share client credentials Never create unauthorized administrator accounts Never install nulled/cracked plugins or themes Take backups before significant changes Document major technical changes Test potentially risky changes in staging whenever possible Escalate potentially compromised websites immediately Please answer this technical question: A WordPress website suddenly starts returning a 500 error after custom PHP code is added. You don't have access to wp-admin. Walk me through exactly how you would diagnose and fix the problem.