Website Theme Development

Title: Senior Pure PHP / Custom WordPress Developer (Zero-Plugin / Hard-Coding Expert) Description: We are looking for an elite, senior-level PHP/WordPress engineer to architect and scaffold a high-performance, bespoke WordPress theme from scratch, based on our ready-to-use visual assets. NON-NEGOTIABLE REQUIREMENTS: If your workflow relies on commercial heavy page builders (such as Elementor, Divi, WPBakery, etc.) or bloated commercial template kits, DO NOT APPLY. We require 100% hand-crafted, custom-coded architecture utilizing native WordPress APIs, pure PHP, clean modern JavaScript, and optimized SCSS/CSS. Project Scope & Specifications: 1. Design Assets & Asset Handover (90% Visual Match): We possess full-fidelity screenshots, wireframes, and all necessary media assets (copy, imagery, and icons). The final UI/UX must achieve a ~90% strict visual parity with our provided reference layouts. 2. Surgical Modifications (15% Iterative Changes): A minor delta of ~15% structural or stylistic modifications will be requested against the base screenshots. Exact specifications, edge cases, and injection points for these modifications will be explicitly documented and handed over. 3. Strict Zero-Plugin Philosophy: The entire theme hierarchy (template parts, custom post types, dynamic modals, native preloaders, and component-driven layouts) must be hard-coded natively without relying on third-party design plugins or framework bloat. 4. Core Web Vitals & Performance Engineering: The build must pass Google PageSpeed Insights / Web Vitals with a 90+ score on both Mobile and Desktop (sub-second FCP/LCP, zero Cumulative Layout Shift [CLS]). 5. Dynamic CMS Extensibility (Backend): Implement a robust backend control layer using Native Custom Fields or a clean custom Options Panel. All typography, copy blocks, and asset pointers must be dynamically manageable via ⁠wp-admin⁠ with zero hard-coded content strings left in template files. 6. Code Quality & Security Standards: Adherence to WordPress PHP Coding Standards (WordPress Coding Standards - WPCS), strict input sanitization/escaping (⁠esc_html⁠, ⁠sanitize_text_field⁠), and a modular, object-oriented or well-scoped procedural codebase. Strict Payment & QA Terms: 100% Escrow Funding & Single Milestone: The full project budget will be fully funded into Upwork Escrow upfront. Zero funds will be released until the build is 100% production-ready, thoroughly unit/integration-tested, bug-free, and deployed live. Senior Code Audit & Quality Gate: Prior to milestone approval and fund release, the entire codebase will undergo a rigorous code review and static analysis inspection by our internal senior technical auditor for architectural integrity and compliance. If you are a hardcore developer who takes pride in writing clean, scalable code and optimizing performance, drop your proposal with a brief explanation of how you approach custom theme architecture without third-party page builders.