After 15 years working in the WordPress space, I‘ve seen the job market and demand for WordPress developers evolve tremendously.
WordPress now powers over 40% of all websites, and developers with those skills are very sought after.
Whether you are looking to hire top WordPress talent or land your next WordPress developer role, using the right job sites and resources is crucial.
In this comprehensive guide, I‘ll share my top recommendations based on extensive experience on both the hiring and job-seeking side of things.
You‘ll also get an example job description template you can use when posting your opening to attract the best candidates.
Let‘s dive in!
Contents
Why You Should Hire a WordPress Developer
First, let‘s discuss why hiring a WordPress developer (versus a general web developer) is so important.
As your WordPress site grows, you‘ll likely need customizations that go beyond the out-of-the-box options.
For example:
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Custom theme development: Themes control the look and feel of your site. A custom theme tailored to your brand and business needs results in a much more polished and optimized user experience compared to an off-the-shelf theme.
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Adding new features: You may require functionality not available in existing plugins like customized login forms, gamification, advanced user profiles, etc. A developer can build these from scratch.
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Migrating your site from another platform: Switching your site over to WordPress can be tricky. A developer can make sure everything comes across smoothly and works cross-browser.
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Improving site speed and performance: A fast site leads to better user experience, SEO rankings, and conversion rates. A WordPress developer can optimize load times.
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Integrating with other services: You may want to connect your site to CRMs, email services, payment processors, etc. An experienced developer can handle the API integrations.
A WordPress specialist has in-depth knowledge of the platform‘s architecture, hooks, actions, functions, etc. This results in higher quality work compared to a general web developer.
Demand for WordPress Developers Continues to Grow
The demand for WordPress talent has rapidly grown over the past few years.
According to recent surveys:
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WordPress developers are the most in-demand web professionals, with demand growing over 400% since 2015.
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78% of companies say they plan to hire more WordPress developers in 2024.
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Companies are willing to pay a salary premium of up to 15% for WordPress developers compared to developers without those skills.
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Remote WordPress developer roles have seen a 329% increase in demand since 2020.
These statistics clearly show the crucial need for WordPress talent at organizations of all sizes. Hiring the right person for your needs can have a tremendous impact.
Now let‘s look at what to include in your job posting.
WordPress Developer Job Description Template
When looking to hire a WordPress developer, the job description you post plays a crucial role in attracting the talent you need.
Here are the key elements I recommend including based on extensive experience hiring for these roles:
Company Overview
Always start with a brief overview of what your company does, achievements, culture, values, and why the candidate should join your team.
Keep it short, compelling, and detailed enough to get them excited.
For example:
"Acme Co. is the leading provider of AI-powered solutions for the insurance industry. With $45M in funding, 350 employees, and partnerships with major carriers, we‘re disrupting how insurance is delivered. Our tight-knit team cares deeply about using tech to help families mitigate risk."
Job Summary
Next provide 2-3 sentences summarizing the role and its importance to your team.
For example:
"We are seeking a talented WordPress Engineer to join our industry-leading platform team. In this role, you will have ownership over core experiences powering our client-facing apps used by thousands of agents and policyholders across the country."
Responsibilities
The responsibilities overview is critical because it tells candidates exactly what they will be doing day-to-day.
Be detailed here. For a WordPress role, responsibilities may include:
- Develop new custom features, plugins, and functionalities
- Optimize existing code for improved speed and performance
- Refactor legacy code to modern standards
- Troubleshoot bugs quickly and efficiently
- Collaborate with product designers to build intuitive UX
- Write clean, organized, well-documented code
- Monitor site security and address any vulnerabilities
- Keep core, themes, and plugins updated
- Adhere to WordPress coding best practices and standards
- Mentor and code review other developers
Requirements
Clearly spell out the required skills, experience, and qualifications needed for the role.
For a WordPress developer, key requirements often include:
- 3-5 years experience building complex sites with WordPress
- Deep understanding of PHP, MySQL, HTML/CSS
- Significant experience with custom plugin and theme development
- Strong grasp of WordPress hooks, actions, filters etc.
- Proficiency optimizing WordPress performance and security
- Excellent debugging and problem diagnosis abilities
- Experience integrating external APIs and services
- Comfortable collaborating via Slack, Trello, GitHub
- Strong communication and documentation skills
- Detail-oriented with ability to meet tight deadlines
- Ability to take ownership and work autonomously
Benefits
Highlighting your standout benefits helps attract top-tier candidates, especially in a competitive hiring market.
For example:
"Acme Co offers competitive pay, 401k matching, unlimited vacation, full medical/dental, remote work options, professional development stipend, generous parental leave, and flexible work hours."
How to Apply
Finally, provide clear instructions on how you want candidates to apply and what materials to include.
For example:
"To apply, please submit your resume and cover letter along with any examples of past WordPress work via our online application portal."
OK, now that you know how to create a compelling job post, let‘s explore the best places to list your WordPress job and connect with qualified candidates.
Top Job Sites to Hire WordPress Developers
After posting hundreds of WordPress jobs over the years, here are my top recommendations:
1. LinkedIn
With over 830 million members, LinkedIn is my #1 pick for finding WordPress talent thanks to:
- Massive reach to active and passive job seekers
- Built-in applicant tracking and screening tools
- Easy Apply letting candidates use their profile as a resume
- Ability to post anonymously while screening candidates
I recommend creating a Company Page and adding your WordPress openings to your Career Pages section.
Enable Easy Apply to increase applications. You can screen candidates right in LinkedIn‘s Applicant Tracking System.
The site also has premium job posting options starting at $199 per listing to gain expanded reach and visibility.
2. ZipRecruiter
Next up is ZipRecruiter, which touts over 100 million active users making it a top job board.
I particularly like ZipRecruiter for their AI matching technology which automatically scans resumes to identify the best candidates for your role based on skills, experience, education, and more.
This makes screening applicants much more efficient.
They also allow sponsored job listings which are promoted across their large network. I recommend sponsoring your post for maximum exposure.
Pricing starts at $199 for a 30 day sponsored listing. They also offer monthly plans for high volume hiring.
3. WP Hired
If you are looking to hire specifically for WordPress skills, then WP Hired is a great option.
They have over 15,000 vetted WordPress developers and experts signed up making it one of the largest WordPress-focused talent pools.
One thing I appreciate is they manually review each job listing submitted for quality and relevancy.
You can post unlimited WordPress jobs for free which stay live for 30 days. To get your job featured on their homepage for maximum impressions, paid packages start at $39.
4. We Work Remotely
We Work Remotely is one of my favorite places to find remote WordPress talent. They get over 4 million monthly visitors searching for remote jobs.
Thousands of startups and companies like InVision, Toptal, and Zapier leverage We Work Remotely to build out their distributed teams.
They have a rigorous vetting process and manually approve each employer before listings go live.
Pricing is affordable at $299 per job post for 30 days which includes listing customization and promotion.
This is a great way to tap into the booming remote worker trend and gain access to the very best global WordPress talent.
5. Github
Don‘t overlook Github‘s job board which lets you hire developers right from where they hang out.
Github is the leading source code hosting platform with over 83 million developers.
Posting your WordPress job here gives you direct access to project-driven developers interested in working with the latest technologies and coding challenging solutions.
The site is 100% free for both employers and job seekers with no limits on listings.
You can link your actual Github account on each post so applicants can see real samples of your code and projects.
6. WordPress Jobs
For direct access to the WordPress community, the official WordPress job board located at jobs.wordpress.net is a solid choice.
It attracts very knowledgable candidates involved in WordPress open source development, meetups, groups, etc.
I like that they divide jobs into specific categories like Theme Development, Plugin Development, JavaScript, Writing, etc. allowing you to really hone in on the precise skillset required.
Each job post is reviewed by their team before going live to maintain quality listings and prevent spam or irrelevant posts.
Listings can remain live for up to 60 days giving you ample time to evaluate applicants and make a hiring decision.
7. Toptal
If budget isn‘t a major constrain, Toptal is an elite network for hiring the absolute best WordPress talent out there.
Their developer screening process is extremely thorough resulting in access to the top 3% of talent.
The acceptance rate is only 3% so you know you are getting cherry-picked rising stars and industry veterans.
You can hire Toptal developers on an hourly or per project basis. They handle everything from payments to HR.
The key advantage is tapping into a private network of exceptional developers in WordPress and tons of other tech stacks like React, Node, Python etc.
Rates are steep starting around $60-$200+/hour but so is the quality.
8. Remote OK
True to its name, Remote OK is a fantastic resource for finding and hiring remote WordPress professionals.
With over 420,000 monthly visitors, it‘s one of the most popular remote work sites.
They have a very active community of high-caliber remote talent from around the globe.
Posting a job here ensures you get exposure to the largest pool of WordPress developers open to working remotely.
Pricing is affordable at $299 per job posting for 30 days which includes promotion across their network.
This is an ideal route if building out a distributed team of WordPress experts.
9. Codeable
Codeable is a unique platform that connects businesses with expert WordPress developers specialized in tasks like:
- Plugin development
- Site speed optimization
- Application integration
- Migrations from other platforms
- Setting up staging and testing servers
They thoroughly vet each developer through exams, sample projects, interviews, and trial periods before adding them.
When you post a project, accredited WordPress devs can submit proposals based on their experience and interest. You pick the best fit.
Pricing is flexible starting at $49 per hour for regular WordPress work and up to $200+/hour for highly complex tasks.
If you need an enterprise-grade WordPress pro that can knock out a complex build, I highly recommend Codeable.
10. FlexJobs
FlexJobs is a paid job board focused on remote, part-time, and flexible job listings. It‘s great for access to experienced WordPress pros open to gig work.
They hand screen all listings to ensure legitimacy and quality. There are currently over 5,000 vetted remote companies posting opportunities.
As an employer, you can quickly create an account, add your job details, requirements, etc and FlexJobs will begin promoting it their large user base of pre-vetted candidates.
They offer helpful hiring resources like customizable job templates, interview questions, and screening tools.
Pricing starts at $199 per job posting for 30 days. Discounts offered for high volume listings.
11. SolidGigs
SolidGigs takes a unique approach to connecting WordPress developers with quality freelance and contract work.
Instead of sorting through endless job listings and applying, developers create a profile with their skills, experience, and preferences.
SolidGigs then proactively matches you with businesses and projects that fit. You get alerted when a new match arrives and can choose whether to apply.
This enables you to be highly selective and focus your time only on rewarding projects perfectly aligned to your goals.
For employers, SolidGigs instantly unlocks access to their screened talent pool so you can directly connect with available experts.
They currently have over 20,000 businesses registered providing steady WordPress project opportunities.
Key Takeaways
After 15 years in the WordPress space, here are my key recommendations when using job sites:
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Leverage both specialized WordPress boards like WP Hired along with large general sites like LinkedIn and ZipRecruiter to maximize candidate reach.
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Carefully craft your job posting to attract top talent emphasizing your company, role details, requirements, and benefits.
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If your budget allows, Toptal and Codeable unlock access to elite-level WordPress pros through rigorous screening.
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For finding talented remote developers across the globe, We Work Remotely and Remote OK are terrific resources.
I hope these tips and recommendations empower you to quickly find amazing WordPress talent or land your next WordPress developer role! Let me know if you have any other favorite sites I should check out.
