Expert WordPress Architect for Premium Educational Publishing Platform

I am looking for an experienced WordPress architect - not just a designer - to build a premium, fast, secure, easy-to-manage publishing platform for a long-term educational business. This is not a complex e-commerce project. The focus is authority, trust, performance, and simplicity. The website will showcase books, articles, courses, memberships, and digital resources, with purchases handled primarily through Gumroad and Stripe rather than a traditional WooCommerce store. The backend must be intuitive enough for a non-technical owner to update books, courses, pages, and content without relying on a developer. This is the first phase of a long-term relationship. Future projects may include advanced publishing workflows, AI integration, course portals, SEO, performance optimization, automation, landing pages, and continued growth of the platform. I am looking for someone who thinks like a long-term technical partner, not someone who simply builds websites. Required experience: WordPress Elementor or GeneratePress/Kadence/Block Editor (please recommend the best long-term solution) Gumroad integration Stripe integration SEO fundamentals Mobile optimization Performance optimization Security Easy-to-maintain backend Staging site before launch Automated backups Security hardening Documentation Scalable, AI-ready architecture for future automation, APIs, and workflow integration Minimal, well-supported plugins. Avoid plugin bloat. Custom code where appropriate Deliverables: Premium homepage About page Books page Courses page Articles/Blog Contact page Newsletter integration Gumroad purchase buttons Basic SEO Fast loading Documentation One recorded walkthrough showing me how to manage everything myself Please include: Three examples of premium educational or publishing websites you have built. Why you chose your preferred WordPress stack. What you would do differently from a typical WordPress website. I am looking for a long-term technical partner, not just someone to build a website. The successful candidate will create the technical foundation for a publishing platform designed to grow into hundreds of books, courses, articles, memberships, and digital products over the coming years.