URGENT (No Agencies): Solo WordPress Dev – Refactor JS/CSS Bloat for 90+ Mobile Score

STRICT REQUIREMENT: INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPERS ONLY. NO AGENCIES. NO SUBCONTRACTING. If you represent an agency or outsource your work, do not apply. I will only hire a solo performance engineer who personally writes the code, debugs in DevTools, and tests the live build. URGENCY: We are running active Google Ads campaigns and require an immediate start today. The Problem and Failure Symptoms: Our WordPress website suffers from severe frontend asset delivery failures and mobile CPU execution lag (14s to 30s mobile LCP). The site URL will be shared privately with shortlisted applicants. Stage 1 (Cold Cache Load): First-time visitors experience an unstyled HTML flash (raw black text, unformatted images) caused by CSS generation timeouts and origin server lag. Stage 2 (Post-Refresh / Warm Load): On subsequent page views, the stylesheet attaches, but the hero background image is missing and the mobile navigation bar / hamburger toggle fails to render entirely. Heavy Main-Thread Bloat: MetForm loads the entire React framework (react.min.js, react-dom.min.js) on the critical rendering path. ThemeREX (rebar theme) globally injects GSAP animations, Swiper, Isotope, and Odometer scripts, locking up mobile processors. Scope of Work and Technical Deliverables: Staging-First Workflow: All code modifications, de-enqueuing, and plugin swaps must be executed and tested on a staging clone first. Production deployment occurs only after staging verification of mobile scores, forms, and tracking. Native Child-Theme Header (Permanent Mobile Menu Fix): Rebuild the global desktop and mobile navigation headers as lightweight, native semantic HTML/PHP template partials in the child theme. Completely bypass dynamic header injection (cpt_layouts) so CSS optimizations never strip mobile navigation. Form Engine Migration (Remove React Payload): Replace MetForm with a lightweight AJAX form solution (Fluent Forms, WS Form, or custom REST API/admin-ajax endpoint) to eliminate react.min.js and react-dom.min.js. Ensure the new form triggers a clean dataLayer push event on submit for our active conversion tag inside Google Tag Manager. Script De-enqueuing and Vanilla Replacements: Use wp_dequeue_script() and wp_deregister_script() to stop global execution of unused theme scripts (gsap.js, swiper.js, isotope.js, odometer.js). Replace number counters with lightweight vanilla JS (IntersectionObserver). Hero LCP Image Optimization: Ensure the primary hero image is rendered via a clean, native HTML picture / img tag with fetchpriority="high" and loading="eager" (not a CSS section background). Technical SEO and Tracking Compliance: Validate Rank Math JSON-LD Schema (GeneralContractor entity) and self-referencing canonicals. Verify zero double-firing tags in GTM. Acceptance Criteria: 85 to 95+ Mobile PageSpeed Insights (Lighthouse) score on the homepage and core landing pages. Zero layout shifts, missing CSS, or broken mobile menus. Fully functional estimate forms, click-to-call actions, and verified GTM DataLayer conversion events. How to Apply: Start your proposal with the word "SOLO" to confirm you are an independent freelancer. Provide 2 to 3 live URLs of heavy WordPress / Elementor sites where you personally brought mobile Lighthouse scores from under 60 to 90+. Confirm you can begin work immediately today.