Senior WordPress Developer / Elementor Expert (Must Have Real CST Availability)

I run a boutique web design and SEO studio and I'm looking to add a skilled, reliable WordPress developer to my contractor bench for ongoing work. Larger projects are scoped as fixed-fee phases with clearly defined deliverables. Smaller or one-off tasks are handled hourly or at a prearranged flat rate agreed upon before work begins. For any hourly work, Upwork Work Diary with screenshot verification is required. This is non-negotiable. This is a long-term opportunity for someone who communicates proactively, delivers clean work, and treats estimates as commitments rather than starting points. You must have strong experience with: - WordPress theme development and customization - Elementor Pro, including dynamic templates and custom widget configuration - Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) and custom post types - Complex, content-heavy site builds (not just brochure sites) - Mobile and responsive QA across breakpoints - SiteGround, ManageWP, and the standard WordPress plugin ecosystem - Working from Figma designs and extending design systems independently How we work: - Primary communication is through Slack, with tasks managed in ClickUp - I expect proactive updates, not responses only when asked - Estimates are discussed and agreed upon before work begins - If a task is running over estimate, I need to know before it happens, not after - You will not go silent during active projects or critical deadlines Availability: I am based in Central Standard Time (CST, UTC-6) and need someone who is genuinely awake and reachable during CST business hours (9am to 5pm, Monday through Friday), not just technically available by appointment. Same-day response and occasional urgent turnaround are part of this role. CST plus or minus 3 hours is strongly preferred. Americas-based candidates are prioritized for this reason. If you are overseas and applying, please be specific about when you are actually awake and working, not just when you can theoretically respond. To apply, please include: 1. Links to two or three complex WordPress sites you have built, not themes you installed. Tell me what made them technically challenging. 2. Your timezone and the hours you are genuinely awake and working on weekdays. 3. How you handle a situation where a task is running significantly longer than estimated. 4. A particularly difficult WordPress or Elementor issue you diagnosed and resolved, and how you approached it. 5. Your preference on project structure: fixed fee, hourly, or both. This starts with a paid test project before routing active client work. Long-term potential for the right fit.