Senior Full-Stack Developer (Next.js + WordPress) — Long-Term, Individual Only

## Read This First We're hiring **one dedicated developer** to join our small team long-term. Before anything else, two things that decide whether you should keep reading: **1. Individual applicants only.** We will not consider agencies, teams, studios, collectives, or subcontracting arrangements — no exceptions. If you represent multiple developers or plan to distribute the work, this role is not a fit. **2. This is a role for someone who communicates by default.** We are a small, fast-moving team, and our work is directed in real time across many client accounts. That only works when the person we rely on keeps us in the loop *without being asked*. If you do excellent work but tend to go quiet until someone comes looking for you, this is not the right seat — and we'd rather both know that now. More on exactly what we mean below, because it matters more than any line on the tech stack. --- ## Compensation & Trial Structure - **Initial 4-week paid trial** at **$120 USD/week** (full-time). - Month 2: On successful completion of Month 1, transition to a *$800 USD/month** full-time salary. - Month 3: On successful completion of Month 2, transition to a **$1,000 USD/month** full-time salary. - Long-term: Continued opportunity for growth in compensation, tied to performance, reliability, and ownership. ## Interview Process - **Two short, paid sample tasks** — one frontend, one backend. - Provide a short video explaining why you are a good fit for the row - Sample dev tasks: Each paid a flat **$5 USD**. - The tasks are intentionally small. Completing them is required to move forward. --- ## The Role This is a **long-term, full-time** role supporting large, complex web projects on modern architecture. Projects unfold over **months, not weeks**, and our frontend approach varies by project: - **Headless frontends** (Next.js) - **WordPress-based frontends** (custom themes, block-based builds) You'll own real, evolving work on live client sites. We care as much about *how you think, communicate, and handle ambiguity* as we do about what you can build. Open to international candidates, with two firm requirements: - **Consistent, predictable availability overlapping U.S. Eastern Time business hours** (see "How We Work Together"). - **Fluent written and spoken English.** --- ## 🤝 How We Work Together (The Part That Matters Most) Most of what makes someone succeed here isn't technical. It's whether working with you feels like having a real teammate in the room. Three things are **hard requirements**, not nice-to-haves: ### 1. You communicate proactively — I never have to chase you You tell me where things stand before I have to ask. Picked something up, hit a wall, made a judgment call, changed an approach — I hear it from you, in real time, not after I go digging. Same-day responsiveness during EST hours is the baseline. If being expected to over-communicate reads as micromanagement to you, we will frustrate each other; the people who thrive here *like* keeping their team looped in. ### 2. Your work speaks for itself Tasks move at a steady, visible cadence. Statuses and ETAs are accurate and current. I can see progress in the work itself without auditing your hours — because good communication and clean, legible delivery make that unnecessary. If a deadline is going to slip, **I know before the deadline, not after**, and I know why. ### 3. You own your own accountability — especially the misses This is the one most people never say out loud, so we will: if you start late, lose hours, or fall behind on something you committed to, **you bring it to me first.** I should never be the one who notices and has to ask. Owning a shortfall before it's discovered is worth more to me than a perfect week, and it's the single clearest signal of someone I can build a long-term relationship with. Flag risk and uncertainty early; going silent when something's wrong is the one thing that doesn't work here. ### On availability — be concrete "Flexible" and "full-time" don't tell me what I need. Pick a **consistent daily window** that overlaps U.S. Eastern business hours and hold to it day to day, so I always know when I can reach you. When that window needs to change, I hear about it **in advance**. Predictability matters more than any specific clock — a reliable four-hour daily overlap beats "around whenever." --- ## 🛠 Tech Stack (Required Experience) **Frontend** - Next.js (primary headless frontend) - WordPress-based frontends (custom themes, block-based builds) - GraphQL - Apollo Client - TailwindCSS - SCSS / CSS Modules **Backend** - WordPress CMS (headless and traditional use) - Typesense (search) **Hosting** - Vercel (frontend hosting) - Linode (backend infrastructure) **Integrations** - Yoast SEO - Cloudflare Turnstile - Brevo - Google Analytics (GA4), Tag Manager, Search Console --- ## 🚨 What This Role Actually Requires This is **not** a task-only execution role. We're looking for someone who: - Works comfortably across **both** modern JS frontends and WordPress frontends - Takes real ownership of long-running, evolving projects - Communicates clearly and proactively in English, in real time - Is available for same-day collaboration during EST hours, on a schedule I can count on - Keeps task status and ETAs accurate and current on their own - Surfaces risk, delay, and uncertainty early — and owns it when something slips - Thinks in systems, not just tickets If you prefer tightly scoped, short-term work, or want to stay inside a single framework, this won't be a good fit. --- ## ✅ Ideal Candidate You: - Are an **individual contributor** (not part of an agency or team) - Have real experience with **headless CMS architectures and WordPress frontends** - Can deploy, maintain, and debug sites on **Vercel and Linode** - Understand search-first experiences and how **Typesense** fits into both architectures - Write clean, maintainable code and can clearly explain your decisions - Treat communication, reliability, and shared accountability as core parts of the job — not overhead - Are comfortable working closely with a U.S.-based team, in real time, across time zones --- ## 📅 Scope & Structure - Long-term role — not a short-term contract - Large, complex, multi-month projects - Frontend approach varies by project (Next.js vs. WordPress) - The initial period is genuine mutual evaluation - Strong performers grow in **responsibility, autonomy, and compensation** --- ## 🧠 How to Apply (No Boilerplate, Please) Send a short note answering: 1. **Tell me about a project that took longer than expected.** How — and *when* — did you communicate the changes and manage expectations? 2. **Tell me about a time you fell behind, started late, or missed hours you'd committed to.** How did you handle it, and how did your manager or client find out? 3. **What does ownership mean to you** on a long-running project? 4. **Describe your experience with Next.js and WordPress frontends** (links welcome). 5. **What is your consistent daily availability overlap with U.S. Eastern Time**, and how do you handle it when that window needs to change? 6. **Are you comfortable providing same-day responses during EST working hours?** We read every answer. The notes that stand out are specific, honest, and show us how you keep the people you work with in the loop.