Senior WordPress / Newspack Engineer

Hi there! We are South and our client is looking for a Senior WordPress / Newspack Engineer!

Note to Applicants:

• Eligibility: This position is open to candidates residing in Latin America.

• Application Language: Please submit your CV in English. Applications submitted in other languages will not be considered.

• Professional Presentation: We encourage you to showcase your professional experience by including a Loom video in the application form. While this is optional, candidates who provide a video presentation will be given priority.

• Interview Policy: The use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools during interviews are strictly prohibited. 

• Note: As part of the final stages of the selection process, contractors may be asked to provide professional references for a reference check. If you're selected, you may also be asked to update their LinkedIn profile. 🙂

About the Role

We're looking for a proactive Senior WordPress Engineer to take end-to-end ownership of a live digital publishing platform built on Newspack (WordPress), hosted and managed through Automattic. The platform powers a subscription-based professional publication with a paid membership base of ~6,500 members, an active editorial team publishing daily, and a connected ecosystem of memberships, newsletters, analytics, and a branded member app.
This is not a traditional “build pages” WordPress role, but it is also not purely greenfield product work. It's a blend: you'll own the technical roadmap and proactively drive improvements to engagement and retention, and you'll be the responsive first point of contact for a real editorial team — troubleshooting logins, content, categories, ads, analytics, and site issues as they come up. The right person is comfortable owning both the strategic and the hands-on operational side without needing direction.
You'll work directly with a cross-functional team (editorial, product, marketing, leadership) and coordinate with external vendors (Automattic/Newspack support, rtCamp, and integration partners) rather than managing raw server infrastructure yourself.

Responsibilities

• Own the Newspack platform and its WordPress ecosystem end-to-end — from proposing improvements to shipping and supporting them.
  
• Design, develop, and maintain features that improve reader engagement, subscriber retention, and the overall member experience.
  
• Build and maintain enhancements across the website, subscriptions, memberships, newsletters, and editorial workflows.
  
• Own analytics and technical SEO as a core responsibility: manage the Parse.ly integration, tune “Most Popular”/trending logic, run headline and content tests, and diagnose SEO issues (e.g., 404 spikes, indexing problems, Search Console).
  
• Manage the email/newsletter and marketing-automation stack — hands-on with ActiveCampaign today, with active/upcoming integrations (e.g., Marketo) and multiple ESPs; own newsletter setup, sender configuration, and deliverability (SPF/DKIM/DMARC), including diagnosing SMTP/deliverability issues.
  
• Configure, customize, and troubleshoot Newspack and its plugin ecosystem (WooCommerce, subscriptions, memberships, and related plugins).
  
• Coordinate integrations across the broader stack — e.g., SSO / branded-app connections, membership platforms, and third-party embeds — working with the relevant vendors.
  
• Maintain a clean staging/sandbox → production workflow; test changes safely before they go live.
  
• Monitor platform health, performance, and reliability; support business-continuity expectations (the site and paywall must stay up and accessible to paying members) and respond quickly when issues arise.
  
• Participate in weekly platform reviews, monitor engagement KPIs, investigate issues, and drive continuous improvement.
  
• Coordinate with Automattic/Newspack support and external development partners on hosting, platform updates, and larger integration projects.
  
• Document processes and technical decisions to support long-term maintainability.
  

• 5+ years working with WordPress in production, managing complete sites (not just building pages).
  
• Hands-on experience with analytics and technical SEO — ideally Parse.ly or a comparable content-analytics platform, plus Google Search Console and diagnosing indexing/404 issues.
  
• Hands-on experience with ActiveCampaign (or a comparable marketing-automation/ESP platform) and email/newsletter operations.
  
• Experience with WooCommerce and membership/subscription systems.
  
• Experience working within complex WordPress plugin ecosystems and coordinating with managed-hosting/support vendors.
  
• Solid understanding of WordPress architecture, plugin development/customization, and performance optimization.
  
• Ability to independently own projects from idea through deployment, and to balance proactive product work with responsive day-to-day support.
  
• Comfortable working directly with non-technical stakeholders (editorial, marketing, leadership) in real time.
  
• Advanced English communication skills.
  

• Direct Newspack experience.
  
• Understanding of email deliverability (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) and sender reputation.
  
• Experience with additional marketing-automation platforms (Marketo, HubSpot, Mailchimp, etc.).
  
• Experience with SSO, branded/member apps, or third-party platform integrations.
  

• Track record of improving engagement, subscriber retention, or conversion funnels.
  
• Front-end skills (HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP).
  
• Familiarity with Cloudflare, DNS management, and website infrastructure.
  
• Comfort using AI/automation tools in day-to-day workflows.
  

• A self-starter who takes ownership without constant direction.
  
• Product-minded, but happy to roll up your sleeves on operational support.
  
• Comfortable making technical decisions and driving projects independently.
  
• Responsive and reliable for a live editorial team that depends on the platform daily.
  
• Curious, proactive, and focused on solving business problems through technology.
  
• Collaborative and confident working directly with non-technical stakeholders.
  

 

Schedule: Monday to Friday, 9 AM to 6 PM ET
Compensation: USD salary
Location: 100% remote opportunity

 

If this opportunity sounds good to you, send us your resume!