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Contents
What Matters Most
Why This WordPress Developer Resume Works
How to Write a WordPress Developer Resume That Gets Interviews
What to Include in a WordPress Developer Resume
WordPress Developer Resume Summary Examples
WordPress Developer Work Experience Examples
Top WordPress Developer Skills
Common WordPress Developer Resume Mistakes
WordPress Developer Resume FAQs
Summary
WordPress developer with eight years building custom themes, plugins and high-performance sites for agencies and clients in Leeds. Turns designs into clean, responsive, accessible WordPress builds, develops custom functionality, and makes sites fast, secure and easy for clients to manage. Rebuilt a slow, bloated site into a fast custom theme that improved page speed and search rankings markedly. Works with custom post types, the block editor, WooCommerce, REST API and modern PHP and JavaScript, and handles hosting, security and maintenance. Strong on both the code quality and the practical realities of client sites. Good at explaining the technical side plainly and handing over a site clients can actually use. Looking for a WordPress or web-developer role with an agency or business that cares about quality builds.
Work Summary
WordPress Developer
Leeds Web Agency, Leeds, UK
Apr 2017 – Present
- Build the custom WordPress themes, the plugins and high-performance sites for a range of clients.
- Rebuilt a slow, bloated site into a fast custom theme that improved speed and search rankings.
- Turn the designs into clean, responsive and fully accessible WordPress builds, every single time without fail.
- Develop all the custom post types, the block-editor blocks and the WooCommerce functionality for clients.
- Handle all the hosting, the security, backups and ongoing maintenance for the client sites.
- Hand over sites that clients can manage and explain the technical side plainly to them.
Junior Web Developer
Yorkshire Digital Studio, Leeds, UK
Aug 2014 – Mar 2017
- Built and maintained WordPress sites and landing pages for a range of clients.
- Developed the front-end features and basic theme customisations for the team.
- Learned the PHP, performance and secure development practices on the job.
- Gained the certification and then moved into a full WordPress-developer role.
Web Design Intern
Yorkshire Digital Studio, Leeds, UK
Jun 2013 – Jul 2014
- Interned at a web studio building pages and learning the development workflow.
- Helped build and test the WordPress sites under the senior developers.
- Learned HTML, CSS and the basics of PHP on real projects.
- Then earned the move into a junior web-developer role from there.
Education
BSc (Hons) Web Development, Web Development
Leeds Beckett University
Sep 2011 – Jun 2014
- Web development degree covering front-end, back-end and content management systems, with a placement. The placement led into WordPress development. Built the engineering foundation the role needs.
PHP & Web Performance Certification, Web Development
Zend / Industry Training
Jan 2017 – May 2017
- Certification in modern PHP and web performance covering clean code, security and optimisation. It sharpened the engineering behind quality builds. Applied directly to custom themes and site performance work.
Certifications
PHP & Web Performance
Zend / Industry Training
May 2017 – Present
- Certification in modern PHP and web performance covering clean code, security and optimisation. It sharpened the engineering behind quality builds. Applied directly to custom themes and site performance work.
WordPress & WooCommerce Development
Web Development Institute
Apr 2019 – Present
- Certification in advanced WordPress and WooCommerce development covering themes, plugins and the block editor. It supports the custom builds and e-commerce work delivered for clients.
Selected Builds
E-commerce Theme Build
Jan 2019 – Jul 2019
- Built a custom WooCommerce theme and checkout for a retail client, tuning performance and the buying flow so the store loaded fast and converted browsers into orders.
Membership Site Platform
Feb 2020 – Aug 2020
- Developed a membership and content platform on WordPress with custom plugins and access tiers, giving the client a site they could grow and run without developer help.
Highlights
Faster site, better rankings
- Rebuilt a slow, bloated site into a fast custom theme that improved page speed and search rankings markedly. A quick site keeps visitors and search engines happy at the same time.
Sites clients can run
- Hands over clean builds that clients can actually manage without calling the developer constantly. A site the client can run themselves is a sign of a job done right.
Languages
- English (UK) — Native or Bilingual Proficiency
- Spanish — Limited Working Proficiency
Technical Skills
- WordPress Development
- Custom Themes
- Plugin Development
- PHP
- JavaScript
- WooCommerce
- Web Performance
- Responsive & Accessible Build
- Site Security
- REST API & Block Editor
Personal Skills
- Problem Solving
- Attention to Detail
- Communication
- Reliability
- Pragmatism
Activities & Interests
- Table Tennis
- Ghost Hunting
- Dating
- Grow Moustache
- Climbing
What Matters Most
Before the detail, here is what actually decides a strong WordPress developer resume:
- A portfolio of live, named sites beats any list of skills - link real URLs you built and shipped, not a generic GitHub dump.
- Quantify performance: Core Web Vitals passing, PageSpeed score lifts, load-time cuts and the search-ranking movement that followed.
- Show you write custom code - themes, plugins, hooks and filters - not just assemble page-builder layouts, since that line separates pay grades.
- Name the stack precisely: PHP version, the block editor (Gutenberg), ACF, the REST API, WooCommerce and the build tooling you actually use.
- Prove you hand off sites clients can manage - documentation, training and a clean admin - because that is what agencies rehire for.
- Self-taught is fine: a degree is optional when the portfolio, contributions and shipped work back you up.
Why This WordPress Developer Resume Works
The sample on this page is a Leeds agency developer with eight years across themes, plugins and WooCommerce. Here is what it gets right structurally:
- The summary opens with the role, the years and the concrete output - custom themes, plugins and high-performance sites - so a hiring manager sees a builder, not a tweaker, in the first line.
- It anchors on a single signature result (rebuilding a bloated site into a fast custom theme that lifted page speed and rankings) instead of listing every project, which reads like a developer who measures impact.
- The stack is named in working terms - custom post types, the block editor, WooCommerce, REST API, modern PHP and JavaScript - so it passes both a keyword scan and a senior dev's read.
- The experience timeline climbs intern → junior → developer at named studios, which signals a real career arc rather than a scatter of unrelated freelance gigs.
- The Selected Builds section (a WooCommerce theme, a membership platform) turns claims into shipped products, which is the closest a resume gets to showing a portfolio inline.
- It closes the summary on a clear target - a quality-focused agency or business - so the reader knows exactly what kind of role to slot this candidate into.
How to Write a WordPress Developer Resume That Gets Interviews
WordPress hiring rewards proof over adjectives. Work through these moves in order:
Lead with what you build, not the tools you touch
Open the summary with role, years and output: custom themes, plugins and high-performance sites. Compare "WordPress developer with eight years building custom themes and WooCommerce stores" against "experienced with WordPress" - the first tells a hiring manager you write code, the second could be a hobbyist.
Put a live portfolio link at the top
List 3-6 real URLs you built and can speak to. A WordPress role is judged on shipped sites, so a hiring manager will open the links before they read the bullets. Note your exact part ("custom theme + WooCommerce checkout") so credit is unambiguous on agency builds.
Quantify performance and SEO outcomes
Tie work to numbers a client cares about: PageSpeed/Lighthouse score, LCP and INP before and after, load-time cuts, and any ranking or conversion movement. "Rebuilt a bloated theme, cut LCP from 4.1s to 1.3s and lifted organic traffic 38%" beats "improved site performance."
Separate custom development from page-building
Say plainly whether you write custom themes and plugins or assemble Elementor/Divi layouts - both are real jobs, but they pay differently and recruiters screen for the line. Name hooks, filters, custom post types and ACF field setups to prove the code side.
Show the maintenance and handover side
Agencies rehire developers who ship sites clients can run. List hosting, security hardening, backups, staged deploys and the training or documentation you provide. A handover note turns a one-off build into a retained client.
Match the stack to the job ad
Mirror the exact terms in the posting - headless WP, full-site editing, WooCommerce subscriptions, a specific host like WP Engine. ATS and the lead dev both scan for these, so the closer your stack maps to theirs, the further you get.
What to Include in a WordPress Developer Resume
Beyond the standard sections, these earn their place on a WordPress developer resume specifically:
A portfolio or "Selected Builds" block with live URLs and your exact contribution to each.
A precise technical stack - PHP version, Gutenberg/block development, ACF, REST API, WooCommerce, build tools (Composer, npm, Webpack) and your host platforms.
Performance and security evidence: Core Web Vitals status, caching/CDN setup, and hardening practices.
Plugin or theme work you've released, contributed to, or published on the WordPress.org repository or GitHub.
Client-handover signals: documentation, training, and a clean, usable admin - the difference between a one-off and a retained account.
Relevant credentials only where they help - a CS or web-dev degree, a PHP/performance certification, or named open-source contributions; the portfolio still leads.
Extra tips
Agencies live on maintenance retainers, so stabilizing a messy inherited build reads stronger than another greenfield project.
A line like 'took over a 40-plugin site and cut it to 12 without downtime' is rare and hireable.
WordPress Developer Resume Summary Examples
Each summary below targets a different seniority and angle so you can model the one closest to your own work - none repeats the sample on this page:
Entry-level resume summary example
Junior WordPress developer with two years building and maintaining custom themes and client sites, moving up from an internship into hands-on theme and plugin work. Comfortable across PHP, HTML, CSS and JavaScript, the block editor and Advanced Custom Fields, and confident turning Figma designs into responsive, accessible WordPress builds. Shipped a redesigned local-business site that cut load time from 5.2 seconds to 1.8 and lifted the Lighthouse performance score from 54 to 96. Familiar with Git, staged deploys, WooCommerce basics and security hardening, and quick to pick up an agency's existing codebase. Looking for a junior WordPress or front-end developer role where strong fundamentals and a willingness to learn the deeper stack are valued.
Mid-level resume summary example
WordPress developer with five years delivering custom themes, plugins and WooCommerce stores for small agencies and direct clients. Builds from the database up - custom post types, ACF field groups, Gutenberg blocks and REST API endpoints - rather than leaning on page builders, and ships sites that pass Core Web Vitals on real devices. Rebuilt a struggling e-commerce store onto a lean custom theme, raising the mobile PageSpeed score from 41 to 92 and recovering a 27% drop in checkout conversions. Handles hosting, caching, backups and client training end to end, and writes documentation that lets clients run their own sites. Seeking a mid-level WordPress developer role at a product or agency team that ships quality, performance-focused builds.
Senior-level resume summary example
Senior WordPress developer and tech lead with eleven years across enterprise themes, custom plugins and headless WordPress on Next.js front ends. Architects multisite networks, owns CI/CD and staged deployments, and mentors a team of four through code review and WordPress coding standards. Led a publisher's migration off a bloated theme to a block-based custom build that improved INP across the top 50 templates and cut server response time by 60%. Has published two plugins on the WordPress.org repository with a combined 40,000 active installs and contributes patches to core. Looking for a lead WordPress or full-stack engineering role owning architecture, performance and the standards a growing team builds against.
WordPress Developer Work Experience Examples
Use these as patterns for your own bullets - each set targets a different context and every line carries a number and an outcome, the way a strong resume bullet should:
Agency / generalist WordPress developer
- Built 30+ custom WordPress themes from Figma designs across two years, delivering responsive, WCAG-AA accessible sites that passed Core Web Vitals on mobile and cut average client bounce rate by 19%.
- Developed a reusable ACF and Gutenberg block library that cut new-site build time from three weeks to nine days, letting the studio take on 40% more projects without adding headcount.
- Rebuilt a slow 12-page brochure site onto a lean custom theme, dropping LCP from 4.3 seconds to 1.4 and lifting the client's organic search traffic by 34% over the following quarter.
- Hardened and migrated 15 client sites to managed hosting with full-page caching and a CDN, eliminating recurring downtime and cutting average page load across the portfolio by 1.9 seconds.
WooCommerce / e-commerce developer
- Built a custom WooCommerce theme and streamlined one-page checkout for a retail client, tuning the buying flow until mobile conversion rose from 1.8% to 3.1% and cart abandonment fell by 22%.
- Wrote a custom plugin integrating WooCommerce with the client's ERP over the REST API, automating stock sync for 4,000 SKUs and removing roughly 12 hours of manual order entry each week.
- Optimized a high-traffic store handling 9,000 daily sessions with object caching and database query tuning, cutting time-to-first-byte from 1.4 seconds to 280ms during a Black Friday peak.
- Implemented WooCommerce Subscriptions and a tiered membership system, growing the client's recurring revenue by 28% within six months of launch without paying for any third-party SaaS fees.
Senior / lead WordPress developer
- Led a publisher's migration from a legacy theme to a block-based custom build across 50+ templates, improving INP on mobile from 410ms to 160ms and lifting Core Web Vitals pass rate to 94%.
- Architected a headless WordPress backend serving a Next.js front end via the REST and GraphQL APIs, cutting average page render time by 58% and supporting a 3x traffic increase without new servers.
- Established WordPress coding standards, PHPStan checks and a CI/CD pipeline with staged deploys, dropping post-release hotfixes by 70% across a four-developer team over two quarters.
- Published two open-source plugins on the WordPress.org repository reaching 40,000 combined active installs, and mentored four junior developers through structured code review and pair programming.
Top WordPress Developer Skills
Pull from these to match the job ad, leading with the development skills that prove you write code rather than only assemble layouts:
Once you have pulled the development skills that match the posting, the resume still has to read like an engineer's rather than a wall of keywords. Building it on a clean layout lets you put your portfolio and core stack up top, where a lead developer scans before anything else.
Hard skills
- Custom theme development
- Plugin development
- PHP
- WordPress REST API
- Advanced Custom Fields (ACF)
- Gutenberg / block development
- Full-site editing
- WooCommerce
- MySQL
- HTML, CSS & JavaScript
- jQuery
- Page builders (Elementor / Divi)
- Performance optimization & caching
- Security hardening
- Site migration
- Git & version control
- Hooks & filters
- Headless WordPress
- Core Web Vitals optimization
- Build tooling (Composer, npm, Webpack)
Soft skills:
- Problem solving
- Clear client communication
- Attention to detail
- Reliability
- Pragmatism
- Time and project management
Common WordPress Developer Resume Mistakes
These are the errors that quietly sink WordPress developer applications:
- Listing "WordPress" as one flat skill with no detail - it hides whether you write custom themes and plugins or just install them, which is the question every hiring manager has.
- Leaving off live portfolio URLs, or linking dead or generic sites - a WordPress role is judged on shipped work, and an unlinked claim reads as no claim.
- Blurring page-builder work and custom development - saying "built" when you assembled an Elementor template misleads the read and gets exposed in the technical interview.
- No performance numbers - "improved speed" with no PageSpeed score, LCP or load-time figure is invisible next to a candidate who quantified the gain.
- Naming only WordPress and ignoring the wider stack - leaving off PHP, MySQL, JavaScript, Git and build tools makes you read as a power-user, not an engineer.
- Padding with every plugin you've ever clicked instead of the few you can defend in depth - depth on your real stack beats a long shallow list.
WordPress Developer Resume FAQs
The questions candidates most often search when writing a WordPress developer resume:
Yes - a portfolio of live, named sites is the single most important element. Link 3-6 real URLs you built, note your exact contribution to each, and put them near the top, because a hiring manager opens the links before reading the bullets.
A WordPress developer specializes in building on WordPress - custom themes, plugins, hooks and the block editor - while a web developer is a broader title spanning many stacks. Frame yourself by the work in the ad: lean into WordPress depth for agency roles, and surface your wider PHP/JavaScript skills for general web-developer roles.
A developer writes the code - custom themes, plugins, PHP and JavaScript - while a designer creates the visual layout and UX. If you do both, label them as separate skill sets rather than blurring them, since teams hire and pay for the two differently.
List whichever you actually do, and be precise about it. Custom theme and plugin development signals an engineer and pays more, while Elementor/Divi page-building is a distinct, valid skill - recruiters screen for the difference, so claiming custom code you didn't write gets exposed in the interview.
No - most WordPress developers are hired on portfolio and shipped work, not a degree. A CS or web-development degree helps and is worth listing if you have one, but published plugins, live sites and open-source contributions carry more weight for self-taught candidates.
Lead with development skills that prove you write code: custom themes, plugin development, PHP, the REST API, ACF, Gutenberg and WooCommerce. Add the wider stack - MySQL, JavaScript, Git, performance optimization and security hardening - and mirror the exact terms used in the job ad.
One page for most developers, two only with 10+ years or a substantial published-plugin and project history. Recruiters skim quickly, so put the portfolio link, signature performance result and core stack in the top third where they'll actually be read.
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