STEM Research Scientist - PhD

About the job

Mercor connects elite creative and technical talent with leading AI research labs. Headquartered in San Francisco, our investors include Benchmark , General Catalyst , Peter Thiel , Adam D'Angelo , Larry Summers , and Jack Dorsey .

Position: Expert Professionals — STEM Research

Type: Contract

Compensation: $70–$100/hour

Location: Remote

Commitment: 40 hours/week

Role Responsibilities

• Guide research teams to close knowledge gaps in STEM domains by surfacing edge cases, ambiguities, and frontier problems where current models underperform.
• Design challenging, rigorous domain tasks and write accurate, well-reasoned solutions that demonstrate expert-level scientific and technical reasoning.
• Evaluate tasks and solutions produced by AI agents and other contributors, providing clear written technical feedback grounded in domain expertise.
• Develop evaluation frameworks and rubrics for assessing scientific reasoning quality across STEM domains.
• Collaborate with other subject matter experts to ensure consistency and accuracy in training data.

Qualifications

Must-Have

• PhD (completed, enrolled, or equivalent research track) in Physics , Chemistry , Biology , Mathematics , Statistics , Computer Science , Electrical Engineering , Mechanical Engineering , Civil Engineering , Materials Science , or another STEM discipline.
• 3+ years of research, academic, or industry experience in their primary STEM domain.
• Demonstrated technical expertise in at least one domain: computational modeling, laboratory methods, data analysis, statistical inference, programming, or equivalent scientific methods.
• Ability to commit to 40 hours per week during weekdays for the duration of the engagement.
• Strong written communication skills; ability to explain complex scientific or technical concepts clearly in writing.

Preferred

• Prior experience with data annotation, labeling, evaluation, or human feedback collection.
• Experience with LLMs , AI systems , or agentic workflows; familiarity with agentic frameworks.

Compensation & Legal

• W-2 employment with Cincinnatus LLC .

Application Process (Takes 20–30 mins to complete)

• Upload resume
• AI interview based on your resume
• Submit form

Resources & Support

• For details about the interview process and platform information, please check: https://talent.docs.mercor.com/welcome
• For any help or support, reach out to: support@mercor.com

PS: Our team reviews applications daily. Please complete your AI interview and application steps to be considered for this opportunity.