Cybersecurity Research Expert @ Mercor

Hatch; United States; Remote; AUD 120,000 - 210,000; Part time

Job summary

Hatch is seeking highly accomplished Cybersecurity Research Experts to evaluate AI systems in security reasoning, vulnerability analysis, exploit development, and secure software engineering. This fully remote independent contractor role emphasizes offensive security research and public contributions.

Ideal candidates will have experience with CTFs, CVEs, bug bounties, and publications, plus strong skills in exploitation, reverse engineering, and cryptography.

Qualifications

• Ideal Background items include: multiple credentials such as CTF achievements, CVE findings, bug bounty recognition, or security lab/research group work.
• Publications or conference papers in security fields are highly valued.
• Strong understanding of exploit development, reverse engineering, binary analysis, vulnerability research, OS, networks, web security, or cryptography.

Responsibilities

• Evaluate AI-generated analyses of cybersecurity scenarios, exploits, and vulnerability reports.
• Review technical writeups for correctness, exploitability, and mitigation quality.
• Validate vulnerability root-cause analysis across software, OS, networking, cloud, and web applications.

Skills

Exploit development

Reverse engineering

Binary analysis

Web security

Cryptography

Programming in C/C++

Python

Excellent written communication

Tools

IDA Pro

Ghidra

Binary Ninja

Radare2

Job description

We're looking for highly accomplished Cybersecurity Research Experts to help evaluate cutting-edge AI systems in advanced security reasoning, vulnerability analysis, exploit development, and secure software engineering. This project is ideal for practitioners with a strong track record in offensive security research and publicly recognised technical contributions.

What You’ll Do

• Evaluate AI-generated analyses of complex cybersecurity scenarios, exploits, and vulnerability reports.
• Review technical writeups for correctness, exploitability, and mitigation quality.
• Validate vulnerability root-cause analysis across software, operating systems, networking, cloud, and web applications.
• Provide structured feedback on security reasoning, exploit chains, and defensive recommendations.
• Contribute to benchmark development for advanced AI security capabilities.

Ideal Background

We are looking for candidates with multiple of the following credentials:

• Member of a top-ranked Capture The Flag (CTF) team with demonstrated competitive achievements.
• Discoverer or co-author of CVEs affecting widely used open-source or commercial software.
• Publicly recognised bug bounty researcher with findings accepted by major programs (e.g., Google, Microsoft, Apple, Meta, GitHub, Mozilla, Chromium, Kubernetes, Linux Foundation, etc.).
• Research experience at a well-respected security laboratory or academic research group (e.g., KAIST Security Lab, SSLab, university security research groups, or equivalent industry research organisations).
• Author of high-quality security research publications, conference papers, or widely cited technical writeups.
• Strong understanding of exploit development, reverse engineering, binary analysis, vulnerability research, operating systems, networks, web security, or cryptography.

Preferred Qualifications

• Professional experience in offensive security, application security, vulnerability research, product security, or security engineering.
• Experience with reverse engineering tools such as IDA Pro, Ghidra, Binary Ninja, or Radare2.
• Familiarity with fuzzing, symbolic execution, static analysis, or dynamic analysis frameworks.
• Strong programming skills in C/C++, Rust, Python, Go, or Java.
• Excellent written communication and ability to explain complex security concepts clearly.

Nice to Have

• Hall of Fame recognition from major bug bounty programs.
• Black Hat, DEF CON, USENIX Security, IEEE S&P, ACM CCS, NDSS, or similar conference presentations/publications.
• Maintainer or significant contributor to well-known open-source security tools.
• Offensive Security certifications (OSCP, OSEP, OSCE3), GIAC certifications, or equivalent credentials.

Why Join?

• Work on frontier AI models tackling real-world cybersecurity problems.
• Collaborate with leading researchers on advanced security evaluation tasks.
• Help shape the next generation of AI systems for cybersecurity.

We consider all qualified applicants without regard to legally protected characteristics and provide reasonable accommodations upon request.

Contract and Payment Terms

• You will be engaged as an independent contractor.
• This is a fully remote role that can be completed on your own schedule.
• Projects can be extended, shortened, or concluded early depending on needs and performance.
• Your work at Mercor will not involve access to confidential or proprietary information from any employer, client, or institution.
• Payments are weekly on Stripe or Wise based on services rendered.
• Please note: We are unable to support H1-B or STEM OPT candidates at this time.

Key Responsibilities

• Evaluating AI-generated analyses
• Reviewing technical writeups
• Validating vulnerability analysis

Key Strengths

• Vulnerability analysis
• Reverse engineering tools
• Security research publications

Why Mercor is partnering with Hatch on this role.

Hatch exists to level the playing field for people as they discover a career that’s right for them.

A Final Note: This is a role with Mercor not with Hatch.