ML Research Scientist - PhD

mercor; France; Remote; EUR 74,000 - 123,000; Full time

Job summary

Mercor is seeking an ML Research PhD expert for contract work with remote delivery. You will evaluate AI-generated content, review ML research for alignment, and provide structured feedback to research teams. The role emphasizes developing benchmarks, collaboration with experts, and advancing model performance while meeting deadlines. Remote, contract-based engagement with rolling reviews.

Qualifications

• PhD in ML, CS, AI, or closely related field.
• Published at least one main conference paper at ICML, NeurIPS, or ICLR.
• Strong preference for candidates with 2+ publications at these venues.
• Demonstrated experience conducting original ML research.

Responsibilities

• Evaluate the accuracy and depth of AI-generated content to strengthen reasoning and rigor in model outputs.
• Review complex ML research for alignment with domain principles and methodologies.
• Provide clear, structured feedback to AI research teams to improve training data quality and downstream performance.
• Develop evaluation rubrics and benchmarks for assessing AI-generated tasks and solutions.
• Collaborate with subject matter experts to ensure consistency, relevance, and coverage across datasets.
• Work independently and asynchronously to meet deadlines while improving AI model performance.

Skills

Research experience

Original ML research

Publications in ICML/NeurIPS/ICLR

Critical thinking

Education

PhD in Machine Learning/CS/AI

Job description

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: ML Research PhD Experts (ICML / NeurIPS / ICLR Publications) Type: Contract Compensation: $60–$100/hour Location: Remote

Responsibilities

• Evaluate the accuracy and depth of AI-generated content to strengthen reasoning and rigor in model outputs .
• Review complex machine learning research for alignment with domain principles and methodologies.
• Provide clear, structured feedback to AI research teams to improve training data quality and downstream performance.
• Develop evaluation rubrics and benchmarks for assessing AI-generated tasks and solutions.
• Collaborate with subject matter experts to ensure consistency, relevance, and coverage across datasets.
• Work independently and asynchronously to meet deadlines while improving AI model performance .

Qualifications

Must-Have

• PhD in Machine Learning , Computer Science , AI , or a closely related field.
• Published at least one main conference paper at ICML, NeurIPS, or ICLR .
• Strong preference for candidates with 2+ publications at these venues.
• Demonstrated experience conducting original ML research .

Preferred

• Expertise in Reinforcement Learning (RL) .
• Knowledge of Meta-Learning .
• Experience with Recursive Self-Improvement .
• Interest in AI for Science (e.g., weather forecasting, protein modeling, scientific discovery).

Start Date

• Urgent ; applications reviewed on a rolling basis.