Senior Software Engineer – AI/ML (Remote, Contract)

Mercor; Auckland; Remote; NZD 294,000 - 441,000; Full time

Job summary

Mercor, a remote-first firm, seeks a Senior Software Engineering Expert to design realistic, challenging software tasks for AI models and to evaluate AI-generated code within production-quality standards. This role emphasizes rigorous task proposals, reference solutions, tests, and clear criteria for success across correctness, architecture, and maintainability.

You will collaborate with AI coding agents and senior reviewers, applying structured, evidence-based judgments and iterating on

Qualifications

• 4+ years of professional software engineering experience at leading technology, quantitative, or financial firms.
• Strong command of at least one major language like Python, Java, C++, Go, TypeScript, or Rust.
• Proven ability to work in large, complex production codebases and judge code quality.
• Excellent written English for explaining technical decisions and trade-offs.
• Bachelor's degree from an English-speaking country.
• Detail-oriented and consistent in evaluating complex work.
• Comfortable receiving feedback and calibrating judgment against set standards.

Responsibilities

• Design realistic, challenging software engineering tasks from real-world work. Tasks include feature changes, debugging, root-cause analysis, code review, system design, and technical documentation.
• Write clear task proposals explaining task realism, verification, and challenges for current AI models.
• Illustrate "what good looks like" with reference solutions, tests, and criteria covering correctness, architecture, maintainability, style, and scope.
• Assess AI-generated code and engineering work, collaborating with AI coding agents to evaluate success and failure.
• Apply consistent, evidence-based judgment for reproducible and defensible assessments.
• Take structured feedback from senior reviewers and iterate on submitted work.

Skills

4+ years software engineering

Python

Java

C++

Go

TypeScript

Rust

Excellent written English

Education

Bachelor's degree from an English-speaking country

Job description

Mercor, a remote-first firm, seeks a Senior Software Engineering Expert to design realistic, challenging software tasks for AI models and to evaluate AI-generated code within production-quality standards. This role emphasizes rigorous task proposals, reference solutions, tests, and clear criteria for success across correctness, architecture, and maintainability.

You will collaborate with AI coding agents and senior reviewers, applying structured, evidence-based judgments and iterating on