Aerodynamics PhD - Engineering Expert

Mercor; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Mercor in San Francisco seeks a senior aerodynamics expert to author original, industry-grounded problems and provide expert solutions.

You will design challenging scenarios grounded in real industry contexts, validate solutions with rigorous engineering reasoning, and collaborate with propulsion and CFD specialists to ensure high-quality outputs.

Qualifications

• PhD in Aerospace Engineering or Mechanical Engineering with thermofluids/aerodynamics specialization.
• 5+ years of hands-on professional experience in external aerodynamics, CFD, wind tunnel testing, propulsion, or vehicle aerodynamics.

Responsibilities

• Author original, free-response engineering problems grounded in real industry scenarios.
• Write complete expert-level solutions for each problem.
• Validate difficulty by testing against frontier language models to ensure at least one model fails.

Skills

External aerodynamics

CFD

Wind tunnel testing

Propulsion concepts

Vehicle aerodynamics

Education

PhD in Aerospace Engineering

PhD in Mechanical Engineering with thermofluids/aerodynamics specialization

Job description

We're looking for a senior aerodynamics expert to help build a benchmark of the hardest reasoning questions in the field — questions specifically designed to be difficult enough that today's most capable AI models still get them wrong. You'll author original, free-response engineering problems grounded in real industry scenarios, write a complete expert-level solution for each, and validate difficulty by running it against three frontier language models until at least one fails.

Requirements: PhD in Aerospace Engineering, or Mechanical Engineering with a thermofluids/aerodynamics specialization, plus 5+ years of hands‑on professional/industry experience in external aerodynamics, CFD, wind tunnel testing, propulsion, or vehicle aerodynamics. Backgrounds in rocket/satellite propulsion, structural/aeroelastic FEM, or wind-loads-on-buildings do not map to the taxonomy needed for this role. Candidates from well‑known/blue‑chip employers preferred.