Applied Mathematics Phd - Benchmark Expert

Mercor; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; GBP 63,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

Mercor is seeking a contracted Benchmark Specialist in Applied Mathematics to author and review advanced math questions across domains such as Signal Processing and Financial Mathematics. The role requires PhD-level expertise or current doctoral candidates with strong proof writing and excellent English communication.

You will craft self-contained questions with clear problem statements, provide correct solutions and distractors, and support verification with references.

Qualifications

• Strong command of graduate-level mathematical concepts and formal proof writing.
• Excellent written English and ability to express complex ideas concisely.
• Ability to design rigorous academic problems and mathematical competition-style questions.

Responsibilities

• Author original math questions testing deep conceptual understanding in Signal Processing and Financial Mathematics.
• Ensure questions are unambiguous, self-contained, and precisely defined with all necessary information.
• Rate questions for difficulty and provide 1 correct answer plus 9 plausible alternatives.
• Write step-by-step chain-of-thought solutions in markdown format.
• Provide 1–5 academic references per question.

Skills

Graduate-level mathematics

Formal proof writing

Excellent written English

Education

PhD or doctoral candidate in Mathematics/Applied Mathematics/Statistics

Master's degree considered for exceptional depth

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: Applied Mathematics Benchmark Specialist
Type: Contract
Compensation: $61–$77/hour
Location: Remote
Commitment: 10+ hours/week

Role Responsibilities

• Author original math questions that test deep conceptual understanding in Signal Processing, Financial Mathematics, and other domains.
• Ensure questions are unambiguous, self-contained, and precisely defined with all necessary information in the problem statement.
• Rate each question's difficulty as Medium, Hard, or Expert, providing 1 correct answer and 9 plausible alternatives.
• Write step-by-step Chain-of-Thought solutions with clear, concise intermediate steps in markdown format.
• Supply 1–5 academic references per question from reputable sources like peer-reviewed journals.
• For verification tasks, flag issues with clarity, completeness, precision, or solvability and justify any edits made.

Qualifications

Must-Have

• PhD or doctoral candidate in Mathematics, Applied Mathematics, Statistics, or a closely related field.
• Master's degree considered for candidates with exceptional depth in a specific subdomain.
• Strong command of graduate-level mathematical concepts and formal proof writing.
• Excellent written English and ability to express complex ideas clearly and concisely.

Preferred

• Experience with rigorous academic problem design or mathematical competition writing.