Biochemistry & Life Sciences Domain Expert

Mercor; United States; Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Cincinnatus LLC is hiring a senior biochemistry and life sciences domain expert to work with a leading AI lab's research and program management teams. You will write instruction specs, create golden solutions, and develop benchmarks to measure model improvements in life sciences reasoning.

This is a full-time W-2 role with Cincinnatus LLC, hybrid in the Bay Area, requiring on-site work several days per week.

Qualifications

• PhD in biochemistry, molecular or cell biology, genetics, immunology, neuroscience, or a closely related life science.
• 4+ years of substantive research experience at a recognized institution, for example a research university, an academic medical center, a national laboratory, or an industrial research organization.
• Genuine specialization in at least one area of life sciences.
• Clear progression to a senior level with ownership of research direction.
• A record of peer-reviewed publications, ideally including first-author work in strong journals.
• Hands-on working use of large language models in your professional work.
• Able to commit reliably to 40 hours per week for an initial engagement of 6 months.
• Living in the Bay Area, California, and able to work on-site with the client's team multiple days each week.
• Excellent written communication, and the ability to give precise, well-structured written feedback.

Responsibilities

• Data QA and reviews: Vet the quality of life sciences knowledge work tasks and model outputs.
• Instruction specs and golden datasets: Write high-quality instruction specs and golden solutions.
• Benchmarks and domain depth: Design challenging life sciences tasks and evaluation sets.
• Calibration: Translate tacit scientific judgment into explicit criteria for standards.

Skills

AI fluency

Written communication

Scientific writing

Attention to detail

Time management

Education

PhD in biochemistry or life sciences

Job description

Join a leading AI lab's cutting-edge GenAI team to be at the core of the AI revolution, where your expertise fuels the development of the most advanced AI models.

1. Overview

We are hiring a senior biochemistry and life sciences domain expert to work directly with a leading AI lab's research and program management teams, improving how frontier AI models reason about real life sciences research work.

Your scientific expertise is the substance of this role. You will review the quality of life sciences knowledge work tasks, write the instruction specs and golden solutions that define what \"correct\" looks like, and build the benchmarks that show whether the model is genuinely improving. We are looking for a practicing specialist rather than a generalist.

This is a full-time W-2 employment position with Cincinnatus LLC, with the opportunity to be placed at a leading AI lab as part of their extended workforce. You will be provisioned with client-issued accounts and equipment, and will work inside the client's own tools alongside their research teams.

Location: This is a hybrid role based in the Bay Area, California. You must live in the Bay Area and work on-site with the client's team multiple days each week, when required. This is not a remote role. If you do not currently live in the Bay Area, you must be willing to relocate there at your own cost before the engagement starts. Relocation assistance is not provided.

2. Key Responsibilities

• Data QA and reviews: Vet the quality of life sciences knowledge work tasks and model outputs, spotting missing behaviors, thin reasoning, mechanistic hand-waving, unsupported causal claims, and answers that read well but would not survive peer review.
• Instruction specs and golden datasets: Write high-quality instruction specs, produce golden solutions to life sciences problems, and define new tasks that reflect how the research is actually done in practice.
• Benchmarks and domain depth: Design challenging life sciences tasks and evaluation sets, and help build domain-specific skills and tools together with the research team.
• Calibration: Work with client researchers and specialists in adjacent fields to keep standards consistent, translating tacit scientific judgment into explicit, teachable criteria.

3. Core Qualifications

• Education: PhD in biochemistry, molecular or cell biology, genetics, immunology, neuroscience, or a closely related life science.
• Experience: 4+ years of substantive research experience at a recognized institution, for example a research university, an academic medical center, a national laboratory, or an industrial research organization. Graduate coursework alone does not count.
• Domain depth: Genuine specialization in at least one area, for example molecular and cell biology, biochemistry and structural biology, immunology and immuno-oncology, genetics and genomics, neuroscience, or systems biology.
• Seniority: Clear progression to a senior level, for example Senior Scientist, Staff Scientist, Research Scientist, Instructor, Principal Investigator, or a faculty appointment, with real ownership of research direction.
• Research record: A record of peer-reviewed publications, ideally including first-author work in strong journals. Strongly preferred.
• AI fluency: Hands-on working use of large language models in your professional work, and the judgment to tell a well-reasoned answer from a plausible-sounding wrong one.
• Availability: Able to commit reliably to 40 hours per week for an initial engagement of 6 months.
• Location: Living in the Bay Area, California, and able to work on-site with the client's team multiple days each week, when required. Candidates not currently based in the Bay Area must be willing to relocate there at their own cost. Relocation assistance is not provided.
• Excellent written communication, and the ability to give precise, well-structured written feedback.

About Cincinnatus LLC

Cincinnatus LLC is an enterprise staffing company that partners with leading technology companies to source and employ highly skilled professionals for contingent and contract-based opportunities. Cincinnatus serves as the employer of record for these engagements, providing W-2 employment, payroll, benefits, and compliance, while placing employees directly within client teams to work on high-impact initiatives.

Roles hired through Cincinnatus are not project-based or freelance engagements. They are structured, role-based positions that typically involve part-time or full-time commitments, close collaboration with a client's internal teams, and integration into standard enterprise workflows.

Cincinnatus is a legal entity separate from Mercor. While opportunities may be discovered through Mercor's platform, employment, onboarding, payroll, and benefits for these roles are administered by Cincinnatus LLC.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Cincinnatus is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, reproductive health decisions, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, genetic information, political views or activity, or any other legally protected characteristic.

Cincinnatus is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans throughout the job application process.