Bioinformatics & Single-Cell Genomics Benchmark Designer

Mercor; New York (NY); On-site; USD 90,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Obsidian seeks a Bioinformatics & Computational Single-Cell Genomics Expert to design graduate-level problems using real scientific workflows and software. You will create challenging tasks that require advanced tool use, planning multiple queries or experiments, and interpreting multi-step results against state-of-the-art AI models.

Ideal candidates hold MS/PhD-level training, have hands-on experience with the specified libraries, and can write research-grade code for problem setups, oracle

Qualifications

• Graduate-level training in a relevant STEM field (MS, PhD, or equivalent).
• Proven proficiency with at least one of the listed scientific software libraries, shown through publications, open-source contributions, or professional work.
• Strong Python skills—writing problem setups, oracle functions, and validators.
• Ability to work independently and refine problem designs based on feedback.
• Comfortable in Linux/terminal environments with remote compute sandboxes.
• Available for at least 15–20 hours per week.

Responsibilities

• Design original graduate-level problems using real scientific workflows and software.
• Test problems against state-of-the-art AI models and refine until target difficulty is reached.
• Create problems that require planning queries or experiments to uncover hidden information.

Skills

Python programming

Bioinformatics

Single-cell genomics

Linux terminal

Research publications

Education

MS or PhD in a STEM field

Tools

scanpy

scvelo

squidpy

Gudhi

Job description

Obsidian seeks a Bioinformatics & Computational Single-Cell Genomics Expert to design graduate-level problems using real scientific workflows and software. You will create challenging tasks that require advanced tool use, planning multiple queries or experiments, and interpreting multi-step results against state-of-the-art AI models.

Ideal candidates hold MS/PhD-level training, have hands-on experience with the specified libraries, and can write research-grade code for problem setups, oracle