Explosives Specialist - Fully Remote | Upto $75/task Task based

mercor; United States; Remote; USD 90,000 - 103,000; Full time

Job summary

Mercor is seeking an Energetic Materials Expert for Redteaming on a remote contract basis. The role focuses on creating challenging prompts related to explosives and energetic materials, labeling them by risk category, and evaluating AI model responses against a strict policy.

The candidate will also draft reference answers with technical reasoning and identify potential misuse in queries. Must-have credentials include hazardous device and forensic analysis experience, pyrotechnics/propulsion

Qualifications

• Hazardous Device Specialist / Public Safety Professional with render-safe procedures.
• Specialty Materials Chemist with pyrotechnics or propulsion expertise.
• Federal Certified Materials Specialist / Incident Analyst with forensic ID skills.
• Propulsion & Effects Engineer background in munition design and propulsion systems.
• Commercial Blasting Engineer experience in specialty materials handling.

Responsibilities

• Write challenging single-turn prompts in explosives and energetic materials.
• Label prompts as benign, dual-use, or adversarial.
• Evaluate model responses against a defined policy standard.
• Write reference answers with correct responses and reasoning.
• Identify misuse potential in technical requests and ensure safe model behavior.

Skills

Hazardous materials knowledge

Pyrotechnics expertise

Forensic identification skills

Technical writing

Incident analysis

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: Energetic Materials Expert for Redteaming. Type: Contract. Compensation: $65-75/hour. Location: Remote.

Role Responsibilities

• Write challenging single-turn prompts in the domain of explosives and energetic materials. Label them as benign, dual-use, or adversarial.
• Evaluate model responses against a defined policy standard. Judge the correctness of each response.
• Write reference answers that include correct responses and the technical reasoning behind them.
• Identify misuse potential in technical requests. Ensure models refuse dangerous queries while answering legitimate ones.
• Work independently and asynchronously to meet deadlines while improving AI model performance.

Qualifications

Must-Have

• Hazardous Device Specialist / Public Safety Professional experience with render-safe procedures and device assessment.
• Specialty Materials Chemist expertise in pyrotechnics or propulsion.
• Federal Certified Materials Specialist / Incident Analyst with forensic identification skills.
• Propulsion & Effects Engineer background in munitions and propulsion system design.
• Commercial Blasting Engineer experience in specialty materials handling.

Preferred

• Prior AI evaluation or red-teaming experience.
• Technical writing, incident or post-blast reporting, published research, or expert witness experience.