PCB Design Specialist - Fully Remote | Up to $100/hr

Mercor; San Francisco (CA); Remote; USD 40,000 - 60,000; Part time

Job summary

Mercor is partnering with a leading AI lab to design realistic design tasks for frontier AI models in CAD, PCB, and 3D domains. You will craft prompts, inputs, and graders, then validate performance across model runs and iterate to maintain fairness and realism.

Three tracks—Mechanical CAD, Electronics/PCB, and 3D/Spatial-Temporal—will leverage SolidWorks, KiCad, and Blender Python APIs. Role entails ongoing development, versioning in Git, and participation in onboarding and calibration sessions.

Qualifications

• 3+ years hands-on design experience in at least one track (industry, research lab, or serious freelance work).
• Proficiency with CAD tools listed (SolidWorks, AutoCAD, FreeCAD, KiCad).
• Shipped real deliverables: boards, parts, 3D assets, or published research.
• Portfolio link is required to apply.
• Python and Git proficiency as part of engineering work.
• Ability to judge whether a design is actually correct, not just looks.

Responsibilities

• Turn real design work into self-contained tasks: a prompt, input files, and an automated grader.
• Build and iterate on tasks with an AI coding agent and Git versioning.
• Run tasks against frontier models, read transcripts, close leaks and shortcuts to keep tasks hard for the right reasons.
• Pass automated QA and peer review, documenting rationales behind synthetic data.
• Attend onboarding and calibration sessions.

Skills

Python

Git

Hands-on design

Education

BS/MS in Mechanical/Electrical/Robotics

Tools

SolidWorks

AutoCAD

FreeCAD

KiCad

Blender Python API

Job description

About the Role

Mercor is partnering with a leading AI lab to measure how well frontier AI models perform real engineering design work. We're hiring experienced CAD, PCB, and 3D design engineers to build realistic, difficult design tasks that expose where AI still falls short.

You'll design a realistic engineering problem (a prompt, input files, and a grader that checks the result), run it against frontier models, and refine it until it is fair, realistic, and hard. Realism always comes before difficulty.

We're Hiring Across Three Tracks

• Mechanical CAD: parts, assemblies, mechanisms, and tolerancing. Professional experience with SolidWorks, AutoCAD, FreeCAD, or a comparable CAD tool is the baseline; Siemens NX and/or CATIA experience is highly valued. Tasks are built with code-based CAD (build123d, CadQuery, OpenCASCADE) and mesh tools (trimesh, manifold3d, Open3D)

• Electronics / PCB: schematic capture, layout, DRC/ERC, footprints, and enclosure fit using KiCad (kicad-cli, pcbnew Python API); openEMS or RF/EM simulation is a plus

• 3D / Spatial-Temporal: scene construction, animation, rigging, physics, and camera work in headless Blender driven by Python, plus rendering with PyVista/VTK

What You'll Do

• Turn real design work from your field into self-contained tasks: a prompt, input files (STEP, KiCad projects, .blend files, meshes), and an automated grader

• Build and iterate on tasks with an AI coding agent (Claude Code) and version them in Git

• Run each task against frontier models, read the model transcripts, and close leaks and shortcuts until the task is hard for the right reasons

• Pass automated QA and peer review, and document the rationale behind any synthetic data you create

• Attend onboarding and calibration sessions

You're a Good Fit If You

• Have 3+ years of hands-on design experience in at least one track (industry, research lab, or serious freelance work)

• For the Mechanical CAD track: have hands-on professional experience with SolidWorks, AutoCAD, FreeCAD, or a comparable CAD tool

• Have shipped real deliverables: fabricated boards, manufactured parts, production 3D assets, or published research

• Can share a portfolio of your own design work (a portfolio link is required to apply)

• Write Python as part of your engineering work and are comfortable with the command line and Git

• Can judge whether a design is actually correct, not just whether it looks right

Bonus Qualifications

• Siemens NX and/or CATIA experience (parts, assemblies, surfacing, drawings, or PLM such as Teamcenter/ENOVIA)

• Experience scripting design tools: build123d/CadQuery, FreeCAD Python, NX Open, KiCad scripting, or Blender's Python API (bpy)

• FEA, CFD, circuit, or EM simulation experience

• Degree (BS/MS/PhD) in Mechanical, Electrical, Aerospace, Robotics, Computer Graphics, or a related field

• Prior AI training, benchmark, or evaluation work, or heavy daily use of AI coding agents

Role Highlights

• Minimum 20 hours per week, active at least 5 days per week

• Role starts immediately, and applications are reviewed on a rolling basis