PhD Scientist — STEM Expert

Confidential; United States; Remote; USD 62,000 - 124,000; Part time

Job summary

Zekai is seeking a PhD Scientist - STEM Expert for a 100% remote, contractor role open to applicants worldwide. You will design complex problems from your own research, provide correct solutions with clear reasoning, and establish objective criteria for grading.

You’ll also review problems from peers and flag ambiguous items to ensure rigorous evaluation. The position favors candidates with hands-on research experience, wet lab or research lab background, and a track record of research

Qualifications

• PhD completed in a STEM field.
• Hands-on research experience — work you did yourself, not work you read about.
• Wet lab or research lab experience strongly preferred.
• Able to explain why an answer is correct clearly enough for verification.

Responsibilities

• Design difficult technical problems drawn from your own research area, with realistic constraints and supporting data.
• Provide the correct solution and walk through the reasoning that gets there.
• Define objective criteria for correctness so others would reach the same verdict.
• Review problems built by other contributors for technical accuracy and soundness of method.
• Flag problems that turn out to be ambiguous or ungradable rather than submitting them.

Skills

Hands-on research

Wet lab

Communication

Education

PhD in STEM

Job description

Opportunity Snapshot

Job Title: PhD Scientist - STEM Expert

Job Type: Contractor

Location: Remote(Worldwide)

Pay: $45 - $90/hour

Commitment: Flexible — fits alongside your current role

Location: Fully remote

You’ll need: A completed PhD in a STEM field, plus hands-on research experience

Your tasks: Build difficult technical problems from your own research and define what makes an answer correct

These tasks are hard to build, and that’s the point. We’re looking for people with genuine depth in their field: the problems where the textbook answer isn’t enough, where the right approach depends on reading the constraints correctly, where a plausible-looking answer is quietly wrong.

What you’ll do

• Design difficult technical problems drawn from your own research area, with realistic constraints and supporting data.
• Provide the correct solution and walk through the reasoning that gets there.
• Define objective criteria for correctness, so another researcher reviewing the work would reach the same verdict.
• Review problems built by other contributors for technical accuracy and soundness of method.
• Flag problems that turn out to be ambiguous or ungradable rather than submitting them.

What we’re looking for

• Completed PhD in a STEM field. This is a hard requirement.
• Hands-on research experience — work you did yourself, not work you read about.
• Wet lab, research lab, or academic experience is strongly preferred.
• Able to explain why an answer is correct clearly enough that another researcher could verify it.
• Publications or a record of research contribution is a strong plus.
• Prior experience on AI training or evaluation projects is a plus, not a requirement.

This is a 100% remote contract role, open to applicants worldwide in the countries the employer accepts.