Preclinical R&D Scientist - Drug Expert - AI Trainer

mercor; United States; Remote; USD 117,000 - 196,000; Full time

Job summary

Mercor is seeking a Preclinical R&D Expert for an in-house drug development program. This remote, contract role focuses on reviewing R&D materials, annotating data, and guiding scientific decisions critical to AI model development for drug discovery and preclinical optimization.

You will contribute across discovery biology, medicinal chemistry, protein/antibody engineering, and PK‑PD/toxicology domains, leveraging 5+ years of industry experience to shape program direction.

Qualifications

• Hands-on, non-administrative preclinical R&D experience at a company that develops its own drug assets.
• Work in a core R&D function: discovery biology, medicinal chemistry, protein/antibody engineering, computational, in vivo/translational, pharmacology/PK‑PD, toxicology, or CMC/formulation.
• Hands-on experience with one or more drug modalities (small molecules, monoclonal antibodies, peptides, ADCs, bispecifics, mRNA, siRNA, ASOs, PROTACs, molecular glues, cell therapies, gene therapies, radioligand therapies, etc.).
• 5+ years of relevant industry R&D experience.

Responsibilities

• Review technical materials and real-world R&D data in your area of expertise to improve AI model performance .
• Label, classify, and annotate scientific data and model outputs to enhance model accuracy.
• Provide expert perspective on key scientific and development decisions, including target and modality selection.
• Help define structure and quality standards for the client's dataset pipeline.
• Participate in expert discussions, interviews, and research engagements to guide AI platform development .

Skills

R&D experience

Drug modalities

Computational biology

PK-PD expertise

Translational toxicology

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: Preclinical R&D Expert – In-house Drug Development Type: Contract Compensation: $85–$142/hour Location: Remote

Role Responsibilities

• Review technical materials and real-world R&D data in your area of expertise to improve AI model performance .
• Label, classify, and annotate scientific data and model outputs to enhance model accuracy.
• Provide expert perspective on key scientific and development decisions, including target and modality selection.
• Help define structure and quality standards for the client's dataset pipeline.
• Participate in expert discussions, interviews, and research engagements to guide AI platform development .

Qualifications Must-Have

• Hands‑on, non-administrative preclinical R&D experience at a company that develops its own drug assets.
• Work in a core R&D function: discovery biology, medicinal chemistry, protein/antibody engineering, computational, in vivo/translational, pharmacology/PK‑PD, toxicology, or CMC/formulation.
• Hands‑on experience with one or more drug modalities (small molecules, monoclonal antibodies, peptides, ADCs, bispecifics, mRNA, siRNA, ASOs, PROTACs, molecular glues, cell therapies, gene therapies, radioligand therapies, etc.).
• 5+ years of relevant industry R&D experience.

Preferred

• Experience taking a program through lead optimization or IND‑enabling/preclinical development.
• Experience at mid‑size, emerging, or resource‑constrained biotech.