Propulsion Chemist: Energetic Materials & Safety R&D

Mercor; New York (NY); Remote; USD 110,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Mercor is assembling a panel of energetic materials and propulsion experts to red-team frontier AI models. The goal is to test whether a model can correctly judge misuse potential while answering legitimate questions fully and refusing dangerous ones.

You will write prompts across benign, dual-use, and adversarial levels, evaluate model responses against a policy standard, and draft the reference answer with the supporting rationale.

Qualifications

• Experience formulating, synthesising and testing specialty energetic materials in licensed or government facilities.
• Excellent ability to write clear, concise rationale for non-specialists.
• Strong background in distinguishing routine questions from high-sensitivity misuse scenarios.

Responsibilities

• Write challenging single-turn prompts labelled across benign, dual-use, and adversarial levels.
• Evaluate model responses against a policy standard and judge correctness.
• Draft reference answers with the technical reasoning for why they are correct.

Job description

Mercor is assembling a panel of energetic materials and propulsion experts to red-team frontier AI models. The goal is to test whether a model can correctly judge misuse potential while answering legitimate questions fully and refusing dangerous ones.

You will write prompts across benign, dual-use, and adversarial levels, evaluate model responses against a policy standard, and draft the reference answer with the supporting rationale.