Quantum Chemistry PhD - Coding Expert

Mercor; New York (NY); On-site; USD 83,000 - 124,000; Full time

Job summary

Mercor is hiring PhD and Master's scientists to author AI evaluation tasks (Sci Code). You will join a collaboration with leading AI labs to publish original, executable research problems that frontier models cannot solve.

Candidates should have PhD in chemistry-related fields and demonstrated depth in quantum and computational chemistry, plus proficiency in Python or R and experience with Git/GitHub and Docker workflows. The engagement lasts 6 weeks, part-time with 20+ hours per week.

Qualifications

• PhD in chemistry, physical chemistry, theoretical chemistry, computational chemistry, or a closely related field.
• Demonstrated depth in quantum chemistry and computational chemistry.
• Working proficiency in Python, R, or another relevant programming language for scientific computing.
• Comfortable with Git/GitHub and running code in Docker — authoring runs through a pull-request workflow with automated quality checks.

Responsibilities

• Source your own material: a published paper, a Kaggle dataset, an open-source repository, or a scenario you design.
• Write scientific prompts based on the input.
• Build the grading criteria that define a correct answer.
• Calibrate against frontier models — a task ships only when strong models fail it more often than they succeed.

Skills

Quantum chemistry

Computational chemistry

Programming (Python/R)

Git & Docker

Education

PhD in chemistry or closely related field

Tools

Docker

GitHub

Job description

Mercor is hiring PhD and Master's scientists to author AI evaluation tasks (Sci Code)

Mercor is partnering with leading AI labs on a new benchmark for scientific computing. You will author original, executable research problems that today's frontier models cannot solve.

Domains — depth required in at least two subdomains (with a coding focus)

• Chemistry — quantum chemistry, computational chemistry

What you'll do

• Source your own material: a published paper, a Kaggle dataset, an open-source repository, or a scenario you design
• Write scientific prompts based on the input
• Build the grading criteria that define a correct answer
• Calibrate against frontier models — a task ships only when strong models fail it more often than they succeed

Required

• PhD in chemistry, physical chemistry, theoretical chemistry, computational chemistry, or a closely related field
• Demonstrated depth in both of the following subdomains: quantum chemistry and computational chemistry
• Working proficiency in Python, R, or another relevant programming language for scientific computing
• Comfortable with Git/GitHub and running code in Docker — authoring runs through a pull-request workflow with automated quality checks

Preferred

• Publications in peer-reviewed journals
• Prior scientific software or research engineering experience

Engagement

• Duration: 6 weeks
• Commitment: part-time, 20+ hours per week
• Start date: immediate