Remote Applied Physics Problem Designer (Contract)

Mercor; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; GBP 63,000 - 80,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Remote working

Job summary

Mercor seeks an Applied Physics Benchmark Specialist to craft original physics questions testing deep conceptual understanding for AI research labs. This remote contract role requires 10+ hours per week and pays $61–$77 per hour.

Applicants should hold a PhD or be doctoral candidates in Physics or related fields, with strong graduate-level physics knowledge and excellent written English. Preference for experience in academic problem design and physics olympiad writing.

Qualifications

• PhD or doctoral candidate in Physics, Applied Physics, Astrophysics or closely related field.
• Master's degree considered for exceptional depth in subdomain.
• Strong command of graduate-level physics concepts and mathematical formalism.
• Excellent written English and ability to express complex ideas clearly.

Responsibilities

• Author original physics questions that test deep conceptual understanding, not surface-level recall.
• Ensure questions are unambiguous, self-contained, and precisely defined.
• Rate each question’s difficulty: Medium, Hard or Expert.
• Provide 1 correct answer and 9 plausible but subtly incorrect alternatives.
• Write step-by-step Chain-of-Thought solutions in markdown format.
• Supply 1–5 academic references per question.
• Flag issues with clarity, completeness, precision, or solvability and justify edits.

Education

PhD in Physics / Applied Physics

Master's degree (exceptional depth)

Strong graduate-level physics concepts

Excellent written English

Job description

Mercor seeks an Applied Physics Benchmark Specialist to craft original physics questions testing deep conceptual understanding for AI research labs. This remote contract role requires 10+ hours per week and pays $61–$77 per hour.

Applicants should hold a PhD or be doctoral candidates in Physics or related fields, with strong graduate-level physics knowledge and excellent written English. Preference for experience in academic problem design and physics olympiad writing.