Remote Mechanical Engineer AI Trainer

Actalent; United States; Remote; USD 55,000 - 172,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental & vision

401(k) Retirement Plan

Life Insurance

Disability insurance

HSA

Transportation benefits

PTO

Job summary

Actalent is seeking experienced Mechanical Engineers in a fully remote capacity to evaluate how frontier AI handles real engineering tasks. You will craft realistic tasks from your practice, create prompts and files, and assess AI-generated results against professional standards.

The role emphasizes written reasoning and structured evaluation across design, analysis, manufacturing, and test. It offers flexible hours with a baseline of 10 hours weekly and opportunities to work more if desired.

Qualifications

• US Citizenship required for eligibility.
• Minimum 2 years of relevant mechanical engineering experience.
• Pursuing or holding a Bachelor's degree or higher in mechanical engineering or related field.
• Depth in design/CAD, structures, or thermal/fluids or dynamics/controls or manufacturing.
• Proficiency with CAD/FEA/CFD or MATLAB/Python for analysis.
• Familiarity with AI/LLM tools and their professional use.
• Comfort with cloud file tools and general digital workflows.

Responsibilities

• Design challenging mechanical tasks drawn from your practice for frontier AI evaluation.
• Run tasks through frontier AI models and compare outputs to professional standards.
• Compare outputs across models, document strengths/weaknesses, and justify judgments.
• Create closed-ended problems with rubrics detailing required deliverables and criteria.
• Flag concrete failures with evidence such as boundary conditions or interferences.

Skills

US Citizenship

2 years experience

Mechanical eng degree in progress

Depth in design/CAD/structures/thermal

CAD/FEA/CFD tools proficiency

MATLAB/Python for analysis

AI/LLM tool familiarity

Tech literacy (cloud tools, etc.)

Education

In progress Bachelors degree or higher in mechanical engineering or a related field

Tools

CAD tools (SolidWorks, Fusion 360, Onshape, Creo, NX, CATIA, Inventor)

FEA/CFD tools

MATLAB or Python for analysis

Job description

Overview: We are looking for experienced Mechanical Engineers to evaluate how frontier AI models handle real engineering work: sizing a component against a real load case, reading a CAD assembly and spotting what interferes at full travel, a tolerance stack up, a thermal or fluids calculation, a DFM decision, a failure analysis. The models can already talk fluently about mechanical engineering; what they cannot yet do reliably is the actual work. You bring the judgment you have built catching the failure mode the spec sheet does not mention. We bring the model output that judgment is needed to grade.

• In this role, you will design challenging, realistic tasks drawn from your own practice, such as a component sizing calculation with a worked solution, a tolerance stack up, a CAD assembly review with interference and clearance findings, a thermal or fluids analysis, a DFM and DFA review, a failure analysis report, or a test and validation plan, run them through frontier AI agents, and evaluate what comes back against a professional standard.
• You will work with realistic professional files, the kind a practitioner in your field actually handles, which you assemble yourself. Some tasks are compact, built around a handful of files; others are larger scenarios that take several days to build. In every case the goal is the same: a task a competent professional in your field would complete correctly and a frontier model currently gets wrong.
• This is not a traditional mechanical engineering role. You will be helping build better AI by putting your knowledge to work in a structured, flexible, fully remote environment.
• The work is long form and self directed, and clear written reasoning matters as much as technical depth.

Description

• Design challenging, realistic mechanical engineering tasks drawn from your own day to day work: the scenario, a prompt phrased the way you would brief a trusted colleague, and the supporting files an engineer would need (drawings, CAD models, load cases, material data, test data, specifications), which you author yourself.
• Run those tasks through frontier AI models and evaluate the deliverable they produce (the calculation, design review, analysis or report) against the standard you would hold a colleague to.
• Compare two model outputs on identical prompts and files, decide which performed better, and document where each fell short.
• Write closed ended problems with worked solutions and acceptance criteria, and detailed grading rubrics that specify what a correct deliverable must contain, such as the right loads and factors, the right material, the right tolerances and the right failure modes considered, and explain in writing why a response passes or fails each one.
• Flag concrete failures with evidence: wrong boundary conditions, unit errors, interferences missed, tolerance stacks that do not close, unsafe factors of safety, fabricated or ignored source files, and off brief interpretation of the ask.
• Contribute across design, analysis, manufacturing and test, and review and refine tasks built by other engineers.

Qualifications

• US Citizenship
• 2 years of relevant experience.
• In progress Bachelors degree or higher in mechanical engineering or a related field.
• Depth in at least one of: mechanical design and CAD (geometry, clearances, tolerances, mechanisms); structures and materials (stress, deflection, fatigue, buckling, material selection, failure analysis); thermal and fluids (heat transfer, thermodynamics, HVAC, pumps and piping); dynamics and controls (vibration, kinematics, rotating machinery); manufacturing (DFM and DFA, process selection, GD&T, tolerance stack ups, cost and quality trade offs).
• Fluency in the tools of your specialty: CAD (SolidWorks, Fusion 360, Onshape, Creo, NX, CATIA or Inventor), FEA or CFD, or MATLAB or Python for engineering analysis.
• General familiarity with AI and LLM tools. You have used models like Claude or ChatGPT in professional work and have the judgment to tell a well reasoned answer from a plausible sounding but incorrect one.
• Baseline tech literacy: comfortable with cloud file tools (e.g., Google Workspace), managing browser profiles, downloading and installing desktop apps (e.g., Claude), and everyday file handling (e.g., converting between Excel and Google Sheets, zipping files for sharing).

Additional Information

• 20 openings available.
• No interview required. A technical assessment takes the place of an interview.
• If you pass the assessment, you get the offer.
• 10 hours a week (7 days) are required. Able to work as many as you would like beyond 10 hours.
• If you do not regularly utilize AI tools, you most likely won't be successful in this type of position.

Job Type & Location

This is a Permanent position based out of Virginia Beach, VA.

Pay and Benefits

The pay range for this position is $40.00 - $125.00/hr. Individual compensation offered for this position within this range will depend on many factors, including qualifications, skills, relevant experience, job knowledge, geographic location, internal equity, and other pertinent job-related factors. Eligibility requirements apply to some benefits and may depend on your job classification and length of employment. Benefits are subject to change and may be subject to specific elections, plan, or program terms. If eligible, the benefits available for this temporary role may include the following:

• Medical, dental & vision
• Critical Illness, Accident, and Hospital
• 401(k) Retirement Plan Pre-tax and Roth post-tax contributions available
• Life Insurance (Voluntary Life & AD&D for the employee and dependents)
• Short and long-term disability
• Health Spending Account (HSA)
• Transportation benefits
• Employee Assistance Program
• Time Off/Leave (PTO, Vacation or Sick Leave)

Workplace Type

This is a fully remote position.

Application Deadline

This position is anticipated to close on Oct 21, 2026.

About Actalent

Actalent is a global leader in engineering and sciences services and talent solutions. We help visionary companies advance their engineering and science initiatives through access to specialized experts who drive scale, innovation and speed to market. With a network of almost 20,000 consultants and 5,000 clients across the U.S., Canada, Asia and Europe, Actalent serves many of the Fortune 500. We are proud to be an Engineering News-Record (ENR) Top 500 Design Firm for our engineering design services and a ClearlyRated Best of Staffing winner for both client and talent service.

The company is an equal opportunity employer and will consider all applications without regard to race, sex, age, color, religion, national origin, veteran status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information or any characteristic protected by law.

If you would like to request a reasonable accommodation, such as the modification or adjustment of the job application process or interviewing process due to a disability, please email [e-mail] for other accommodation options.

San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance: Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, for all positions located in the city and county of San Francisco, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

Massachusetts Lie Detector: It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI): We may use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to support parts of our hiring process, including sourcing, screening, and evaluating candidates. AI helps assess applications and qualifications, but final decisions are made by our hiring team. By applying, you acknowledge and agree that your application may be reviewed using AI tools.