Remote Molecular Biology AI Researcher — Contract

Mercor; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; GBP 72,000 - 108,000; Part time

Job summary

Mercor is seeking Molecular Biology Experts for a remote contract role, offering $70–$105/hour and 20–40 hours per week. The position focuses on guiding teams to close knowledge gaps and improve AI model performance in nucleic-acid design, plasmids, and HDR/repair templates.

The ideal candidate will hold a PhD in molecular biology or a related life-science field, with a strong publication record and demonstrated career progression. Availability of 20 hours per week during weekdays is required.

Qualifications

• Must have PhD in a life-science field (molecular biology, genetics, biochemistry, synthetic biology, bioengineering).
• Strong peer-reviewed publication record, especially first-author work in notable venues.
• Ability to engage reliably for at least 20 hours/week onWeekdays.
• Demonstrated career progression and clear communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Guide research and engineering teams to close knowledge gaps and improve AI model performance in molecular biology and sequence design.
• Design tasks and write accurate solutions for primers, plasmids, gRNA/sgRNA, mRNA constructs, and HDR/repair templates.
• Evaluate molecular-biology tasks and AI outputs against expert-quality solutions; provide clear technical feedback.
• Develop rubrics and evaluation frameworks for sequence-design quality, guide selection, and codon optimization.
• Collaborate with subject matter experts to ensure training data accuracy.

Skills

Strong written communication

Hands-on nucleic-acid constructs

Availability 20 h/week

Education

PhD in molecular biology or related field

Job description

Mercor is seeking Molecular Biology Experts for a remote contract role, offering $70–$105/hour and 20–40 hours per week. The position focuses on guiding teams to close knowledge gaps and improve AI model performance in nucleic-acid design, plasmids, and HDR/repair templates.

The ideal candidate will hold a PhD in molecular biology or a related life-science field, with a strong publication record and demonstrated career progression. Availability of 20 hours per week during weekdays is required.