Research And Development Scientist

mercor; United States; Remote; USD 96,000 - 138,000; Full time

Job summary

Mercor is seeking Expert Professionals for STEM research on a remote contract basis. The role requires guiding research teams, designing rigorous domain tasks, and evaluating AI-generated work with expert-level scientific reasoning.

The position demands a PhD in a STEM field, 3+ years of experience, and ability to commit to 40 hours per week. Strong communication and domain expertise are essential for success in this role.

Qualifications

• PhD (completed, enrolled, or equivalent) in a STEM discipline.
• 3+ years of research, academic, or industry experience in their primary STEM domain.
• Demonstrated technical expertise in at least one domain: computational modeling, laboratory methods, data analysis, or statistical inference.
• Ability to commit to 40 hours per week during weekdays for the duration of the engagement.

Responsibilities

• Guide research teams to close knowledge gaps in STEM domains by surfacing edge cases and frontier problems.
• Design rigorous domain tasks and write accurate, well-reasoned solutions demonstrating expert-level scientific reasoning.
• Evaluate tasks and solutions produced by AI agents and others, with clear technical feedback.

Skills

Domain expertise

Data analysis

Programming

Science communication

Education

PhD (completed) in STEM

Tools

Computational modeling

Laboratory methods

Statistical inference

Job description

About the job Mercor connects elite creative and technical talent with leading AI research labs. Headquartered in San Francisco, our investors include Benchmark , General Catalyst , Peter Thiel , Adam D'Angelo , Larry Summers , and Jack Dorsey.

Position: Expert Professionals — STEM Research Type: Contract Compensation: $70–$100/hour Location: Remote Commitment: 40 hours/week

Role Responsibilities

• Guide research teams to close knowledge gaps in STEM domains by surfacing edge cases, ambiguities, and frontier problems where current models underperform.
• Design challenging, rigorous domain tasks and write accurate, well-reasoned solutions that demonstrate expert-level scientific and technical reasoning.
• Evaluate tasks and solutions produced by AI agents and other contributors, providing clear written technical feedback grounded in domain expertise.
• Develop evaluation frameworks and rubrics for assessing scientific reasoning quality across STEM domains.
• Collaborate with other subject matter experts to ensure consistency and accuracy in training data.

Qualifications Must-Have

• PhD (completed, enrolled, or equivalent research track) in Physics , Chemistry , Biology , Mathematics , Statistics , Computer Science , Electrical Engineering , Mechanical Engineering , Civil Engineering , Materials Science , or another STEM discipline.
• 3+ years of research, academic, or industry experience in their primary STEM domain.
• Demonstrated technical expertise in at least one domain: computational modeling, laboratory methods, data analysis, statistical inference, programming, or equivalent scientific methods.
• Ability to commit to 40 hours per week during weekdays for the duration of the engagement.
• Strong written communication skills; ability to explain complex scientific or technical concepts clearly in writing.

Preferred

• Prior experience with data annotation, labeling, evaluation, or human feedback collection.
• Experience with LLMs , AI systems , or agentic workflows; familiarity with agentic frameworks.

Compensation & Legal

• W-2 employment with Cincinnatus LLC