Retail SME - AI Evaluation Expert

Mercor; New York (NY); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Cincinnatus LLC is seeking a talented Retail SME to join an AI lab project focused on building foundational models with real-world retail judgment to inform training data.

You will guide research and engineering teams, design domain-relevant retail tasks, and provide clear feedback on model outputs against rubrics to improve accuracy and reliability.

The position is a W-2 engagement with placement at a leading AI lab, requiring about 35 hours per week during weekdays.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of dedicated retail experience at top-tier organizations.
• Hands-on experience evaluating LLM/AI outputs against rubrics or structured scoring criteria.
• Demonstrated career progression (e.g., Category Manager → Senior Manager → Director of Merchandising).
• Ability to engage reliably for at least 35 hours/week during weekdays.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills and problem-solving abilities.

Responsibilities

• Guide research and engineering teams to close knowledge gaps in retail merchandising, category management, and operations reasoning.
• Design domain-relevant retail tasks and write accurate, well-reasoned solutions grounded in real retail practice.
• Evaluate AI model outputs against structured rubrics and provide clear, written feedback on correctness, judgment, and reasoning quality.
• Develop and refine evaluation guidelines and scoring rubrics specific to retail tasks.
• Collaborate with other subject matter experts to ensure consistency and accuracy in training data.

Skills

Retail domain expertise

AI model evaluation

Communication skills

Cross-team collaboration

Job description

1. Overview

Join a leading AI lab's cutting-edge GenAI team and help build foundational AI models from the ground up. We’re seeking talented Retail subject-matter experts (SMEs) with deep domain expertise and hands-on experience evaluating AI model outputs against rubrics to bring rigor and real-world retail judgment to our AI training data.

This is a W-2 employment position with Cincinnatus LLC, with the opportunity to be placed at a leading AI Lab as part of their extended workforce.

2. Key Responsibilities

• Guide research and engineering teams to close knowledge gaps in retail merchandising, category management, and operations reasoning.




• Design challenging, domain-relevant retail tasks and write accurate, well-reasoned solutions grounded in real retail practice.




• Evaluate AI model outputs against structured rubrics and provide clear, written feedback on correctness, judgment, and reasoning quality.




• Develop and refine evaluation guidelines and scoring rubrics specific to retail tasks.




• Collaborate with other subject matter experts to ensure consistency and accuracy in training data.

3. Core Qualifications

• 8+ years of dedicated professional experience in retail (e.g., merchandising, category management, retail operations, buying/planning) at a recognized, top-tier organization (e.g., Amazon, Walmart, Target, Nike, Costco, Home Depot, or equivalent).




• Prior hands-on experience evaluating LLM/AI model outputs against rubrics or structured scoring criteria — mandatory; please describe this experience in your application.




• Demonstrable career progression (e.g., Category Manager - Senior Manager - Director of Merchandising).




• Ability to engage reliably for at least 35 hours/week during weekdays.




• Verbal and written communication skills, problem-solving skills, and interpersonal skills.

About Cincinnatus LLC:Cincinnatus LLC is an enterprise staffing company that partners with leading technology companies to source and employ highly skilled professionals for contingent and contract-based opportunities. Cincinnatus serves as the employer of record for these engagements, providing W-2 employment, payroll, benefits, and compliance, while placing employees directly within client teams to work on high-impact initiatives.

Equal Employment Opportunity:Cincinnatus is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, reproductive health decisions, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, genetic information, political views or activity, or any other legally protected characteristic.