Senior Controls Engineer

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

Benefits offered by this job

Remote work

ESOP or equity-like ownership through

PayPal payments for per-project work

Job summary

Actalent is seeking a Mechanical Engineer for a 100% remote, 1099 engagement paid per project via PayPal. Responsibilities include creating realistic mechanical tasks, evaluating frontier AI model outputs, and drafting grading rubrics with clear acceptance criteria.

Requires hands-on design, CAD fluency, and strong fundamentals. The role emphasizes independent contributor work, English communication, and ability to design tests that reveal edge-case failures.

Qualifications

• 2+ years of professional mechanical engineering experience preferred.
• Depth in design and CAD, structures, materials, thermal/fluids, dynamics and controls, or manufacturing.
• Fluency with CAD tools and engineering analysis software.
• Strong fundamentals in mechanics of materials, dynamics and thermodynamics.

Responsibilities

• Design challenging mechanical tasks to test AI systems with real-world data and files.
• Run tasks through frontier AI models and evaluate outputs against high standards.
• Compare model results and document performance differences with justification.
• Create closed-ended problems, rubrics, and acceptance criteria with explicit criteria.
• Flag concrete failures with evidence and ensure coverage of boundary conditions and tolerances.
• Contribute across design, analysis, manufacturing and test, and refine tasks.

Skills

Mechanical design

Tolerance analysis

Finite element analysis

Engineering judgment

Education

Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering

PE licensure (a plus)

Tools

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

FEA/CFD

MATLAB or Python

Job description

Job Title: Mechanical Engineer- THIS IS 100% REMOTE WITH DATA ANNOTATION- THIS ROLE IS 1099 AND PAID THROUGH PAYPAL BETWEEN $40/HR-$125/HR PER PROJECT

DataAnnotation is 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..

Responsibilities

• 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.

Domain qualifications

• 2+ years of professional mechanical engineering experience preferred. Any specialty: design and product development, manufacturing, thermal, structural, automotive, aerospace, HVAC, robotics, energy, medical devices.
• In progress Bachelors degree or higher in mechanical engineering or a related field. PE licensure is a plus but not required.
• 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.
• Strong fundamentals across mechanics of materials, dynamics, thermodynamics, heat transfer, fluid mechanics and manufacturing processes.
• Meticulous: you check your own work and enjoy finding the edge case that breaks an assumption.

General requirements

• 2+ years of hands on experience in your field preferred (see Domain qualifications above). Candidates with less experience are considered where the practical work is real.
• Able to draw on your own real world experience and day to day workflows to craft scenarios that test whether an AI system can actually do the work.
• Hands on practitioner: you currently do (or recently did) the work yourself at an individual contributor level, not solely in a managerial capacity.
• Full professional or native level written and spoken English, with strong written communication. You can explain complex professional reasoning clearly and concisely, and articulate why a result is wrong, not only that it is.
• Comfort with ambiguity and attention to detail. You can orient in a new set of files and build an accurate, deep working picture of it quickly, especially when the subject sits partly outside your own specialization. You verify what a document claims against the underlying numbers, sources or facts.
• Capable of interpreting feedback, judging which parts of it are actually correct, and applying it without hand holding. When stuck, you look for the answer rather than waiting for one.
• Ability to ramp quickly on unfamiliar work from written material and instructions alone, including where that material is incomplete (for example, writing grading rubrics for the first time).
• 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).
• Available at least 10 hours per week, with no weekly maximum. Consistent availability is valued and full time hours are available.
• Based in the United States, Canada, or the UK.

Compensation and terms

• Pay: $40-$125/hr USD. Paid via PayPal on a regular cadence.
• Contract position. Fully remote. Minimum 10 hours per week with no weekly maximum.
• Flexible scheduling. Multi-day task timers let you spread work across days.
• Access to Claude and ChatGPT is provided through the project; no personal subscription is required.

THIS IS 100% REMOTE WITH DATANNOTATION- THIS ROLE IS 1099 AND PAID THROUGH PAYPAL BETWEEN $40/HR-$125/HR PER PROJECT

Job Type & Location

This is a Permanent position based out of Kernersville, NC.

Pay and Benefits

The pay range for this position is $100000.00 - $155000.00/yr.

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.

Employees receive ownership through the Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP).Creates an additional long-term wealth-building opportunity alongside traditional retirement savings.Employees directly share in the company's success.

Job Type & Location

This is a Permanent position based out of Kernersville, NC.

Application Deadline

This position is anticipated to close on Oct 30, 2026.

Workplace Type

This is a fully onsite position in Kernersville,NC.

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 withoutregard to race, sex, age, color, religion, national origin, veteran status, disability,sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information or any characteristic protectedby law.

If you would like to request a reasonable accommodation, such as the modification oradjustment 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 thecity and county of San Francisco, we will consider for employment qualified applicantswith arrest and conviction records.

Massachusetts Lie Detector:It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as acondition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this lawshall 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 applicationsand qualifications, but final decisions are made by our hiring team. By applying, youacknowledge and agree that your application may be reviewed using AI tools.