Is this job worth applying to?

Pay

Below typicalTops out at $60/hr. The typical top rate across 106 priced science listings is $90/hr.

Getting in

Some screening~30 min: resume upload + 20-min AI interview. Resume showing real experience in your field.

Steady work

Work is patchyProjects can pause or end with little notice.

Payout record

Pays on timeSchedule: weekly, every Wednesday. Paid via Stripe (Wise in a few countries).

Freshness

Older postPosted 8w ago. Still listed on Mercor on Nov 6, 2026.

Where you live

Not statedThe listing names no country.

The job description

About the work

Mercor is assembling a panel of explosives and energetic materials experts to red-team frontier AI models. The goal is to test whether a model can correctly judge the misuse potential of a technical request: Answering legitimate questions fully while refusing genuinely dangerous ones.

You will:

Write challenging single-turn prompts in your domain, labelled across three levels: benign, dual-use, and adversarial.
Evaluate the responses that come back against a defined policy standard, and judge whether each was handled correctly.
Write the reference answer; what a correct response looks like, and the technical reasoning for why.

Models tend to fail this domain in both directions: refusing routine questions a mining engineer or investigator asks daily, then engaging with a request they should have shut down because it arrived in academic clothing. Knowing which is which takes someone who has done the work.

Background we're looking for

We're recruiting across two profiles and need both: chemists with specialty materials expertise, and engineers or operators with initiation and propulsion system experience. Prior AI evaluation or red-teaming experience is preferred. Relevant backgrounds include:

Hazardous Device Specialist / Public Safety Professional — render-safe procedures and device assessment.
Specialty Materials Chemist (pyrotechnics or propulsion) — formulation, synthesis and performance testing.
Federal Certified Materials Specialist / Incident Analyst — forensic identification and scene analysis.
Propulsion & Effects Engineer — munitions and propulsion system design.
Commercial Blasting Engineer — specialty materials handling, storage and transport.

What this role demands beyond technical depth

This is writing-intensive work. Every judgment you make needs a written rationale that a non-specialist can follow. Prior technical writing, incident or post-blast reporting, published research, or expert witness experience is a strong signal; please include a sample or link.

You will also be reading and writing about misuse scenarios in your field for sustained periods. We brief experts on this in advance, and you can pause or step away at any point without penalty.

Before you apply

Your work here will not involve, and must not draw on, classified or export-controlled information, or anything covered by an NDA or prepublication review obligation. If you hold such obligations you may still be a good fit; tell us in your application and we will scope the work accordingly.

How do you apply to Mercor?

Apply on Mercor

The Apply button opens this post on Mercor's own site. You apply with them, not with Rubric. Budget about 30 min: resume upload + 20-min AI interview.

Get through screening

What Mercor asks for after you apply:

Take the recorded AI video interview (practice round available)
Complete any role-specific assessment and the ID check
Accept the offer and sign the contract

Start work and get paid

Pay schedule: weekly, every Wednesday. Paid via Stripe (Wise in a few countries). You're paid for the work they hand out, not a fixed salary.

Mercor also needs

Resume showing real experience in your field
Webcam with your full face visible for the AI interview
Government ID

Red flags

Red flagLong waits with no offer after passing the interview
Red flagProjects ending abruptly with little warning

What is Mercor like to work for?

Hiring marketplace that screens professionals with an AI video interview and places them on hourly contracts training and evaluating models for AI labs.

Advertised pay	$20–200/hr
Getting in	Some screening
Application takes	~30 min: resume upload + 20-min AI interview
How you get paid	Weekly, every Wednesday, via Stripe (Wise in a few countries)
Payout record	Pays on time
Countries	Hires in many countries and runs its pay week on India Standard Time; Mercor keeps a list of locations it cannot onboard, and some projects are US-only.

Most listings sit around $50–100/hr; healthcare, legal and finance roles pay the most, language and generalist roles the least.