Senior Machine Learning Expert
$60–80/hr
Remote coding contract with Alignerr, $60–80/hr. Posted Nov 2.
$60–80/hr
Apply on AlignerrIs this job worth applying to?
- Pay
- About typicalTops out at $80/hr. The typical top rate across 237 priced coding listings is $90/hr.
- Getting in
- Hard to get in~1–2 hours of assessments. Valid government photo ID.
- Steady work
- Work is patchyFeast-or-famine project volume.
- Payout record
- Some delaysSchedule: weekly, by Friday for the prior Monday–Sunday. Paid via Stripe or PayPal (depends on country).
- Freshness
- FreshPosted 4d ago. Still listed on Alignerr on Nov 6, 2026.
- Where you live
- Not statedThe listing names no country.
The job description
About the Role
What if your deep expertise in machine learning could directly determine how the world's most advanced AI models reason, plan, and make decisions? We're looking for Senior Machine Learning Experts to author the high-fidelity reasoning traces that teach LLMs to think — step by step, tool by tool, decision by decision.
This isn't data entry. This is senior-level intellectual work at the frontier of AI development. You'll be shaping the cognitive architecture of tomorrow's AI systems, working alongside world-leading research teams — fully remote, on a flexible contract schedule.
What You'll Do
- Author complex, high-fidelity reasoning traces that document how an LLM should plan, use tools, and make decisions to solve real-world technical tasks
- Decompose sophisticated ML problems into clear, structured, step-by-step decision paths that serve as ground-truth training data
- Design data strategies that help LLMs navigate nuanced, multi-step reasoning scenarios with accuracy and reliability
- Review and refine reasoning traces to ensure optimal quality, logical consistency, and alignment with model training goals
- Apply senior-level architectural insight to distinguish between surface-level outputs and genuinely robust model reasoning
Who You Are
- Deep hands-on experience in Machine Learning, AI research, or a closely related technical field
- Proven ability to decompose complex technical problems into clear, logical, well-documented steps
- Strong familiarity with LLM behavior, evaluation methodologies, and training pipelines
- Naturally rigorous — you think in systems, catch edge cases, and care deeply about correctness
- Comfortable working independently and asynchronously on structured, task-based assignments
Nice to Have
- Prior experience with data annotation, data quality, or AI evaluation systems
- Top-tier Kaggle competition results (Grandmaster or Master level), demonstrating elite-level understanding of model performance and feature engineering
- Background in AI safety, RLHF, or model alignment research
- Experience writing technical documentation, research notes, or structured analytical outputs
Why Join Us
- Work at the frontier of AI — your contributions directly influence how next-generation LLMs reason and behave
- Collaborate with teams working alongside the world's leading AI research labs
- Fully remote and asynchronous — work when and where you do your best thinking
- Freelance autonomy with meaningful, intellectually stimulating work
- Exposure to advanced LLM training methodologies and cutting-edge model development
- Potential for ongoing work and contract extension as new projects launch
How do you apply to Alignerr?
Apply on Alignerr
The Apply button opens this post on Alignerr's own site. You apply with them, not with Rubric. Budget about 1–2 hours of assessments.
Get through screening
What Alignerr asks for after you apply:
- Take the TestGorilla skills assessment (usually one attempt per role)
- Verify your identity with Persona
- Join the Alignerr Slack community
- Set up payouts once you are assigned to a project
Start work and get paid
Pay schedule: weekly, by Friday for the prior Monday–Sunday. Paid via Stripe or PayPal (depends on country). You're paid for the work they hand out, not a fixed salary.
Alignerr also needs
- Valid government photo ID
- Degree or professional experience for expert roles
- Webcam for proctored assessments on some roles
Red flags
- Red flagLong gaps with no project after passing
- Red flagWorker reports of delayed or withheld payments on Glassdoor
What is Alignerr like to work for?
Labelbox's contractor network, which hires generalists and domain experts to label data and write and grade AI training tasks.
| Advertised pay | $15–150/hr |
|---|---|
| Getting in | Hard to get in |
| Application takes | ~1–2 hours of assessments |
| How you get paid | Weekly, by Friday for the prior Monday–Sunday, via Stripe or PayPal (depends on country) |
| Payout record | Some delays |
| Countries | Accepts most countries but blocks signups from about two dozen; posts India-specific roles such as Hindi, Telugu and Indian-English language and cultural review work. |
Generalist and bilingual work is around $15–20/hr, coding QA $30–40/hr, and senior software, advanced math, medical and law roles $70–150/hr; some projects pay per approved task.
