Is this job worth applying to?

Pay

Below typicalTops out at $75/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

RecentPosted 2w ago. Still listed on Alignerr on Nov 6, 2026.

Where you live

Named countries onlyOpen in United States.

The job description

About the Role

What if your Python expertise could directly shape the infrastructure that powers the most advanced AI systems in the world? We're looking for a Principal Python Engineer in Austin to design and build the data pipelines, annotation tooling, and evaluation systems that leading AI labs depend on — real production work with real impact at scale.

This is a fully remote, flexible contract role for a seasoned engineer who thrives in high-performance, distributed environments and wants to work on problems that matter.

What You'll Do

Design, build, and optimize high-performance Python systems that power AI data pipelines and evaluation workflows
Develop full-stack tooling and backend services for large-scale data annotation, validation, and quality control
Improve reliability, performance, and safety across production Python codebases
Identify bottlenecks and edge cases in data and system behavior — then implement scalable, elegant fixes
Collaborate with data, research, and engineering teams to support model training and evaluation workflows
Drive architectural and system design decisions through synchronous technical reviews

Who You Are

Native or fluent English speaker with strong written and verbal communication skills
Senior full-stack developer with a strong systems programming background
5+ years of professional experience writing production Python for large-scale infrastructure or platform engineering
Deep expertise in designing distributed computing systems and managing concurrency with advanced asynchronous patterns
Intimately familiar with Python internals — GIL limitations, memory profiling, and performance optimization for compute-heavy workloads
Able to drive technical strategy and architectural decisions clearly and confidently
Available to commit 20–40 hours per week

Nice to Have

Prior experience with data annotation, data quality, or model evaluation systems
Familiarity with AI/ML workflows, model training pipelines, or benchmarking infrastructure
Experience with distributed systems architecture or internal developer tooling

Why Join Us

Work directly with leading AI research labs on production systems that shape next-generation models
Fully remote and flexible — structure your work around your life, not the other way around
Freelance autonomy with the substance of high-impact, technically demanding work
Collaborate with top engineers and researchers on problems at the frontier of AI infrastructure
Potential for ongoing engagement and expanded scope as projects grow

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.