Is this job worth applying to?

Pay

About typicalTops out at $90/hr. The typical top rate across 237 priced coding 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 2mo ago. Still listed on Mercor on Nov 6, 2026.

Where you live

Named countries onlyOpen in United States.

The job description

Evaluate the quality, fidelity, and completeness of vulnerability-reproduction and remediation tasks used to train and evaluate a frontier AI lab's models. You'll assess whether CVE reproductions are faithful, fixes are sound, verification logic is rigorous, and Docker-based lab environments accurately recreate exploitable conditions — and provide clear, rubric-based written feedback.

Basic Qualifications

3+ years of hands-on experience in application security, penetration testing, or vulnerability research
Strong understanding of CVE vulnerability taxonomy and severity frameworks (CVSS, CWE, CAPEC)
Demonstrated expertise in secure coding and remediation across common vulnerability classes (SQL injection, command injection, buffer overflow, deserialization, SSRF, misconfigurations, privilege escalation)
Experience designing or evaluating two-part verification logic (functionality tests + vulnerability tests)
Proficiency with Docker and Docker Compose for multi-container vulnerability reproduction environments

Preferred Qualifications

OSCP, GPEN, GWAPT, or equivalent offensive-security certification
Experience with CVE disclosure, responsible vulnerability reporting, or maintaining exploit proof-of-concept code
Background in DevSecOps, CI/CD security gating, or SAST/DAST tooling
Prior technical content review, assessment design, or QA for security-focused engineering tasks

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.