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

Not statedThe listing names no country.

The job description

About the Role

What if your deep C++ expertise could directly shape the infrastructure powering the world's most advanced AI systems? We're looking for a Principal Systems Engineer to design and build the high-performance data pipelines, annotation tooling, and evaluation infrastructure that leading AI labs depend on to train and improve next-generation models.

This is a fully remote, flexible contract role for senior engineers who want to work on real production systems with genuine impact — not toy projects.

What You'll Do

Design, build, and optimize high-performance C++ 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
Harden reliability, performance, and memory safety across production C++ codebases
Collaborate with data, research, and engineering teams to support model training and evaluation at scale
Identify bottlenecks and edge cases across data and system behavior, then implement robust, scalable fixes
Participate in synchronous design reviews to iterate on architecture and implementation decisions

Who You Are

Native or fluent English speaker with clear written and verbal communication skills
Experienced full-stack developer with a strong systems programming background
5+ years of professional experience writing production-grade C++ for large-scale systems
Deep knowledge of build system architecture and package management strategies
Proven experience designing reliable systems with rigorous error handling and memory safety (sanitizers, ASAN, TSAN, etc.)
Able to commit 20–40 hours per week with consistency

Nice to Have

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

Why Join Us

Work directly with leading AI labs on production systems that matter
Fully remote and flexible — work when and where it suits you
Freelance autonomy with the structure of meaningful, high-impact engineering work
Collaborate with world-class data, research, and engineering teams pushing the frontier of AI
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.