Machine Learning Expert

Mercor

. Develop ideas for difficult machine learning engineering tasks for a long-horizon AI research project with a leading AI lab .

Posted 10/21/2026contractRemote • United StatesMid-LevelSenior💰 $150 - $200 per hourWebsite

Core Competencies

Role fit

Core Competencies

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Demonstrates expertise in machine learning engineering with a focus on inference, evaluation, and systems work. Proficient in developing challenging tasks for frontier models and optimizing performance using relevant tools and frameworks.

Highest-signal resume keywords

Machine Learning Research EngineerHands-On Experience With PyTorchDeep Knowledge Of GPU InferenceExperience With vLLM And TritonPhD In Machine Learning

ATS Keywords

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Applicant Tracking System Keywords

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Hard Skills

Model TrainingFine-Tuning ModelsOptimizing ModelsLLM PretrainingReinforcement LearningScientific MLBenchmark WritingEvaluation Questions

Soft Skills

Clear Communication

Tools & Technologies

PyTorchJAXCUDAProfiling Tools

Industry Keywords

AI ResearchFrontier ModelsInference TasksPerformance Evaluation

Tech Stack

Tools & technologies

PyTorch

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Develop ideas for difficult machine learning engineering tasks for a long-horizon AI research project with a leading AI lab
Design tasks challenging enough that frontier models solve them in no more than 2 out of 8 attempts
Focus primarily on inference, evaluation and systems work rather than heavy model training
Create a roughly even mix of GPU and CPU-only tasks
Explain clearly why each problem is difficult for a frontier model
Contribute mainly ideas; building or reviewing the tasks is not required
Work on projects training and enhancing AI systems through Mercor's partnerships with leading AI labs and enterprises

Requirements

What you’ll need

Current or recent role as an ML research engineer, research scientist or applied scientist
Hands-on experience personally training, fine-tuning or optimizing models in PyTorch or JAX
Deep knowledge of at least one area: LLM pretraining, alignment or evaluations; GPU inference and performance; reinforcement learning; or scientific ML
Experience with relevant GPU inference and performance tools such as vLLM, Triton, CUDA or profiling, where applicable
Ability to explain why a problem is hard for a frontier model
PhD in ML, CS or physics, or an MSc plus strong research output is a nice-to-have
Experience writing benchmark or evaluation questions is a nice-to-have
Publications are a nice-to-have
Prior Mercor contracts with strong performance are a nice-to-have
Must be able to work as an independent contractor
H1-B and STEM OPT candidates are not supported

Benefits

Comp & perks

Fully remote role
Flexible schedule / can be completed on your own schedule
Weekly payments via Stripe or Wise based on services rendered
Projects may be extended, shortened, or concluded early depending on needs and performance
Competitive pay
Collaboration with leading researchers
Opportunity to help shape the next generation of AI systems
Up to $800 referral reward for each successful referral, subject to referral limits
Reasonable accommodations available upon request