Machine Learning Expert

Mercor

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

Posted 10/22/2026contractRemote • United StatesMid-LevelSenior💰 $150 - $200 per hourWebsite

Core Competencies

Role fit

Core Competencies

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Demonstrates expertise in machine learning research with a focus on inference, evaluation, and systems work. Proficient in designing challenging tasks for frontier models and optimizing performance using tools like PyTorch and JAX.

Highest-signal resume keywords

Machine Learning Research EngineerHands-On Experience With PyTorchDeep Knowledge Of GPU InferencePhD In Machine LearningExperience Writing Benchmark Questions

ATS Keywords

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Applicant Tracking System Keywords

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Hard Skills

Model TrainingModel Fine-TuningModel OptimizationInference EvaluationTask DesignBenchmark WritingReinforcement LearningScientific Machine LearningPerformance ProfilingProblem Explanation

Tools & Technologies

PyTorchJAXCUDAVLLMTriton

Industry Keywords

AI ResearchFrontier ModelsIndependent ContractorMercor PartnershipsPublications

Tech Stack

Tools & technologies

PyTorch

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Generate ideas for difficult machine learning engineering tasks for a long-horizon AI research project with a leading AI lab
Design tasks challenging enough to stump frontier models, generally solved in no more than 2 out of 8 attempts
Focus primarily on inference, evaluation and systems work rather than heavy model training
Create a mix of GPU-based and CPU-only tasks
Explain clearly why each problem is difficult for a frontier model
Contribute ideas without needing to build or review the tasks
Work on projects training and enhancing AI systems through Mercor 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: LLMs (pretraining, alignment, evals); GPU inference and performance (vLLM, Triton, CUDA, profiling); reinforcement learning; or scientific ML in weather and climate, physics, or biology
Able to explain why a problem is hard for a frontier model
Experience writing benchmark or evaluation questions is a plus
PhD in ML, CS or physics, or an MSc plus strong research output is a nice-to-have
Publications are a nice-to-have
Prior Mercor contracts with strong performance are a nice-to-have
Independent contractor engagement
Must not require H-1B or STEM OPT support

Benefits

Comp & perks

Fully remote role
Flexible own schedule
Weekly payments via Stripe or Wise
Competitive pay
Opportunity to collaborate with leading researchers
Opportunity to help shape the next generation of AI systems
Referral payments of up to $800 per successful referral (referral limits apply)
Reasonable accommodations upon request