Child & Adolescent Mental Health Clinical Advisor (AI Safety Benchmark Project)
Mercor • Remote
Education
PhD
Type
Hourly
Pay Rate
$80–$150/hr
Listed
86d ago
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- Weekly hours
- 10–15 hrs/week
About this role
From the Mercor listing
We are partnering with a leading AI research organisation to develop a clinician-informed benchmark for evaluating how AI companion chatbots respond to adolescents experiencing mental health challenges. As AI companions become increasingly common sources of emotional support, there is a growing need for rigorous, clinically grounded evaluation of how these systems handle sensitive situations such as suicide risk, therapeutic guidance, and emotional dependency. We're seeking experienced Child & Adolescent Psychiatrists, Clinical Psychologists, and Mental Health Researchers to contribute their expertise in designing realistic clinical scenarios and evaluation standards for this important AI safety initiative.
Responsibilities
Author fictionalised adolescent mental health case scenarios based on real-world clinical expertise.
Review scenarios for clinical realism, developmental appropriateness, and ethical considerations.
Help develop and refine clinician-informed evaluation rubrics for AI chatbot responses.
Review a subset of AI-generated conversations and provide expert judgment to calibrate automated evaluation systems.
Advise on best practices for assessing AI behaviour across key mental health domains, including:
Suicide & Self-Harm (risk recognition, safety planning, crisis referral)
Medical & Therapeutic Impersonation (diagnosis, treatment advice, discouraging professional care)
Parasocial Attachment & Anthropomorphism (claims of consciousness, emotional dependency, discouraging trusted relationships)
Requirements
We are looking for clinicians and researchers with substantial expertise in child and adolescent mental health.
Required Qualifications
MD, DO, PhD, PsyD, or equivalent qualification in Psychiatry, Psychology, or a related mental health field.
Clinical or research experience focused on children and adolescents.
Expertise in one or more of the following:
Suicide prevention
Self-harm assessment
Child & adolescent psychiatry
Clinical child psychology
Digital mental health
Evidence-based therapies such as DBT or CBT
Strong written communication skills and ability to provide structured clinical feedback.
Comfortable reviewing fictional clinical scenarios and evaluating AI-generated conversations.
Preferred Qualifications
Experience conducting suicide risk assessments or crisis intervention.
Academic or published research in adolescent mental health, suicide prevention, or digital therapeutics.
Experience developing clinical guidelines, assessment frameworks, or educational materials.
Prior work involving AI, digital health technologies, or mental health product evaluation.
Experience supervising trainees or participating in multidisciplinary clinical teams.
Role Details
Commitment: Approximately 10–15 hours per week.
Compensation: $80 - $150 USD per hour
Why Join?
Help shape the future of safe AI systems for adolescents.
Apply your clinical expertise to one of the most important emerging questions in AI safety and digital mental health.
Collaborate with researchers developing rigorous evaluation standards for AI companion chatbots.
Contribute to work that may influence future AI research, independent benchmarking, and responsible deployment of conversational AI.
Requirements
- Must be eligible to work in Remote
- Fluent proficiency in English (Written & Verbal)
- Reliable high-speed internet connection
- PhD's degree or equivalent professional experience
- Demonstrated expertise in Psychology
How long hiring takes
Across the AI training platforms we refer candidates to, the median gap between referral and hire is about 30 days. It varies by platform and role, so treat it as a rough guide for this one.
Talent Pool members
Apply through this link and we can put you forward to Mercor when your profile is a strong match. Not every applicant is submitted. If you're not in the pool yet, set up your profile first.
Set up your profile →Key responsibilities
- Author fictionalised adolescent mental health case scenarios based on real-world clinical expertise.
- Review scenarios for clinical realism, developmental appropriateness, and ethical considerations.
- Help develop and refine clinician-informed evaluation rubrics for AI chatbot responses.
- Review a subset of AI-generated conversations and provide expert judgment to calibrate automated evaluation systems.
Why this role
Few remote roles pay $80–$150/hr for Psychology judgment on a schedule you control. This Child & Adolescent Mental Health Clinical Advisor (AI Safety Benchmark Project) position combines that income with direct exposure to how AI labs build training data.
Talent pool
We're light on Psychology candidates
We've matched 33 people with a Psychology background against 373 Psychology listings we've tracked, so most go out without one. Set up a profile and we'll consider you for a role like this one.
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Common questions
Does Mercor's application require an on-camera interview?
Yes, every applicant records a video interview with an AI interviewer that asks questions about your resume. Clients review that recording to judge communication skills before matching, so there's no way to apply without going on camera.
Does it cost money to apply to Mercor?
No, applying and joining Mercor is free. Mercor's revenue comes from a fee it charges the client on top of your hourly rate, not from applicants. Treat any request for payment to join as a red flag.
What does the day-to-day workload look like for elite-expert AI training roles?
Slow and deep, not fast and repetitive. A single task can take 45-60 minutes of researching citations or verifying complex calculations. Quality is what's being measured here, not throughput.
Is AI training work the same as traditional consulting?
No. Instead of client deliverables, you're given complex scenarios to evaluate: grading the AI's logic, correcting its hallucinations, and supplying expert-level reasoning it doesn't have on its own. The job is closer to teaching than consulting.
What does Psychology work look like for a Child & Adolescent Mental Health Clinical Advisor (AI Safety Benchmark Project)?
Tasks here are scoped to Psychology, not generic labeling. As a Child & Adolescent Mental Health Clinical Advisor (AI Safety Benchmark Project), expect to draw on real domain judgment (evaluating outputs, correcting errors, or providing expert reasoning specific to Psychology) rather than following a one-size-fits-all rubric. If you don't have hands-on Psychology background, this is likely not the right listing to start with.
What specific skills does this listing call for?
Expert is named directly in the listing. If you don't have hands-on experience with this, expect the screening process to test for it directly rather than accepting adjacent experience as a substitute.
How many hours per week does this role require?
Based on the listing, this role is scoped at 10–15 hours per week. Treat this as a real commitment expectation, not a loose estimate.
How much does this specific role pay?
This listing is posted at $80–$150/hr, an hourly rate. The range reflects experience level and negotiated terms, not a placeholder, so where you land in it depends on your background and the assessment. Pay can change between when we last checked the listing and when you apply, so confirm the current number on the platform's own application page before committing time.
What happens when I click Apply on this listing?
You'll be taken to Mercor's external site to complete your application there. This listing links through a referral, but the process is identical to applying directly; the link just routes you correctly. Create an account on their site and follow their onboarding steps.
Is a PhD required?
For this specific role, yes, or near-equivalent professional depth. The credential gate is enforced at the assessment stage, not just on paper. That said, active PhD candidates and people with equivalent published research have qualified without a formal degree. The assessment is the real filter.
How soon will I start working after applying to Mercor?
Not immediately. Mercor is a talent marketplace, not a task queue, so applying puts you in a pool of candidates. You start working only once a specific client, like a major AI lab, selects your profile, and that matching process can take weeks.