Highly Experienced Structural Biologists
Mercor • Remote, USA
Education
Any
Type
hourly
Pay Rate (by country)
$150–$220/hr
Listed
84d ago
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About this Role
From the Mercor listing
About the role:
We're partnering with a leading AI lab to evaluate how a frontier model performs on long-horizon protein-design problems. We're running a small, hands-on project with senior protein-design experts to author and evaluate well-scoped design problems — and to iterate live with our team to shape what good looks like.
- You're a working protein-design expert (binder design, FEP/ddG, enzyme engineering, structure-guided med chem, etc.) — PhD or equivalent industry track record.
- You can showcase this expertise from many different angles. Materials Science, Computer Science, Biophysics, Force Field Chemists. If you work downstream or upstream from protein structures and have the expertise, please apply!
- You can pose a long-horizon design problem whose optimal answer you don't know but where you're still confident judging whether a given trajectory is sound.
- You're comfortable evaluating reasoning quality, not just final outputs. Including cases where the model has full internet/tool access or a constrained toolset.
- You can iterate quickly (multi-day turnaround on drafts) for ~2 weeks.
- ~15–30 hours over 2–4 weeks (problem authoring + iteration + trajectory grading). There is potential for expansion.
- $150–220/hr. We want experts who’ve shipped molecules, maintained or contributed to widely-used tooling, and/or made an impact on the field.
Requirements
- Must be eligible to work in one of: Remote, USA
- Fluent proficiency in English (Written & Verbal)
- Reliable high-speed internet connection
- Bachelor's degree or equivalent professional experience
- Demonstrated expertise in STEM
Why This Role
Monetize your niche expertise without the billable hours. At $185/hr, this role offers elite compensation for pure intellectual work, no client management or administrative bloat.
Skills & Categories
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Is Mercor for freelancers or full-time contractors?
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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.
Why do these AI training roles pay so much?
Because general knowledge isn't what's being tested. The model already knows the basics; what it needs is expertise on edge cases, the rare, difficult, highly technical judgment calls only a senior professional in the field would make correctly.
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.
What does STEM work look like for a Highly Experienced Structural Biologists?
Tasks here are scoped to STEM, not generic labeling. As a Highly Experienced Structural Biologists, expect to draw on real domain judgment (evaluating outputs, correcting errors, or providing expert reasoning specific to STEM) rather than following a one-size-fits-all rubric. If you don't have hands-on STEM background, this is likely not the right listing to start with.
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Can I apply from outside USA?
This specific role is restricted to USA. If you are outside these locations, applying is unlikely to result in an offer even if you pass the assessment. Check the full job description for any VPN or tax-residency caveats.
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.