Software Engineer
Micro1 • Remote
Education
Master's
Type
Per task
Pay Rate
$30–$100/task
Actively Hiring
100 openings
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- Start timeline
- Starts within 24–48 hrs of onboarding
About this role
From the Micro1 listing
Job Type: Contractor (~15 hrs a week) Location: Remote Schedule: Flexible, you pick the hours and days (including weekends if desired) Job Summary: In this role, you'll apply your expertise to help train next-generation AI systems. Your work will shape how models learn, reason, and perform through high-quality, real-world input. No prior experience in AI is required — your domain knowledge is what matters. You'll create realistic, interesting and challenging coding tasks for AI to solve involving feature implementation and bug fixes, and implement deterministic verifiers that accept reasonable valid solutions and reject everything else.
What we're looking for
- Strong backend experience in Java, Node.js, Go, Rust, Typescript, Python, C++ or similar
- A track record building scalable services and APIs
- Comfort with debugging, performance work and automated testing
- Solid code review instincts
- A strong testing background is a big plus — experience designing test strategy, building and maintaining large test suites, diagnosing flaky tests, or raising the testing bar on a team.
Preferred Qualifications
- Proven experience in backend development, with a track record of delivering high-quality and performant projects.
- Demonstrated success in identifying and resolving software bugs and system bottlenecks.
- Experience with codebase refactoring and implementing complex features in large-scale applications.
- Strong understanding of algorithms, data structures, and foundational computer science concepts.
- Excellent analytical, problem-solving, and technical communication skills. A note on the process: our interview and assessment stages are designed to see how you think, so we ask that you complete them without outside assistance. The same applies once you're on the project — the value of the work comes from your own judgment.
Process
- Apply to the role, filling out the screening questions
- Complete AI Interview (approx. 30 minutes)
- Technical Assessment (Tentative)
- Hiring Manager review
Compensation Structure
Compensation is output-based; experts are paid per task that meets the project specifications. The time required to complete work may vary depending on the expert’s experience and workflow. Minimum submission requirements apply. Experts must submit a minimum of tasks per week.
Start Timeline & Availability
We typically fill roles within 48 hours and are looking for experts ready to jump in right away. If selected, we expect you to start your first tasks within 24–48 hours of completing onboarding.
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.
Interview Prep
Sample questions for a Software Engineer role, written in-house to help you prepare.
How do you approach designing a system when the requirements are still likely to change?
I design around the parts of the problem I'm confident are stable, like the core data model, and keep the parts most likely to change, like specific business rules, isolated behind clear interfaces. Over-engineering flexibility everywhere just adds complexity to parts of the system that were never going to change.
What's your process for debugging an issue that only reproduces in production, not locally?
I add targeted logging around the suspected area and compare production data or configuration against my local setup, since an issue that's environment-specific usually traces back to a real difference between the two rather than a fundamentally different bug. I avoid making speculative changes without first confirming where the divergence is.
How do you decide when a piece of code needs a test versus when it's low-risk enough to skip?
I prioritize tests for logic with real business consequences if it breaks, or code that's likely to be touched again later by someone unfamiliar with it. Simple, rarely-changed glue code gets less coverage, since the cost of a thorough test there often exceeds the risk it's protecting against.
How do you evaluate a proposed technical solution's trade-offs, like performance versus maintainability?
I start from the actual constraint that matters for this specific system, whether that's genuinely performance-critical or whether maintainability is the bigger long-term cost, rather than defaulting to whichever trade-off I personally prefer. Optimizing for performance the system doesn't need just adds complexity nobody benefits from.
This listing calls for these tools directly. Prep for the technical screen:
Why this role
Micro1's Software Engineer role pays $50-$100 per task for senior engineers building Reinforcement Learning environments that test a model's ability to solve complex software engineering problems. The work spans Python, Java, Rust and C++, and covers bug fixing, feature implementation, codebase refactoring and performance optimization. This runs about 15 hours a week and suits someone who already works across multiple languages rather than a single stack.
Skills and categories
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Common questions
Can I apply to Micro1 from outside the US or UK?
Yes. Micro1 accepts applicants from most countries worldwide, unlike DataAnnotation or Outlier, both of which cap access to a handful of English-speaking countries. Most roles still require strong written and spoken English.
Does Micro1 monitor your computer while you work?
On many projects, yes, through time-tracking tools that take periodic screenshots to verify active hours. Check the specific project's requirements before accepting if desktop monitoring is a dealbreaker.
What does asynchronous AI training work mean in practice?
No set hours, no check-ins, no meetings. You log in when you want, pick up an available task, complete it, and submit; nobody is waiting on you in real time. That's different from remote employment, where you're expected online during business hours. The tradeoff: you're competing with others for available tasks, so an empty queue means there's simply nothing to do until more work is released.
What does Software Engineering work look like for a Software Engineer?
Tasks here are scoped to Software Engineering, not generic labeling. As a Software Engineer, expect to draw on real domain judgment (evaluating outputs, correcting errors, or providing expert reasoning specific to Software Engineering) rather than following a one-size-fits-all rubric. If you don't have hands-on Software Engineering background, this is likely not the right listing to start with.
What specific skills does this listing call for?
Python3, JAVA, Rust, and Algorithms are named directly in the listing. If you don't have hands-on experience with these, expect the screening process to test for them directly rather than accepting adjacent experience as a substitute.
What does the 'openings' count on this listing mean?
It's Micro1's live count of how many candidates it's still trying to place for this specific role, 100 right now, not a countdown on your individual application. A higher number signals more active demand; it doesn't lower the bar for acceptance.
How much does this specific role pay?
This listing is posted at $30–$100/task, a per-task 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.
How does per-task pay translate to an hourly rate?
It doesn't directly, that's the catch. Each task has a listed price and an estimated completion time, but your actual effective rate depends on how fast you work. If a task is estimated at 20 minutes and pays $8, that is $24/hr for a fast worker and $12/hr for a slow one. Track your actual time on the first few tasks before treating the listed rate as your real hourly income.
What happens when I click Apply on this listing?
You'll be taken to Micro1'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.
Do I need a Master's to qualify?
This role lists a master's degree as a requirement. In practice, the domain assessment is the real gate. If you can pass it, the degree is usually secondary. However, some platforms verify credentials formally, so list your actual qualifications accurately on your profile.