Explosives & Energetic Materials Expert for AI Safety Audit

Description

SME Careers is hiring explosives and energetic materials professionals to audit how AI models respond to sensitive questions in the field. Each task gives you a user request and the answers three different models gave to it. You classify the request (benign, dual-use or adversarial), mark each answer as safe or unsafe and say why, rank the three against each other, and write the answer the model should have given. For dual-use requests you also note what makes it sensitive, what legitimate purpose it serves, and who should be able to get an answer.

The requests are realistic: what mining and blasting engineers, pyrotechnicians, propellant chemists, bomb technicians, investigators and occasionally bad actors actually ask. Some are ordinary professional questions that models wrongly refuse, and catching those matters as much as catching the dangerous ones.

Who we're looking for

Commercial blasting engineers and mining/quarry explosives specialists; military or police EOD and bomb technicians; energetic materials, propellant or pyrotechnics chemists; post-blast investigators and forensic examiners; explosives safety officers and regulators (ATF, HSE, DoD explosives safety, or equivalent). Usually a relevant degree or certification plus five or more years of hands-on professional experience. Experience writing incident reports, safety cases or expert opinions is a strong plus.

Before you apply

Open only to citizens or permanent residents of the US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and The European Union

Key responsibilities

• Develop AI Training Content: Create detailed prompts in various topics and responses to guide AI learning, ensuring the models reflect a comprehensive understanding of diverse subjects.
• Optimize AI Performance: Evaluate and rank AI responses to enhance the model's accuracy, fluency, and contextual relevance.
• Ensure Model Integrity: Test AI models for potential inaccuracies or biases, validating their reliability across use cases.

Your profile

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, Energetic Materials, Explosives Engineering, Safety Engineering, Hazardous Materials Management, Environmental Health & Safety, or a closely related field; advanced degree or professional safety certification is a strong plus.
• 3+ years of professional experience in explosives safety, energetic materials, hazardous materials safety, chemical safety, defense safety, industrial safety, EHS, regulatory compliance, risk assessment, technical safety review, or related work.
• Strong understanding of explosives and energetic materials safety concepts, including hazard classification, sensitivity, compatibility, storage principles, transport considerations, environmental conditions, blast/fire risk, and safe handling frameworks.
• Familiarity with safety documentation and frameworks such as Safety Data Sheets, GHS hazard communication, hazardous materials classification, SOPs, risk assessments, incident escalation procedures, and applicable safety/regulatory guidance.
• Ability to review AI-generated explosives or energetic-materials content for technical accuracy, safety alignment, misuse risk, inappropriate specificity, hallucinated claims, and potentially dangerous procedural guidance.
• Strong judgment in distinguishing between safe high-level educational or safety content and content that could enable unsafe handling, synthesis, acquisition, weaponization, evasion, or harmful experimentation.
• Excellent written English skills, with the ability to provide clear, structured feedback explaining why a response is safe, unsafe, incomplete, misleading, or technically incorrect.
• High attention to detail when reviewing terminology, hazard categories, material properties, units, risk assumptions, safety controls, storage/transport considerations, and emergency-response guidance.
• Comfortable applying detailed project rubrics consistently across ambiguous or sensitive scenarios involving explosives, energetic materials, pyrotechnics, propellants, reactive chemicals, or hazardous mixtures.
• Prior experience with AI safety, red-team review, model evaluation, content moderation, data annotation, technical QA, scientific review, EHS review, hazardous-materials review, or rubric-based evaluation is preferred.

🌍 Geographic Availability This role is available to qualified experts globally. However, as a U.S.-based company, SME Careers complies with U.S. export control and sanctions regulations. Eligibility depends on your country of residence and any applicable trade restrictions. Some projects may have additional language or region-specific requirements.

💰 Pay Rate May Vary Based on Your Location Your actual compensation will be determined based on your location and local market conditions. See regional job listings for localized pay information, or the application process will clarify your specific rate.

If you're unsure whether you're eligible, proceed with the application—SME's screening will determine your jurisdiction status and applicable compensation.