Python Team Lead
SME Careers • Remote
Education
Master's
Type
Hourly
Pay Rate
$70/hr
Listed
53d ago
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- Interview
- Required i As stated in the listing: “Selection process involves an AI interview, a domain-specific task, and an interview with a recruiter.”
About this role
From the SME Careers listing
In this hourly, remote contractor role, you will work as a Python (Generalist) Quality Assurance Lead (QAL) to oversee quality, consistency, and trainer performance across Python AI training projects. You will review AI-generated Python code and trainer/QA work, evaluate output quality against project guidelines, provide precise written feedback, and ensure contributors follow expected quality standards.
You will assess work for code correctness, runtime behavior, debugging accuracy, readability, maintainability, performance, security awareness, test coverage, formatting, instruction-following, and adherence to project-specific rubrics. You will spot recurring quality issues, communicate updates to trainers and QAs, support onboarding, maintain documentation, and help activate contributors who are not working consistently.
This role is with SME Careers, a fast-growing AI Data Services company and subsidiary of SuperAnnotate, delivering training data for many of the world’s largest AI companies and foundation-model labs. Your Python quality leadership will directly help improve the world’s premier AI models by ensuring that Python training data is accurate, executable, idiomatic, clearly explained, well-documented, and aligned with client expectations.
Selection process involves an AI interview, a domain-specific task, and an interview with a recruiter.
Important: There is no immediate project for this role; however, if qualified, you will be among the first experts we reach out to when relevant opportunities arise. This will also provide you with access to future projects available through our expert network.
Key responsibilities
- Spot-check Python items, identify quality issues, provide feedback through DMs, and escalate recurring or critical issues.
- Review AI-generated Python code, debugging responses, algorithms, backend snippets, automation scripts, tests, and explanations.
- Update trainers/QAs on Discord about guidelines, workflow updates, and Python-specific quality expectations.
- Respond to questions around Python syntax, runtime behavior, exceptions, package usage, testing, typing, security, performance, and rubric interpretation.
- DM inactive contributors, encourage activation, track follow-ups, and flag availability issues.
- Create and maintain Python documentation, style guides, trackers, FAQs, examples, honeypots, and onboarding materials.
- Run onboarding/training calls for Python contributors.
- Flag misleading, non-executable, insecure, inefficient, or non-production-ready Python recommendations.
- Identify recurring quality gaps and improve Python QA workflows.
Your profile
- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Data Science, Information Technology, or equivalent professional software engineering experience.
- Strong grasp of the English language to follow guidelines, communicate with teams, and provide clear technical feedback.
- 3+ years of professional experience in Python development, backend engineering, automation, scripting, data workflows, code review, QA, teaching, or technical mentoring.
- Strong understanding of Python fundamentals such as data structures, functions, classes, modules, exceptions, comprehensions, iterators, generators, decorators, context managers, virtual environments, packaging, and testing.
- Ability to evaluate Python content against rubrics and identify issues such as incorrect logic, non-executable code, poor exception handling, inefficient algorithms, unsafe file/network operations, hallucinated APIs, or incomplete explanations.
- Familiarity with pytest, unittest, typing, mypy, pip, poetry, virtualenv, FastAPI, Flask, Django, requests, asyncio, pandas, SQLAlchemy, GitHub, Docker, and CI/CD is preferred.
- Experience leading or supporting remote teams of trainers, engineers, reviewers, annotators, educators, or QAs is strongly preferred.
- Comfortable with Discord, Google Sheets, Google Docs, trackers, dashboards, GitHub, and project management systems.
- Highly organized and able to maintain style guides, FAQs, trackers, onboarding materials, honeypots, calibration tasks, and documentation.
- Experience with AI training, data annotation, LLM evaluation, code QA, or rubric-based code review is a strong plus.
🌍 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.
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
This listing calls for this tool directly. Prep for the technical screen:
Why this role
This Python Team Lead role pays $70/hr to oversee quality across general-purpose Python AI training projects, distinct from the higher-paying Python ML-Focused Team Lead role elsewhere on SME Careers. Three or more years of professional Python experience in backend engineering, automation, or scripting is required. The job is reviewing other trainers' Python reasoning and code quality, which is a different skill from writing the code yourself.
Skills and categories
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Common questions
Is SME Careers work ongoing or project-based?
Project-based. Assignment duration and availability vary by project, but consistently high-quality work earns priority access to whatever comes next.
Does SME Careers offer a path for advancement?
Yes. SME Careers is unusual among AI training platforms for this: it publishes an explicit career ladder, Data Trainer, then Quality Analyst, then QA Lead, then Project Manager. Consistent, high-quality work is what moves you up it.
What does task-based AI training work look like?
Practical, hands-on data work: recording short videos, categorizing images, rating text responses, or analyzing data. Tasks are designed to be short and distinct, typically 5 to 60 minutes each.
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 Python Team Lead?
Tasks here are scoped to Software Engineering, not generic labeling. As a Python Team Lead, 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?
Python, AI Training, LLM evaluation, and Code review 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.
How much does this specific role pay?
This listing is posted at $70/hr, a per-task rate. 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 SME Careers'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.
Is there an interview?
Yes. Selection process involves an AI interview, a domain-specific task, and an interview with a recruiter.
Who is behind SME Careers?
SME Careers is the expert talent division of SuperAnnotate, an AI data infrastructure platform, connecting domain experts with high-level AI training projects.