Senior Software Development Engineer

About this role

About the job

Mercor connects elite creative and technical talent with leading AI research labs. Headquartered in San Francisco, our investors include Benchmark, General Catalyst, Peter Thiel, Adam D'Angelo, Larry Summers, and Jack Dorsey.

Position: Software Engineer
Type: Freelance
Compensation: $70–$130/hour
Duration: 1–2 months
Commitment: 15–25 hours/week, with flexibility up to 40 hours/week

Role Responsibilities

• Review model-generated code trajectories on realistic software engineering tasks.
• Reconstruct chain-of-thought reasoning that explains each step of the solution process.
• Annotate decision points, debugging logic, and problem-solving strategies.
• Use full task context (codebase, issue descriptions, test cases) to infer plausible reasoning.
• Ensure annotations reflect realistic developer thought processes and technical accuracy.
• Work **independently and asynchronously** to meet deadlines while improving **AI model performance**.

Qualifications

Must-Have

• **2+ years** of experience in software engineering, with hands-on debugging and problem-solving in real codebases.
• **Bachelor's degree** in Software Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field.
• Strong proficiency in **Python**, **JavaScript**, **TypeScript**, or other common languages found in open-source projects.
• Familiarity with version control workflows (**Git**, PRs, issue tracking).
• Comfortable articulating technical reasoning in clear, structured writing.

Preferred

• Advanced degree in Software Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field.

Start Date

• **Immediate**

Application Process (Takes 20–30 mins to complete)

• Upload resume
• AI interview: A short, 15-minute conversational session to understand your background, experience, and interest in the role
• Follow-up communication within a few days with next steps and onboarding details

**Resources & Suppo...