OSS Contributors (CTO/Founders)

Engineering Leadership • Hourly Contract • Remote • $130-$200/hour

This role is no longer accepting applications. Mercor closed this listing on 2026-01-22. Browse current openings or see all remote AI job categories.

Mercor is partnering with current or former CTOs and founders who can authorize access to production codebases to build realistic AI evaluations.

Mercor is seeking CTOs and founders who can provide limited, secure access to private codebases to help train and evaluate advanced coding models.

What You'll Do

The OSS Contributors (CTO/Founders) role is a remote contract position paying $130-$200/hr. It suits experienced professionals who want flexible, project-based AI work reviewed on a rolling basis. You collaborate directly with client teams on real deliverables that help train and evaluate next-generation AI systems, with no long-term commitment required.

• Authorize scoped repository access and verify legal authority to grant limited licenses for evaluation and optional training.
• Curate high-value datasets by selecting representative modules, stripping secrets or PII, and defining inclusion rules.
• Design realistic evaluations that span your stack, including refactors, bug fixes, feature diffs, tests, and performance work.
• Develop test harnesses, build or guide test cases, and create scoring aligned with your engineering standards.
• Analyze outcomes by reviewing model behavior, highlighting failure modes, and proposing architecture-aligned improvements.
• Ensure compliance and security by partnering on data handling, audit logs, redaction, secret scanning, and access revocation.

You're a Great Fit If You

• Are a current or former CTO/founder with authority over a substantial production codebase.
• Can grant time-boxed, purpose-limited licenses for evaluation and optionally training on selected code segments.
• Have deep knowledge of your system's architecture, tooling, and standards across Git, CI/CD, testing, and observability.
• Are fluent in languages such as Python, Java, C/C++, JavaScript, or TypeScript (others welcome).
• Can collaborate asynchronously with researchers and move quickly with minimal oversight.
• Maintain active OSS contributions on GitHub.

Role Details

• Part-time, flexible, 100% remote and asynchronous engagement.
• Evaluation-only scope by default with optional training usage governed by written agreements.
• Security posture includes read-only, least-privilege access with optional on-prem or VPC workflows and full auditability.

Compensation & Legal

• Hourly contractor engagement through Mercor with weekly payments via Stripe Connect.
• Qualifying partners can structure separate, limited licenses for evaluation and training use of selected code assets.
• All work is governed by mutually executed MSA, SOW, and data protection terms.

About Mercor & JobHub

Mercor partners with JobHub by NeonLabs to connect top global talent with leading AI labs and research organizations. Through this collaboration, specialists across disciplines can contribute to frontier AI development with structured support.

Mercor is backed by investors including Benchmark, General Catalyst, Adam D'Angelo, Larry Summers, and Jack Dorsey. JobHub by NeonLabs recruits on Mercor's behalf and welcomes all qualified applicants without regard to legally protected characteristics, providing reasonable accommodations upon request.

Mercor partners with JobHub by NeonLabs to connect top global talent with leading AI labs and research organizations. Through this collaboration, specialists across disciplines can contribute to frontier AI development with structured support.

Mercor is backed by investors including Benchmark, General Catalyst, Adam D'Angelo, Larry Summers, and Jack Dorsey. JobHub by NeonLabs recruits on Mercor's behalf and welcomes all qualified applicants without regard to legally protected characteristics, providing reasonable accommodations upon request.