Software Engineer (Trajectory)
Mercor is hiring experienced Software Engineers to support high-impact research collaborations with leading AI labs. Freelancers will contribute to building training datasets that improve AI model reasoning and problem-solving on real-world coding tasks.
This is a unique opportunity to apply your software engineering expertise toward shaping the next generation of intelligent systems.
About the Project
- You’ll annotate frontier-model trajectories on SWE-bench–style tasks derived from real open-source repositories.
- Currently, closed-source models do not expose their internal reasoning traces, making it difficult to understand how LLMs approach problem-solving.
- To address this gap, you’ll reconstruct and annotate the reasoning portions of model trajectories—using your own problem-solving process and the full task context to infer and infill the underlying thought process at each step.
Key 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.
Ideal Qualifications
- 2+ years of experience in software engineering, with hands-on debugging and problem-solving in real codebases.
- Degree in Software Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field (Bachelor’s minimum; advanced degree preferred).
- 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.
Is This Role a Fit?
- You have hands-on experience debugging and solving problems in real codebases
- You can articulate your reasoning process clearly in writing
- You want flexible, fully remote contract work you can do on your own schedule
- You are interested in AI research and want to help build better reasoning models
- You’re familiar with Git workflows, PRs, and open-source issue tracking
Location Requirements
- Eligible countries: United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Slovakia
Project Timeline
- Start Date: Immediate
- Duration: 1–2 months
- Commitment: Part-time (15–25 hours/week, with flexibility up to 40 hours/week)
Application & Onboarding Process
- Upload your resume.
- Complete a short 15-minute AI interview covering your background, experience, and interest in the role.
- Receive follow-up communication within a few days with next steps and onboarding details.
Contract & Payment Terms
- You will be engaged as an independent contractor.
- Fully remote — complete work on your own schedule.
- Projects can be extended, shortened, or concluded early depending on needs and performance.
- Your work will not involve access to confidential or proprietary information from any employer or institution.
- Payments are weekly via Stripe or Wise based on services rendered.
- Note: Mercor is unable to support H1-B or STEM OPT candidates at this time.
About Mercor: Mercor partners with leading AI labs and enterprises to train frontier models using human expertise. You will work on projects that focus on training and enhancing AI systems. You will be paid competitively, collaborate with leading researchers, and help shape the next generation of AI systems in your area of expertise.
We consider all qualified applicants without regard to legally protected characteristics and provide reasonable accommodations upon request.
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