Certified Materials & Incident Analyst at Mercor

Certified Materials & Incident Analyst | $65–75/hr | Worldwide Remote

Mercor is assembling a panel of energetic materials and propulsion experts to red-team frontier AI models. In this role, you will help determine whether AI systems can correctly distinguish legitimate technical inquiries from genuinely dangerous requests — a critical line that requires real practitioner expertise, not generalist knowledge.

What You'll Do

• Write challenging single-turn prompts across three classification levels: benign, dual-use, and adversarial
• Evaluate AI-generated responses against a defined policy standard and judge whether each was handled appropriately
• Author reference answers — documenting what a correct response looks like and the technical reasoning behind it

Ideal Background

We're looking for practitioners with hands-on scene and casework experience under a national or federal certification. The ability to distinguish a routine professional question from one fishing for misuse information is essential. Relevant backgrounds include:

• Federally certified explosives specialist or national equivalent — scene and materials analysis
• Forensic laboratory identification of energetic materials and post-blast residues
• Post-incident analysis and reporting for an agency or laboratory
• Regulatory inspection of licensees and permittees — storage, records, and diversion indicators
• Expert testimony or casework involving energetic materials

Beyond Technical Expertise

This is writing-intensive work. Every judgment requires a clear written rationale accessible to non-specialists. Prior technical writing, published research, or expert witness experience is a strong signal — please include a writing sample or link in your application.

Note: This role involves reading and writing about misuse scenarios for sustained periods. Experts are fully briefed in advance, and you may pause or step away at any time without penalty.

Important Notice

This work must not draw on classified, export-controlled, or NDA-protected information. If you hold such obligations, you may still be eligible — please disclose this in your application and the scope will be adjusted accordingly.