Child & Adolescent Mental Health Advisor at Mercor

Child & Adolescent Mental Health Clinical Advisor | $80–150/hr | Worldwide Remote

Join a pioneering AI safety initiative as a clinical expert helping shape how AI companion chatbots respond to adolescents facing mental health challenges. This part-time advisory role (~10–15 hrs/week) is ideal for experienced psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, and mental health researchers who want to apply their expertise to one of the most critical emerging areas in digital health and AI safety.

About the Project

We are partnering with a leading AI research organisation to develop a clinician-informed benchmark for evaluating AI companion chatbot behaviour in sensitive adolescent mental health contexts. As AI companions become increasingly common sources of emotional support, rigorous clinical evaluation standards are essential — particularly around suicide risk, therapeutic guidance, and emotional dependency.

Responsibilities

• Author fictionalised adolescent mental health case scenarios grounded in real-world clinical expertise.
• Review scenarios for clinical realism, developmental appropriateness, and ethical soundness.
• Develop and refine clinician-informed evaluation rubrics for AI chatbot responses.
• Review AI-generated conversations and provide expert judgment to calibrate automated evaluation systems.
• Advise on best practices for assessing AI behaviour across key domains, including:
  • Suicide & Self-Harm — risk recognition, safety planning, crisis referral
  • Medical & Therapeutic Impersonation — diagnosis, treatment advice, discouraging professional care
  • Parasocial Attachment & Anthropomorphism — emotional dependency, claims of consciousness, discouraging trusted relationships

Required Qualifications

• MD, DO, PhD, PsyD, or equivalent in Psychiatry, Psychology, or a related mental health field.
• Clinical or research experience focused on children and adolescents.
• Expertise in one or more of: suicide prevention, self-harm assessment, child & adolescent psychiatry, clinical child psychology, digital mental health, or evidence-based therapies such as DBT or CBT.
• Strong written communication skills and ability to deliver structured clinical feedback.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience conducting suicide risk assessments or crisis intervention.
• Academic or published research in adolescent mental health, suicide prevention, or digital therapeutics.
• Experience developing clinical guidelines, assessment frameworks, or educational materials.
• Prior involvement with AI, digital health technologies, or mental health product evaluation.
• Experience supervising trainees or working within multidisciplinary clinical teams.

Why Join?

This is a rare opportunity to directly influence the safety standards of AI systems used by vulnerable young people. Your clinical expertise will help shape rigorous evaluation frameworks that may inform future AI research, independent benchmarking, and the responsible deployment of conversational AI in mental health contexts.