Energetic Materials Expert – AI Red Team at Mercor

Energetic Materials Expert – AI Red Teaming | $65–75/hr | Worldwide Remote

Mercor is assembling a panel of explosives and energetic materials specialists to red-team frontier AI models. This task-based, writing-intensive role focuses on testing whether AI systems can correctly distinguish legitimate technical inquiries from genuinely dangerous requests — refusing misuse while fully supporting valid professional use cases.

What You'll Do

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

Backgrounds We're Looking For

We are recruiting across two core profiles: chemists with specialty materials expertise, and engineers or operators with initiation and propulsion system experience. Relevant backgrounds include:

• Hazardous Device Specialist / Public Safety Professional — render-safe procedures and device assessment
• Specialty Materials Chemist (pyrotechnics or propulsion) — formulation, synthesis, and performance testing
• Federal Certified Materials Specialist / Incident Analyst — forensic identification and scene analysis
• Propulsion & Effects Engineer — munitions and propulsion system design
• Commercial Blasting Engineer — specialty materials handling, storage, and transport

Beyond Technical Expertise

This role demands strong written communication. Every judgment you make must be supported by a clear rationale accessible to non-specialists. Prior technical writing, incident or post-blast reporting, published research, or expert witness experience is highly valued — please include a writing sample or link in your application.

You will be reading and writing about misuse scenarios for sustained periods. Mercor briefs all experts on this in advance, and you may pause or step away at any time without penalty.

Important Notes Before Applying

• This work must not draw on classified, export-controlled, or NDA-protected information
• If you hold such obligations, you may still be eligible — disclose this in your application and the scope will be adjusted accordingly
• Prior AI evaluation or red-teaming experience is a plus