Forensic / Toxicological Chemist at Mercor

Forensic / Toxicological Chemist | $65–75/hr | Worldwide Remote

Mercor is assembling a panel of forensic and toxicological chemistry experts to evaluate and red-team frontier AI models. This task-based contractor role focuses on testing whether AI systems can correctly navigate the dual-use nature of technical chemistry knowledge — answering legitimate professional questions fully while appropriately refusing genuinely dangerous ones.

What You'll Do

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

Ideal Background

We're looking for practitioners with real casework experience who can reliably distinguish a routine professional question from one that's probing for misuse. Relevant backgrounds include:

• Controlled substance identification and quantitation in a forensic laboratory
• Clandestine laboratory response, precursor identification, and scene chemistry
• Forensic toxicology — postmortem or human performance casework
• Seized-drug and precursor trend monitoring or intelligence analysis
• Expert testimony and technical report writing on chemical casework

Beyond Technical Expertise

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

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

Before You Apply

This work must not draw on classified, export-controlled, or NDA-protected information. If you hold such obligations, you may still be a strong fit — note it in your application and the scope will be adjusted accordingly.