Software Engineer - Code Reasoning & Evaluation at Mercor

Software Engineer - Code Reasoning & Evaluation | $85–125/hr | Worldwide Remote

Mercor is seeking elite software engineers to support a leading AI lab in advancing code understanding and reasoning capabilities for next-generation machine learning models. This high-impact 24-hour sprint involves analyzing production-grade repositories, creating technically challenging coding questions, and evaluating how advanced AI systems reason about architecture and data flow.

About the Role

You'll engage in real-world engineering work: systematically exploring large codebases, connecting related functions across multiple files, and assessing AI model reasoning. Your evidence-based analysis—citing specific files, functions, and line numbers—will directly influence how these models learn to think like expert engineers.

You're a Great Fit If You:

• Have 4+ years of elite software engineering experience at top-tier startups, quantitative trading firms, hedge funds, or similar high-performance environments
• Have experience using coding agents or LLMs (Copilot, Claude, GPT-4, Replit Agents) in your workflow
• Hold a Computer Science degree from a leading university or equivalent practical expertise
• Are fluent in Python and JavaScript/TypeScript, and can comfortably read Java, Go, Rust, C++, or C#
• Demonstrate systematic exploration across multiple files and dependencies before forming conclusions
• Practice evidence-based reasoning, grounding answers in specific code references
• Excel at cross-file synthesis, connecting distributed logic to explain end-to-end system behavior
• Show strong architectural understanding of patterns, abstractions, and design choices
• Display intellectual honesty and acknowledge uncertainty when appropriate
• Write clear, structured technical documentation with precise communication

Example Projects & Domains

You may work across diverse systems including web APIs, backend services, CLI tools, data pipelines, frontend applications, DevOps tooling, security, observability, and performance-critical architectures.

Engagement Details

• Duration: High-impact 24-hour sprint launching in 1–2 weeks
• Compensation: Task-based pay (top performers previously earned $1,000+ during the sprint)
• Payment: Weekly payouts via Stripe Connect

About Mercor

Mercor connects elite technical talent with leading AI research labs. Based in San Francisco, our investors include Benchmark, General Catalyst, Peter Thiel, Adam D'Angelo, Larry Summers, and Jack Dorsey.