Source Security Specialist at Mercor

Source Security Specialist | $65–75/hr | Worldwide Remote

Mercor is assembling a panel of radiological safety and security experts to red-team frontier AI models. This is a writing-intensive, task-based contract role for practitioners who can reliably distinguish routine professional inquiries from requests that cross into genuine misuse territory.

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
• Write reference answers — including the correct response and the technical reasoning behind it

Domain Focus

This role centers on the security and vulnerability side of licensed radiological programmes — specifically how Category 1 and 2 sources can be stolen, shielded, or moved. The core challenge is drawing the line between a legitimate professional question and one that's fishing for something it shouldn't have. You'll be writing prompts that sit exactly on that line, then judging whether the model held it.

Relevant Backgrounds

• Security or vulnerability assessment of licensed facilities holding Category 1 and 2 sources
• Physical protection design and review — detect, delay, assess, and respond; insider threat considerations
• Source recovery, consolidation, or security-upgrade programmes for disused and orphan sources
• Regulatory security inspection and compliance (10 CFR 37 or national equivalents)
• Transport security for radioactive material — routing, escort, tracking, and chain of custody

What We're Looking For

• Deep practitioner-level expertise in radiological source security
• Strong technical writing skills — every judgment requires a written rationale accessible to non-specialists
• Prior technical writing, published research, or expert witness experience is a strong signal; please include a sample or link in your application
• Red-teaming experience is a plus

Important Notes

This work must not draw on classified, export-controlled, or NDA-protected information. If you hold such obligations, you may still be eligible — note it in your application and the scope will be adjusted accordingly. You will be reading and writing about misuse scenarios for sustained periods; you can pause or step away at any time without penalty.