High-Paying REMOTE Contract Opportunities for Experts (STEM, Medical, Legal, Business & More!)

Hello r/forhire and skilled professionals,

For those seeking flexible, remote contract work, Mercor is actively recruiting experts for a variety of projects, many involving collaboration with leading AI research labs. These roles often offer the chance to contribute to cutting-edge AI development. Mercor is backed by investors like General Catalyst and Adam D’Angelo.

The positions are typically remote, hourly contracts, with payments often processed weekly via Stripe Connect. While many pay ranges are specified for US-based candidates, Mercor generally aims for competitive rates across geographies.

Here's a look at some of the opportunities available, grouped by specialization:

Medical & Healthcare Professionals

(Sorted by highest potential hourly rate)

1. Doctors (MD) ($150-$200 / hr)

   • Role: Experienced General Medical Practitioners (MDs) are sought to collaborate with a leading AI lab. The work involves developing and evaluating advanced AI systems for medicine-specific research tasks and simulating real-world medical workflows.
   • Key Qualifications: Must have 2+ years of work experience in clinical practice in the US, experience as a General Practitioner, and an MD from a top US medical school. Requires availability for >20+ hours per week.
   • Apply Here

2. Mental Health Professional ($100-$200 / hr)

   • Role: Advise prominent researchers on how large language models and other AI tools can be leveraged responsibly to make a profound impact on mental health treatments.
   • Key Qualifications: Hold a PhD or MD from an accredited university with expertise in areas such as Eating Disorder Treatment, Emergency Mental Health Interventions, Outpatient Mental Health Treatment, or Digital Addiction Treatment. A deep interest in AI's responsible use in psychiatric treatments is key. Primarily recruiting US, Canada, or Europe-based candidates, but others considered.
   • Apply Here

3. Dermatologists ($150-$170 / hr)

   • Role: Assist in a medical annotation project focused on identifying and categorizing skin conditions from clinical images, using medical terminology for labeling.
   • Key Qualifications: Seeking U.S.-licensed dermatologist with 10-15 years of clinical practice experience. Dermatologists licensed in Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand, or India with equivalent experience will also be considered. Commitment is 20-40 hours per week. Project expected to run through the end of June 2025.
   • Apply Here

4. Medical Intelligence Expert ($100-$170 / hr)

   • Role: Work will revolve around crafting questions, evaluating model responses, and/or solving problems in your area of expertise to improve AI model capabilities.
   • Key Qualifications: Physician (MD/DO) or Physician’s Assistant (PA) credentials with clinical experience in areas like primary care, emergency medicine, internal medicine, surgery, or critical care. Deep subject matter expertise in clinical workflows and medical decision-making required. Expected commitment of 20-40 hours per week. Project duration is a minimum of 2-4 weeks, with potential for extension.
   • Apply Here

STEM (Science, Tech, Engineering, Math) Professionals

(Sorted by highest potential hourly rate)

1. Exceptional Junior SWE ($50-$150 / hr)

   • Role: Drive the development of intricate database schemas, build sophisticated APIs, and create realistic environments to support cutting-edge Reinforcement Learning models. Technical leadership is essential.
   • Key Qualifications: 1+ years of elite software engineering experience from top-tier technology startups or similar demanding environments. Computer Science degree from a prestigious university in the U.S., Canada, or the UK. Expert-level proficiency in API development and SQL. Must be based in the U.S., UK, or Canada. Flexible workload: 10–20 hours weekly, potential to scale to 40. Note: Projects may follow a hybrid blend of hourly and commission-based pay, or just commission-based pay, with an estimated blended hourly rate around $120/hr based on average efficiency.
   • Apply Here

2. Software Engineer ($50-$150 / hr)

   • Role: This project will primarily focus on writing and reviewing full unit test suites for issues in complex code repositories.
   • Key Qualifications: 2+ years of professional or open-source expertise in Python, Java and/or JavaScript/TypeScript. Experience writing unit tests and familiarity with complex open-source projects and Docker. Minimum commitment of 15 hours per week, up to 40 hours.
   • Apply Here

3. CS and Machine Learning PhDs ($70-$120 / hr)

   • Role: Contribute subject matter expertise to a cutting-edge project involving state-of-the-art large language models by helping write and review PhD level questions that stump AI models.
   • Key Qualifications: PhD with a focus on Machine Learning from a top university. High attention to detail and exceptional written/verbal communication skills. Work is 10-20 hours per week, with potential to extend to 40. Project scoped for a minimum of 1-2 months.
   • Apply Here

4. STEM PhDs (Top US University & General) ($55-$90 / hr)

   • Role: Contribute subject matter expertise to a cutting-edge project involving state-of-the-art large language models. You will help create high-quality data that will inform the future of AI innovation by coming up with difficult problems in your domain. For one specific listing, applicants from top-25 U.S. PhD programs who apply with their .edu email and complete a 20-minute interview receive a guaranteed $25 bonus.
   • Key Qualifications: PhD from a top US university in STEM fields such as Engineering, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, computer science, statistics, life sciences, etc.. High attention to detail and exceptional communication skills. The project is 10-20 hours of work per week with potential to be extended to 40 hours. Minimum 1-2 months duration. Some listings specify U.S., UK, and Canada-based applicants only.
   • Links:
     • Top 25 University STEM PhD
     • STEM PhDs (General Listing)

5. Olympiad Medalist ($35-$65 / hr)

   • Role: Help improve the reasoning capabilities of an AI model by solving olympiad/advanced problems, reviewing solutions, ranking model outputs, and documenting reasoning. A $25 bonus is guaranteed for referred applicants with an olympiad medal or honorable mention who complete their 10-minute interview.
   • Key Qualifications: Strong olympiad background in Mathematics, Computer Science, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, or Linguistics. Excellent English skills and good LaTeX proficiency are required.
   • Apply Here

6. Research PhD (STEM) ($20-$60 / hr)

   • Role: Evaluate and improve cutting-edge large language models (LLMs) by contributing deep domain expertise and academic research insight to benchmark model performance in scientific and technical disciplines.
   • Key Qualifications: A PhD (or current PhD candidate) in a STEM field such as chemistry, physics, mathematics, or related disciplines. Deep familiarity with current research and open questions in your domain is essential. Part-time (15–40 hours/week), fully flexible hours.
   • Apply Here

7. Python Software Engineer (Jun/Mid) ($45-$58 / hr)

   • Role: Assist a leading AI research lab with environment setup and dependency management for open-source Python projects. Work will focus on configuring development environments, resolving dependency issues, and ensuring tests pass. This project involves reviewing Python push requests in Github.
   • Key Qualifications: Expertise in Python, ideally at least 2 years of industry experience. Familiarity with setting up development environments. High attention to detail and exceptional communication skills. Strong preference for lots of activity on Github. Expected commitment between 20-40 hours per week. There's a 2-week trial period.
   • Apply Here

8. STEM Uplift Trials ($50 / hr)

   • Role: Participate in a STEM research study involving AI-assisted Uplift Trials in collaboration with a leading AI research lab. You will document your approach and submit detailed protocols.
   • Key Qualifications: Must have a completed undergrad STEM degree (but not in Biology). Citizen of either the US, UK, Canada, New Zealand or Australia (proof of citizenship required). No previous wet lab experience and no graduate degree. Ability to commit to a timeframe of 16 hours over 2 consecutive days (project will start and end before June 30).
   • Apply Here

Legal Experts

(Sorted by highest potential hourly rate)

1. Legal Intelligence Analyst ($80-$150 / hr)

   • Role: Work on a research project to improve AI systems on legal research and analysis tasks.
   • Key Qualifications: Experience at a prestigious law firm (e.g., Cravath, Skadden, Latham & Watkins). Law degree from a prestigious law university in the United States. Expertise in subjects like M&A, Corporate, Securities, Litigation, IP, Antitrust, Tax law, etc.. Part-time work, approximately 20+ hours per week. The project is anticipated to last several months.
   • Apply Here

Business & Management Experts

(Sorted by highest potential hourly rate)

1. Senior Domain Expert ($45-$200 / hr)

   • Role: Use your professional experience to design questions related to your occupation for research projects with leading AI labs.
   • Key Qualifications: 5+ years full-time work experience in their field; concrete evidence of being an above-average performer (e.g., promotions, awards); and experience having hired or trained others in their professional domain. Candidates must be based in the U.S., U.K., or Canada and work in specific occupations (check the application link for the list of occupations and their availability status). Requires a minimum commitment of 15 hours per week. The work will last for approximately 3-4 weeks.
   • Apply Here

2. Top 10 University MBA ($80-$100 / hr)

   • Role: Business analysts to work on a long-term research project with a leading AI lab to benchmark and improve current AI Models. You will create high quality management consulting questions, answers, and evaluation sets for training frontier LLMs. A $25 bonus is guaranteed to referred applicants enrolled in/graduated from MBA programs at top 10 business schools who complete their 20-minute interview (must use .edu email).
   • Key Qualifications: Currently enrolled in or have graduated from an MBA at Wharton, Kellogg, Stanford, Booth, Sloan, Tuck, Harvard, Stern, Columbia, or Haas. Ability to synthesize information from diverse sources. Part-time (~10-20 hours per week).
   • Apply Here

3. Management Consultant ($80-$100 / hr)

   • Role: Work on a long-term research project with a leading AI lab to benchmark and improve current AI Models by creating high quality management consulting questions, answers, and evaluation sets for training frontier LLMs.
   • Key Qualifications: Prior experience working at McKinsey, Bain, BCG, or a similarly competitive consulting firm. Strong online research skills and ability to synthesize information. Part-time (~10-20 hours per week). Project anticipated to last several months.
   • Apply Here

Multilingual Specialists

(Sorted by highest potential hourly rate)

1. Multilingual Voice Actor ($250 USD per finished hour of audio; advertised as $50-$80/hr)

   • Role: Short-term project where participants will work directly with a leading AI lab to improve their AI model's ability to handle and produce audio data by recording audio voiceovers of given scripts.
   • Key Qualifications: Native speakers of Bulgarian, Bengali, Cantonese, Catalan, Chinese (Standard Mandarin), Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, Galician, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Korean, Latvian, Norwegian, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Serbian, Slovak, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, or Vietnamese; also need to be proficient in English. Must have a professional audio recording setup (home studio with professional grade mic, soundproofing, etc.). Need to commit between 20-40 hours/week for the project duration of roughly 1-2 weeks.
   • Apply Here

2. Multilingual Generalist ($30/live session for Users, $50/live session for Moderators)

   • Role: Help a large language model learn to work with audio by recording audio inputs, possibly creating voiceovers for given scripts and recording with other project members. Hired as either a User or a Moderator.
   • Key Qualifications: Proficient in one of a long list of specified languages (e.g., Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, English (British), Hindi, Italian, Korean, Russian, Vietnamese - see link for full list) AND able to work in English. Must have the ability to record audio and reliable WiFi. Users: 10-40 hours/week. Moderators: 15-40 hours/week, with experience using Google Drive. Project is short-term, likely 1-2 weeks.
   • Apply Here

Other Specialized Experts

(Sorted by highest potential hourly rate)

1. Research Generalist ($40-$65 / hr)

   • Role: Support a research project with a leading AI lab to help benchmark and improve cutting-edge AI models. Responsibilities include creating high-quality research questions, answers, and evaluation materials to train advanced language models.
   • Key Qualifications: Currently pursuing or recently completed Masters studies, or have 2-3 years of relevant experience + Bachelors from a prestigious institution. Strong online research and communication skills. Part-time commitment of approximately 10-20 hours per week. Anticipated project duration is several months.
   • Apply Here

2. Generalist Image Evaluation Expert ($54 / hr)

   • Role: Support an AI project focused on generating high-quality annotations for image-prompt pairs by writing ground-truth responses aligned with a product quality rubric. The work will directly support the training and fine-tuning of large-scale AI systems.
   • Key Qualifications: Master’s degree or higher in a relevant field (e.g., Communication, Linguistics, Education, Data Science, etc.). 2+ years of experience in content writing, evaluation, annotation, or similar roles. Must be based in the US or Canada. This project will require approximately 5-10 work hours per week.
   • Apply Here

3. Hobbyist Expert ($50+ / hr)

   • Role: Help train frontier models at a leading AI lab by leveraging deep expertise in everyday hobbies (e.g., video games, tabletop games, collecting, art, niche sports, fashion, cooking).
   • Key Qualifications: Deep expertise (1000s of hours spent) in at least one hobby. Writing ability to explain complicated aspects of their hobby; content production (blogs, videos) is a plus. English proficiency; US/UK/Canada-based (with work authorization). Enrolled in or holding at least a bachelor's degree from an accredited US, UK, or Canadian university. Hourly commitment: 10-40h/week. Duration: 2-3 months with potential for extension.
   • Apply Here

4. Plant, Animal & Insect Specialists ($30-$60 / hr)

   • Role: Support a project identifying the genus and species of image subjects, requiring deep knowledge of plants/trees, animals/insects, or dogs/cats. Graders are expected to identify subjects from personal knowledge rather than external sources.
   • Key Qualifications: Must be based in the US, Canada, UK, New Zealand, or Australia. Relevant degree (Bachelor’s, Master’s, PhD, DVM) for occupations like Botanist, Arborist, Zoologist, Wildlife biologist, Entomologist, Vet, Vet tech, Ornithologist, or be an avid bird watcher. Commitment of 30-40 hours per week, possibly 20-40 for exceptional candidates. Project expected to run through end of June 2025.
   • Apply Here

General Resume Submission

1. General - Resume Update (Pay Varies by Project)

   • Details: If the specific roles above don't quite match your profile, or you wish to be considered for a broader range of projects, you can submit your resume for general consideration by Mercor.
   • Submit Resume Here

Most application processes involve submitting a resume, followed by a brief AI interview or task.

Good luck with your applications!