Principal Software Engineering Lead

About The Job

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

Position: Software Engineer

Type: Freelance

Compensation: $70–$130/hour

Duration: 1–2 months

Commitment: 15–25 hours/week, with flexibility up to 40 hours/week

Role Responsibilities

• Review model-generated code trajectories on realistic software engineering tasks.
• Reconstruct chain-of-thought reasoning that explains each step of the solution process.
• Annotate decision points, debugging logic, and problem-solving strategies.
• Use full task context (codebase, issue descriptions, test cases) to infer plausible reasoning.
• Ensure annotations reflect realistic developer thought processes and technical accuracy.
• Work independently and asynchronously to meet deadlines while improving AI model performance.

Qualifications

Must-Have

• 2+ years of experience in software engineering, with hands-on debugging and problem-solving in real codebases.
• Bachelor's degree in Software Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field.
• Strong proficiency in Python, JavaScript, TypeScript, or other common languages found in open-source projects.
• Familiarity with version control workflows (Git, PRs, issue tracking).
• Comfortable articulating technical reasoning in clear, structured writing.

Preferred

• Advanced degree in Software Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field.

Start Date

• Immediate

Application Process (Takes 20–30 mins to complete)

• Upload resume
• AI interview: A short, 15-minute conversational session to understand your background, experience, and interest in the role
• Follow-up communication within a few days with next steps and onboarding details

Resources & Support

• For details about the interview process and platform information, please check: https://talent.docs.mercor.com/welcome/welcome
• For any help or support, reach out to: support@mercor.com

PS: Our team reviews applications daily. Please complete your AI interview and application steps to be considered for this opportunity.

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