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

Software Engineer

Type:

Freelance

$75–$80/hour

Location:

Remote

Duration:

1–2 weeks

Commitment:

15–40 hours/week

Role Responsibilities

Evaluate and compare the performance of AI-powered CLI coding agents on real-world infrastructure debugging tasks.
Solve TerminalBench tasks using AI CLI agents to diagnose and fix failing systems.
Write bash scripts to address root causes and ensure they survive service restarts.
Diagnose broken systems inside Docker containers involving databases, TLS, pipelines, and more.
Compare and rank agents' approaches after each task to inform product decisions.
Work independently and asynchronously with flexible hours.

Must-Have

3+ years of experience in software engineering with hands-on debugging of systems and infrastructure.
Strong bash/shell scripting proficiency.
Experience with Docker and containerization.
Skills in infrastructure and systems debugging with PostgreSQL, MySQL, Redis, nginx, TLS, systemd, and log analysis.
Familiarity with version control workflows (Git, PRs, issue tracking).

Start Date

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
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.

Systems Engineer - AI CLI Tools

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