Chemistry PhD - Assessment Specialist - AI Trainer

About the role

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. The position is Applied Chemistry Benchmark Specialist, a contract role.

Responsibilities

• Author original chemistry questions that test deep conceptual understanding.
• Ensure questions are unambiguous, self-contained, and precisely defined.
• Rate each question's difficulty as Medium, Hard, or Expert.
• Provide 1 correct answer and 9 plausible but subtly incorrect alternatives.
• Write step-by-step Chain-of-Thought solutions in markdown format.
• Supply 1–5 academic references per question from reputable sources.
• Review pre-written questions for accuracy, clarity, and rigor.
• Edit where needed, rate difficulty, and document any changes made.
• Flag issues with clarity, completeness, precision, or solvability in verification tasks.
• Justify any edits made.

Qualifications

Must-Have:

• PhD or doctoral candidate in Chemistry, Biochemistry, Chemical Engineering, or a closely related field.
• Master's degree considered for candidates with exceptional depth in a specific subdomain.
• Strong command of graduate-level chemistry concepts, reaction mechanisms, and quantitative analysis.
• Excellent written English and ability to express complex ideas clearly and concisely.

Preferred:

• Experience with rigorous academic problem design or chemistry olympiad writing is a strong plus.

Pay

$61–$77/hour

Schedule

Remote, 10+ hours/week commitment