Pharmaceutical R&D Expert - PhD

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.

About the role

We are seeking a Pharmaceutical R&D Domain Expert for a contract position. This role involves evaluating pharmaceutical knowledge work tasks and AI model outputs, developing high-quality instruction specs, and collaborating with research teams to build domain-specific tools.

Responsibilities

• Evaluate the quality of pharmaceutical knowledge work tasks and AI model outputs.
• Identify missing behaviors and unsupported claims.
• Develop high-quality instruction specs and golden solutions for drug discovery.
• Define tasks reflecting industry practices.
• Design challenging pharmaceutical tasks and evaluation sets.
• Collaborate with the research team to build domain-specific skills and tools.
• Work with client researchers to maintain consistent standards.
• Translate tacit development judgment into explicit criteria.

Requirements

• PhD or PharmD in a relevant discipline (e.g., medicinal chemistry, pharmacology).
• 4+ years of pharmaceutical or biotechnology R&D experience.
• Specialization in a pipeline stage (e.g., target identification, clinical development).
• Seniority with ownership of a discovery project or development program.
• Peer-reviewed publications or contributions to programs that reached the clinic.
• Hands-on use of large language models in professional work.
• Commitment to 40 hours/week for 6 months.
• Living in the Bay Area, California and able to work on-site when required.

Qualifications (Preferred)

• MD with substantive drug development experience.

Pay

$75–$115/hour

Schedule

40 hours/week, hybrid (Bay Area, California)