Software Engineering Expert

Mercor is hiring on behalf of a leading AI lab to bring on Software Engineers to work across key infrastructure and developer experience initiatives. This is a high impact role focused on improving internal tooling, reliability, and infrastructure velocity. You will collaborate closely with engineering teams to build scalable systems, improve developer workflows, and standardise infrastructure practices.

Work-streams

1. Developer Experience (CI / Infra Reliability)

• Improve CI performance, reliability, and observability

• Build runner autoscaling and system hardening

• Implement alerting and notification systems

• Increase visibility into CI pipelines and failures

2. Developer Experience (CLI & Tooling)

• Enhance CLI usability and discoverability

• Build telemetry, observability, and performance improvements for CLI tools

• Improve SDK/shared library ergonomics (stable APIs, versioning, templates)

• Develop tooling insights (e.g., usage visibility)

3. IT Systems / SaaS & Procurement

• Manage and optimise SaaS tools and configurations

• Build systems for procurement intake and vendor inventory

• Implement and maintain:

  • Google Workspace administration

  • SAML-based SSO

  • SCIM provisioning with RBAC controls

4. Infrastructure “Paved Roads” (Pulumi / IaC)

• Build reusable Pulumi modules and service templates

• Standardise baseline infrastructure stacks (logging, monitoring, tagging, budgets)

• Reduce drift and copy-paste infra patterns

• Add safety checks and guardrails for faster, safer deployments

Requirements

• Strong proficiency in Python

• Experience with backend systems, infrastructure, or developer tooling

• Familiarity with at least one relevant area:

  • CI/CD systems (e.g., GitHub Actions, Buildkite, etc.)

  • CLI tooling and developer platforms

  • SaaS/IT systems (SSO, identity, provisioning)

  • Infrastructure-as-Code (Pulumi, Terraform, etc.)

• Ability to work independently in a fast-paced environment

• Strong problem-solving and systems thinking

Availability & Collaboration

• Commitment: ~20 hours per week

• Must be available for 2 × 45-minute syncs weekly

  • Scheduled during PST work hours (Monday & Thursday)

Why Join

• Work with a cutting-edge AI lab on foundational engineering systems

• High ownership across critical infrastructure and developer experience layers

• Flexible, part-time engagement with meaningful technical impact

• Opportunity to shape systems used by top-tier engineering teams

We consider all qualified applicants without regard to legally protected characteristics and provide reasonable accommodations upon request.

Contract and Payment Terms

• You will be engaged as an independent contractor.
• This is a fully remote role that can be completed on your own schedule.
• Projects can be extended, shortened, or concluded early depending on needs and performance.
• Your work at Mercor will not involve access to confidential or proprietary information from any employer, client, or institution.
• Payments are weekly on Stripe or Wise based on services rendered.
• Please note: We are unable to support H1-B or STEM OPT candidates at this time.

About Mercor

Mercor partners with leading AI labs and enterprises to train frontier models using human expertise. You will work on projects that focus on training and enhancing AI systems. You will be paid competitively, collaborate with leading researchers, and help shape the next generation of AI systems in your area of expertise.