Chip Design Expert (RTL Design & Verification)

Role overview

Mercor is working with a frontier AI lab on chip design tasks used to train and evaluate AI models. We're looking for experienced RTL design and verification engineers to review these tasks.

Each task is a realistic hardware engineering problem, such as designing or fixing an RTL block or writing a testbench. It comes packaged with a specification, starting files, a reference solution and automated tests.

What you will do

• Review each task end to end: the spec, the starting files, the reference solution and the tests.
• Confirm the task is fair and solvable: the reference solution passes, and everything the tests check can be worked out from the spec.
• Find flaws: ambiguous specs, tests that let wrong designs pass or reject correct ones, leaked answers, and tasks that are easier than they look.
• Judge whether each task is hard enough to challenge today's best AI models.
• Write clear, specific feedback and suggested fixes, and help shape new task ideas.

Who we are looking for

• 5+ years of hands-on RTL design or verification experience in industry (semiconductor, FPGA, EDA or similar).
• Strong Verilog / SystemVerilog skills, and experience with simulation and testbenches.
• Able to read and reason about Python test code.
• A careful, skeptical reviewer who can explain in writing why a task is broken or too easy.

Nice to have: experience with open-source EDA tools (e.g. Icarus Verilog, Verilator, Yosys, cocotb), formal verification, or reviewing benchmarks for AI models.

Details

• Remote and flexible, about 15–20 hours a week.
• $100/hour.
• Starts immediately.

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.