Lead Data Scientist

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.

Position: Expert Professionals — AI & Data Science — IN
Type: Contract
Compensation: $27–$32/hour
Location: Remote
Commitment: 40 hours/week

Role Responsibilities

• Guide research and engineering teams to close knowledge gaps in data science, AI, and machine learning domains. Surface nuances that distinguish expert-level work from surface-level reasoning.
• Design challenging data science and AI tasks rooted in real-world statistical modeling, ML pipelines, data engineering, and software workflows. Write accurate, well-documented solutions that serve as ground truth.
• Evaluate AI agent outputs and data science solutions. Provide detailed written feedback that captures correctness, efficiency, and reasoning quality.
• Develop and refine evaluation frameworks and rubrics for assessing statistical reasoning, ML pipeline design, agentic behavior, and data analysis approaches.
• Collaborate with other subject matter experts to ensure consistency and accuracy in training data.

Qualifications

Must-Have

• 3+ years of professional or research experience in data science, machine learning, data engineering, AI systems, or software engineering.
• Demonstrated technical expertise in at least one of: statistical modeling, ML modeling, data analysis, programming, LLMs, or agentic workflows.
• Demonstrable career progression.
• Ability to commit to 40 hours per week during weekdays for the duration of the engagement.
• Strong written communication skills and the ability to explain analytical and technical decisions clearly.

Preferred

• Prior experience with data annotation, labeling, evaluation, or human feedback collection is a strong plus.
• Experience with LLMs, AI systems, or agentic workflows; familiarity with agentic frameworks is a plus.

Compensation & Legal

• W-2 employment with Cincinnatus LLC.
• Paid weekly.

Application Process (Takes 20–30 mins to complete)

• Upload resume
• AI interview based on your resume
• Submit form

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.