ML Research Scientist - PhD

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: ML Research PhD Experts (ICML / NeurIPS / ICLR Publications)
Type: Contract
Compensation: $110–$145/hour
Location: Remote

Role Responsibilities

• Evaluate the accuracy and depth of AI-generated content to strengthen reasoning and rigor in model outputs.
• Review complex machine learning research for alignment with domain principles and methodologies.
• Provide clear, structured feedback to AI research teams to improve training data quality and downstream performance.
• Develop evaluation rubrics and benchmarks for assessing AI-generated tasks and solutions.
• Collaborate with subject matter experts to ensure consistency, relevance, and coverage across datasets.
• Work independently and asynchronously to meet deadlines while improving AI model performance.

Qualifications

Must-Have

• PhD in Machine Learning, Computer Science, AI, or a closely related field.
• Published at least one main conference paper at ICML, NeurIPS, or ICLR.
• Strong preference for candidates with 2+ publications at these venues.
• Demonstrated experience conducting original ML research.

Preferred

• Expertise in Reinforcement Learning (RL).
• Experience with Meta-Learning.
• Knowledge of Recursive Self-Improvement.
• Familiarity with AI for Science (e.g., weather forecasting, protein modeling, scientific discovery).

Start Date

• Urgent; initial data/results expected Monday / Tuesday 27th July.

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.