Molecular Biology PhD - Sequence Design

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: Molecular Biology Experts
Type: Contract
Compensation: $70–$105/hour
Location: Remote
Commitment: 20–40 hours/week

Role Responsibilities

• Guide research and engineering teams to close knowledge gaps and improve AI model performance in molecular biology, nucleic-acid sequence design, and construct engineering.
• Design challenging, domain-relevant tasks and write accurate, well-documented solutions for primers, plasmids, gRNA/sgRNA, mRNA constructs, and HDR/repair templates.
• Evaluate molecular-biology tasks and AI model outputs against expert-quality solutions. Provide clear, written technical feedback on correctness, rigor, and biological reasoning.
• Develop guidelines and detailed rubrics/evaluation frameworks to assess sequence-design quality, including guide/target selection and codon optimization.
• Collaborate with other subject matter experts to ensure consistency and accuracy in training data.

Qualifications

Must-Have

• PhD strongly preferred in molecular biology, genetics, biochemistry, synthetic biology, bioengineering, or a related life-science field.
• Hands-on experience designing nucleic-acid constructs, including primers, plasmids/vectors, gRNA/sgRNA, mRNA, and HDR/repair templates.
• Strong peer-reviewed publication record, especially first-author work in notable venues.
• Demonstrable career progression.
• Ability to engage reliably for at least 20 hours/week during weekdays.
• Strong written communication skills.

Preferred

• Past experience in AI training, model evaluation, and data annotation.

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.