Test Engineer

Location
: Remote; Geography restricted to USA & Europe

Type
: Full-time or Part-time Contract Work

Fluent Language Skills Required:
 English & German. Native-level fluency in English and German is required for this position.

Why This Role Exists

At Mercor, we believe the safest AI is the one that’s already been attacked — by us. We are assembling a red team for this project - human data experts who probe AI models with adversarial inputs, surface vulnerabilities, and generate the red team data that makes AI safer for our customers.

This project involves reviewing AI outputs that touch on sensitive topics such as bias, misinformation, or harmful behaviors. All work is text-based, and participation in higher-sensitivity projects is optional and supported by clear guidelines and wellness resources. Before being exposed to any content, the topics will be clearly communicated.

What You’ll Do

• Red team conversational AI models and agents: jailbreaks, prompt injections, misuse cases, bias exploitation, multi-turn manipulation
• Generate high-quality human data: annotate failures, classify vulnerabilities, and flag systemic risks
• Apply structure: follow taxonomies, benchmarks, and playbooks to keep testing consistent
• Document reproducibly: produce reports, datasets, and attack cases customers can act on

Who You Are

• You bring prior red teaming experience (AI adversarial work, cybersecurity, socio-technical probing)
• You’re curious and adversarial: you instinctively push systems to breaking points
• You’re structured: you use frameworks or benchmarks, not just random hacks
• You’re communicative: you explain risks clearly to technical and non-technical stakeholders
• You’re adaptable: thrive on moving across projects and customers

Nice-to-Have Specialties

• Adversarial ML: jailbreak datasets, prompt injection, RLHF/DPO attacks, model extraction
• Cybersecurity: penetration testing, exploit development, reverse engineering
• Socio-technical risk: harassment/disinfo probing, abuse analysis, conversational AI testing
• Creative probing: psychology, acting, writing for unconventional adversarial thinking

What Success Looks Like

• You uncover vulnerabilities automated tests miss
• You deliver reproducible artifacts that strengthen customer AI systems
• Evaluation coverage expands: more scenarios tested, fewer surprises in production
• Mercor customers trust the safety of their AI because you’ve already probed it like an adversary

Why Join Mercor

• Build experience in human data-driven AI red teaming at the frontier of safety
• Play a direct role in making AI systems more robust, safe, and trustworthy

The contract rate for this project will be aligned with the level of expertise required, the sensitivity of the material, and the scope of work. Competitive rates commensurate with experience.

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.