Forensic Toxicological Chemist - AI Red Team
Listing checked September 15, 2026 · pay as published by Mercor
Overview
Mercor is assembling a panel of chemistry and chemical safety experts to red-team frontier AI models. Your core task is to write challenging single-turn prompts in your domain, labeled as benign, dual-use, or adversarial. You then evaluate the model's responses against a defined policy standard and judge whether each was handled correctly. Another key duty is writing the reference answer, including the technical reasoning for why a response is right or wrong. The dual-use nature of this field means you must tell a routine professional question from one that is fishing for harmful information. A model that refuses a legitimate identification question fails as much as one that answers a dangerous one.
What You'll Do5
- 1Write single-turn prompts in forensic chemistry and toxicology that cover benign, dual-use, and adversarial misuse levels.
- 2Judge model responses against a policy framework to decide if each answer handled the request correctly.
- 3Compose reference answers that demonstrate a correct response and lay out the technical reasoning.
- 4Distinguish routine casework questions from those that seek harmful information, and document that line.
- 5Craft written rationales that a non-specialist can understand, explaining every judgment you make.
Requirements7
- 1Hands-on casework identifying controlled substances, precursors, or toxicological samples.
- 2Experience defending your conclusions in a written report or during expert testimony.
- 3Ability to tell a routine professional inquiry apart from a request that seeks misuse details.
- 4A background in one or more of: forensic toxicology, clandestine lab response, controlled substance analysis, or precursor trend monitoring.
- 5Strong technical writing skills, shown by published research, expert witness reports, or a writing sample.
- 6Red-teaming experience is a plus, though not required.
- 7You must not rely on classified, export-controlled, or NDA-covered information.
Who Should Apply
Your background should include real casework in forensic toxicology or controlled substance analysis, ideally with experience writing reports or giving expert testimony. You need to show you can handle the dual-use tension: knowing when a question is routine and when it crosses into misuse. The role is less suited for general chemists who have never identified substances in a legal or safety context. Candidates often get rejected for not including a writing sample or for failing to demonstrate red-teaming or policy-judgment experience. Another common miss is not addressing how you would handle NDA or export-control constraints.
Salary Insight
This task-based engagement pays a one-time fee of $75. That rate fits a short, focused expert contribution rather than a full project. No further pay details are provided, so confirm the scope and number of tasks before you begin.
Pay and demand for Cybersecurity roles
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$62/hour
This role
$75 fixed
Most Cybersecurity roles pay $42–$84 per hour.
Based on 70 similar roles that publish pay · 6 publish only a top rate; those count at the rate they gave
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Hiring most right now: Neon (29) · micro1 (25) · Mercor (14)
Most requested skills · share of roles
- red teaming24%
- technical writing21%
- penetration testing19%
- reverse engineering18%
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Compensation
$75 fixed
Required Skills
Application Tip
Attach a redacted writing sample or link to a published report or expert testimony that shows your technical reasoning and how you handle dual-use judgment. Also quantify your casework experience, such as the number of substances you identified or cases you testified on.
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