Mechanical Engineer - AI Lab Project (US Remote)
Listing checked September 17, 2026 · pay as published by Mercor
Overview
Mercor pairs seasoned mechanical engineers with a frontier AI lab's GenAI group for a remote, W-2 role through Cincinnatus LLC. You will judge how well large language models handle real engineering problems, from FEA and CFD analyses to drawings, tolerances, and design reviews. The work centers on quality review, instruction specs, worked reference solutions, and benchmark sets that test genuine domain reasoning. Expect a 2 to 3 month initial engagement at 40 hours per week, with a strong chance of extension if the collaboration goes well. Pay runs $60 to $90 per hour.
What You'll Do6
- 1Audit mechanical engineering prompts and model answers for wrong assumptions, missed constraints, unit slips, tolerance errors, unsafe choices, and polished text that would fail a design review.
- 2Write instruction specs that define correct engineering reasoning and produce worked reference solutions for problems across mechanical design, thermal and fluid systems, stress analysis, manufacturing, and controls.
- 3Build benchmark tasks and evaluation sets that push frontier models on real engineering work, then check whether scores reflect true improvement.
- 4Develop domain tools and evaluation criteria alongside client researchers and specialists from adjacent fields.
- 5Calibrate review standards by turning tacit engineering judgment into explicit, teachable rules that other reviewers can apply.
- 6Review LLM outputs and flag answers that sound plausible but break codes, standards, or physical limits.
Requirements9
- 1Bachelor's degree or higher in mechanical engineering or a closely related engineering discipline.
- 25+ years of hands-on professional mechanical engineering experience in industry, such as product design, thermal and fluid systems, HVAC, structural or stress analysis, manufacturing, automotive, aerospace, energy, robotics, or medical devices.
- 3Demonstrated ownership of real engineering work, including component or system design, FEA or CFD analysis, drawing and specification release, design reviews, testing, and production.
- 4Fluency with common engineering tools such as SolidWorks, CATIA, NX, Creo, AutoCAD, ANSYS, Abaqus, or MATLAB.
- 5Familiarity with relevant codes and standards such as ASME, ASTM, ISO, and GD&T per ASME Y14.5.
- 6Clear progression toward senior or lead engineering responsibility. A Professional Engineer license is a plus but not required.
- 7Hands-on use of large language models in professional work and the judgment to separate a well-reasoned answer from a plausible-sounding wrong one.
- 8Availability for 40 hours per week for an initial 2 to 3 month engagement, with extension possible.
- 9Excellent written communication and the ability to give precise, structured feedback.
Who Should Apply
Practicing mechanical engineers with 5+ years of industry ownership fit best, particularly those who have released drawings, run FEA or CFD, and worked with codes like ASME or GD&T. You should already use large language models in regular engineering work and write feedback that is exact enough for another engineer to act on. The role suits people who can commit 40 hours per week for 2 to 3 months and who want to shape how AI models reason about mechanical design, thermal systems, stress analysis, manufacturing, or controls. Candidates with academic research but no product ownership, or no professional LLM use, often score low because the work demands real design review judgment. Another common rejection reason is vague written feedback that cannot be turned into evaluation criteria or reference solutions.
Salary Insight
Pay for this W-2 engagement runs $60 to $90 per hour, based on experience. That range fits senior or lead mechanical engineers with 5+ years and hands-on FEA, CFD, or production ownership. The upper end often fits candidates who also bring PE licensure, standards expertise, or demonstrated LLM evaluation work.
Pay and demand for Machine Learning & AI roles
AggregatedTypical pay
$75/hour
This role
$60–$90/hr
Most Machine Learning & AI roles pay $55–$100 per hour. This role's pay falls inside that range.
Based on 598 similar roles that publish pay · 94 publish only a top rate; those count at the rate they gave
Rates shown per hour. Yearly and monthly pay converted; one-time fees and non-USD pay are not included.
- Live similar roles
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- Listed in last 30 days
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Hiring most right now: micro1 (293) · Mercor (104) · SME Careers (64)
Most requested skills · share of roles
- python17%
- technical writing10%
- llm evaluation7%
- ai evaluation7%
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Compensation
$60–90/hr
Required Skills
Application Tip
In your application, name the engineering tools and standards you have used (SolidWorks, ANSYS, ASME Y14.5) and quantify at least one owned design, analysis, or release. Add a short example of feedback you wrote on an LLM output, showing how you caught a unit, tolerance, or safety error that a design review would reject.
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