Software Engineer (Canada)
Listing checked October 28, 2026 · pay as published by Handshake AI
Key details
- Pay
- $120/hr
- Location
- Remote
- Job type
- Part-Time
- Posted
- October 27, 2026
Overview
Handshake AI brings working software engineers into AI research as reviewers and problem writers. You take your production experience in backend systems, distributed architecture, or performance engineering and use it to judge how well a model reasons about real system design. Projects run on an ongoing basis with no set schedule and no minimum hours, so the work sits comfortably beside a full-time job. Everything happens remotely, at your own pace, and the output is sharp technical judgment in writing.
What You'll Do7
- Write expert-level software engineering problems grounded in real system design, architecture, and implementation decisions.
- Grade AI answers on technical accuracy, practical feasibility, and whether the approach matches how engineers actually build and ship systems.
- Send structured written feedback that names the flaw and shows the reasoning a model should follow instead.
- Compare competing solutions and call out the trade-offs a seasoned engineer would catch.
- Apply depth in one sub-domain, such as backend systems, cloud infrastructure, or performance engineering, when scoring answers.
- Pick up projects when your schedule allows and work without a minimum hour requirement.
- Translate complex engineering concepts into plain prose so the notes are usable by people outside your specialty.
Requirements8
- Five or more years of direct, hands-on work as a software engineer in industry or research.
- A bachelor's degree in computer science or another technical field.
- Deep expertise in at least one area: backend systems and distributed architecture, infrastructure and cloud platforms with DevOps, or systems programming and performance engineering.
- Canadian work authorization.
- Writing clear enough to explain architecture and design trade-offs to someone who was not in the room.
- Strong attention to detail, since your reviews shape how a model learns.
- Comfort working alone in a remote, async setup.
- Experience at a well-known top-tier tech company strengthens an application, though the posting does not require it.
Who Should Apply
Practicing engineers with five or more years in production systems who want paid, part-time work that draws on their judgment rather than their on-call hours. Best fit if you can name one deep area, backend, infrastructure, or systems performance, and write about it with precision.
Salary Insight
The posting lists $120.00 per hour for this fellowship engagement. Project-based AI evaluation work that asks for five years of engineering experience plus sub-domain depth tends to pay well, and this rate lands on the high end of that band. Because hours are self-scheduled, the role works as a second income stream rather than a replacement for a current job.
Application tip
Lead your resume summary with the sub-domain you claim, backend and distributed architecture, cloud infrastructure and DevOps, or systems programming and performance, then attach one hard number from your work such as request volume, fleet size, or latency you reduced. Screeners check that depth against the five-year floor before anything else.
Pay and demand for Software Engineering roles
Market estimates from live NearSkill listings — separate from this job's published terms.
This role · as published
$120/hr
Taken from the listing itself.
Typical pay · estimated
$70/hour
Median of 1,144 similar roles that publish pay · 302 publish only a top rate; those count at the rate they gave
Most Software Engineering roles pay $40–$95 per hour. This role's pay sits above that range.
Rates shown per hour. Yearly and monthly pay converted; one-time fees and non-USD pay are not included.
- Live similar roles
- 1,310
- Listed in last 30 days
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Hiring most right now: micro1 (386) · SME Careers (253) · Mercor (183)
Most requested skills · share of roles
- ai evaluation13%
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Figures from Software Engineering roles live on NearSkill when this page loaded. A role can close before you apply, so check the listing itself.
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