Software Engineer Expert (Remote) Part-Time
Listing checked September 16, 2026 · pay as published by Mercor
Overview
Mercor keeps a standing pool of software engineers who help grade and train frontier AI models. The work is part-time and remote, and projects span frontend, backend, mobile, embedded, DevOps, QA, and security engineering. Assignments range from writing original engineering problems with reference answers to reviewing model-written code for edge cases, complexity, and production failure modes. Past software engineering projects on Mercor paid between $70 and $150 per hour, with scope and depth setting the exact rate.
What You'll Do6
- 1Turn a system you have shipped into an engineering problem with requirements, constraints, failure modes, and a reference answer that graders use against model attempts.
- 2Score model-written code and design for edge case coverage, justified complexity, and tests that exercise the behavior they claim.
- 3Call out code that passes review but would break in production under concurrency, scale, error handling, or operating cost pressure.
- 4Write clear explanations of your reasoning so project teams and other reviewers can follow your judgment.
- 5Flag unclear or conflicting instructions, then ask for the missing context before you proceed.
- 6Apply your review standards across stacks such as React, TypeScript, Go, Node.js, Android, iOS, embedded systems, or platform engineering.
Requirements5
- 1Professional experience building and shipping software.
- 2A track record of owning code in production and dealing with what it did after release.
- 3Clear written English, because most tasks require you to explain your reasoning.
- 4Comfort with ambiguous prompts and a habit of surfacing unclear instructions.
- 5Depth in at least one area: frontend, backend, full-stack, mobile, embedded/IoT, DevOps, platform engineering, systems, performance, QA automation, or security.
Who Should Apply
Ideal candidates have shipped software in a professional setting and can explain their design choices in writing. You might work across React and TypeScript, Go and Node.js, mobile, embedded, DevOps, QA, or security, and you have handled production incidents or scale problems firsthand. This pool fits engineers who want flexible, part-time evaluation work and can handle vague prompts without waiting for perfect instructions. Engineers who prefer hands-on coding with no writing, or who need a fixed schedule and a single long-term team, will find less value here. Applicants often lose fit when they describe team accomplishments without naming their own production ownership, or when they cannot point to specific edge cases, concurrency issues, or failure modes they have solved.
Salary Insight
Past software engineering listings on Mercor have paid between $70 and $150 per hour. Each project sets the exact rate based on scope and depth, so pay tracks the level of judgment and writing a given assignment requires. That range fits senior engineering evaluation and AI training work, where pay reflects the judgment and writing each assignment demands. This is part-time work, and the listing does not promise a fixed number of hours.
Pay and demand for Software Engineering roles
AggregatedTypical pay
$75/hour
This role
$70–$150/hr
Most Software Engineering roles pay $55–$100 per hour. This role's pay sits above that range.
Based on 628 similar roles that publish pay · 104 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
- 720
- Listed in last 30 days
- 350
- Remote
- 95%
Hiring most right now: micro1 (302) · Mercor (107) · SME Careers (70)
Most requested skills · share of roles
- python16%
- technical writing9%
- llm evaluation7%
- ai evaluation6%
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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Compensation
$70–150/hr
Required Skills
Application Tip
In your resume and AI interview, name one production system you owned and describe a failure mode you solved, such as a concurrency bug, a scaling limit, or an error-handling gap. Tie your examples to exact stacks from the pool, like React, TypeScript, Go, Node.js, or security engineering, and write your reasoning in plain English so reviewers see how you think.
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