Applied Mathematics Benchmark Specialist
Position: Applied Mathematics Benchmark Specialist
Type: Hourly Contract
Compensation: $61–$77/hour
Location: Remote
About the Opportunity
This opportunity is for expert mathematicians and applied mathematics researchers to contribute to an advanced AI research and evaluation initiative with Mercor.
You will author and verify rigorous academic assessment content across specialized mathematics domains, helping establish gold-standard benchmarks used to evaluate and advance AI capabilities. The work focuses on deep conceptual understanding, mathematical rigor, formal reasoning, and precise problem formulation.
Responsibilities
- Author original, challenging multiple-choice mathematics questions that assess deep conceptual understanding rather than surface-level recall.
- Review and verify pre-written mathematics questions for accuracy, clarity, completeness, rigor, and solvability.
- Ensure each question is unambiguous, self-contained, and precisely defined, with all necessary information included.
- Assign difficulty ratings as Medium, Hard, or Expert based on the mathematical knowledge required.
- Provide one correct answer and nine plausible but subtly incorrect alternatives designed to challenge advanced solvers.
- Develop clear, step-by-step mathematical solutions with concise intermediate reasoning in Markdown format.
- Provide 1–5 reputable academic references for each question, including peer-reviewed publications and university repositories.
- Identify issues involving clarity, precision, completeness, or solvability during verification and clearly document any edits.
- Apply rigorous mathematical standards to ensure assessment content supports high-quality AI benchmarking.
Required Qualifications
- PhD or doctoral-level study in Mathematics, Applied Mathematics, Statistics, or a closely related field.
- Strong command of graduate-level mathematical concepts and formal proof writing.
- Deep expertise in at least one of the covered mathematics domains.
- Strong ability to formulate, solve, and critically evaluate advanced mathematical problems.
- Excellent written English and ability to communicate complex mathematical concepts clearly and concisely.
- Strong attention to detail and commitment to mathematical accuracy and rigor.
- Ability to work independently in an asynchronous, fully remote environment.
- Availability for approximately 10+ hours per week.
Preferred Qualifications
- Master's degree with exceptional depth in a relevant mathematical subdomain.
- Experience designing rigorous academic mathematics assessments or problem sets.
- Experience with mathematical competition or olympiad-style problem writing.
- Research experience in areas such as optimization, mathematical modeling, financial mathematics, actuarial science, or mathematical economics.
- Experience reviewing academic mathematical literature or technical publications.
- Previous experience with AI evaluation, benchmarking, or technical content verification.
Compensation
- $61–$77/hour
- Hourly contract engagement.
- Expected commitment of 10+ hours per week.
- Fully remote and asynchronous.
- Opportunity to contribute to gold-standard mathematics benchmarks for advanced AI systems.
Eligibility
- Candidates with a PhD or doctoral-level background in Mathematics, Applied Mathematics, Statistics, or a closely related field.
- Master's-level candidates may be considered where they demonstrate exceptional expertise in a relevant subdomain.
- Applicants should have expertise in one or more of the following areas:
- Signal Processing
- Financial Mathematics & Actuarial Science
- Mathematical Economics
- Mathematical Modeling of Ecological & Biological Systems
- Mathematical Programming & Combinatorial Optimization
- Geomathematics & Climate Modeling
Application Process
- Apply for the Applied Mathematics Benchmark Specialist position.
- Complete the required screening process.
- Demonstrate relevant mathematical expertise and academic experience.
- Complete any required assessment or sample problem-design task.
- Complete onboarding if selected.
- Begin authoring or verifying high-quality mathematics benchmark questions for the AI research initiative.