SWE (Cybersecurity)
Mercor is hiring experienced Software Engineers specialized in Cybersecurity
to support high-impact research collaborations with leading AI labs. Freelancers will contribute to building training datasets that improve AI model reasoning and problem-solving on real-world coding tasks. This is a unique opportunity to apply your software engineering expertise toward shaping the next generation of intelligent systems. ### About the Project You'll annotate frontier-model trajectories on
SWE-bench–style tasks
derived from real open-source repositories. Currently, closed-source models do not expose their internal reasoning traces, making it difficult to understand how LLMs approach problem-solving. To address this gap, you'll
reconstruct and annotate the reasoning portions
of model trajectories—using your own problem-solving process and the full task context to infer and infill the underlying thought process at each step. ### Key Responsibilities - Design benchmark tasks by ideating a vulnerability class (type/subtype + difficulty) and validating the intended exploit behavior - Create or validate small runnable codebases (“environment/” repos) that include ingestion plus prompt/tool usage where the trust boundary is violated - Validate the attack via an exploit script and document the unsafe behavior clearly - Validate implementation of a patch that prevents the exploit and verify the fix is effective - Produce task metadata (e.g., severity mapping, exact file/line locations, impact analysis, remediation summary, references) - Conduct review + QC to ensure paths resolve, line ranges are correct, labels aren’t leaked, and the fix blocks the exploit ### Ideal Qualifications - 2+ years of experience in software engineering, with a focus on application security, vulnerability research, or secure software engineering - Degree in Software Engineering, Computer Science, or a related field (Bachelor's minimum; advanced degree preferred) - Strong proficiency in Python, JavaScript, TypeScript, or other common languages found in open-source projects - Familiarity with version control workflows (Git, PRs, issue tracking) - Comfortable articulating technical reasoning in clear, structured writing ### Project Timeline -
Start Date:
Immediate -
Duration:
1–2 months -
Commitment:
Part-time (15–25 hours/week, with flexibility up to 40 hours/week) ### Application & Onboarding Process 1. Upload your resume 2. AI interview: A short, 15-minute conversational session to understand your background, experience, and interest in the role 3. Follow-up communication within a few days with next steps and onboarding details
- *Apply today** and leverage your software engineering expertise to help build the future of AI-driven systems!
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