Handshake AICoding & software eval
Mechanical Engineering Expert
up to $120/hr
About this role, in Handshake AI's words
Handshake is looking for experienced Mechanical Engineers to support AI research through flexible, part-time contract work. This is not a traditional engineering role—you'll draw on your hands-on experience in parametric solid modeling, GD&T-fluent drawing interpretation, standards-based mechanical calcs, or FEA validated with hand calcs to evaluate AI-generated content and provide feedback that helps AI reason like a practicing mechanical engineer. This is an ongoing, project-based opportunity that you can take on alongside your current role or studies.
What you'll do
- Create expert-level mechanical engineering problems and scenarios grounded in real part, assembly, and analysis work that gets manufactured, tested, or approved
- Review AI-generated responses for technical accuracy, practical feasibility, manufacturability, and alignment with industry standards and engineering practice
- Evaluate models, drawings, tolerances, calculations, and FEA results for correctness, defensibility, and whether a reviewer could dimension against them
Show all 5 itemsHide the other 2 in What you'll do
- Provide clear, structured written feedback to help improve AI model performance
- Complete tasks at your own pace, with no set schedule or minimum-hour requirement
Quoted from selected sections of Handshake AI's posting. The full posting may state other conditions. Read the full posting
A closer look
More context, when you need it.
Full job descriptionThe original posting, in Handshake AI's words
Posted by Handshake AI, reproduced here so you can judge the role before clicking. Original posting ↗
Overview
Handshake is looking for experienced Mechanical Engineers to support AI research through flexible, part-time contract work. This is not a traditional engineering role—you'll draw on your hands-on experience in parametric solid modeling, GD&T-fluent drawing interpretation, standards-based mechanical calcs, or FEA validated with hand calcs to evaluate AI-generated content and provide feedback that helps AI reason like a practicing mechanical engineer. This is an ongoing, project-based opportunity that you can take on alongside your current role or studies.
What You'll Do
• Create expert-level mechanical engineering problems and scenarios grounded in real part, assembly, and analysis work that gets manufactured, tested, or approved
• Review AI-generated responses for technical accuracy, practical feasibility, manufacturability, and alignment with industry standards and engineering practice
• Evaluate models, drawings, tolerances, calculations, and FEA results for correctness, defensibility, and whether a reviewer could dimension against them
• Provide clear, structured written feedback to help improve AI model performance
• Complete tasks at your own pace, with no set schedule or minimum-hour requirement
Qualifications
• Industry experience — working mechanical engineer or current undergraduate/graduate student who has personally produced a part, assembly, or analysis that someone else manufactured, tested, or approved from
• Degree — BS, MS, or PhD in Mechanical Engineering or a closely related engineering field
• If you are in the process of completing your bachelor's degree, internship experience is required.
• Mechanical expertise — demonstrated depth in one or more of the following areas:
• Parametric solid modeling built to tolerance
• GD&T-fluent drawing interpretation
• Standards-based mechanical design calculations
• FEA validated against hand calcs
Additional Qualifications:
These are not required but will strengthen your application:
• Proficiency with tools such as SolidWorks, Creo, NX, CATIA, Inventor, Fusion 360, ANSYS, Abaqus, Nastran, MATLAB, or comparable modeling and analysis environments
• Experience producing manufacturing-ready drawings or models — for machining, sheet metal, casting, injection molding, or additive processes
• Experience at a manufacturer, product design firm, aerospace/defense contractor, automotive supplier, or as a current MS/PhD student in Mechanical or a closely related engineering discipline
Required for All Applicants:
• Based in the United States
• Strong written communication and attention to detail
• Ability to explain complex mechanical engineering concepts clearly
• Ability to work independently in a remote, asynchronous environment
Working with Handshake AIPay, getting started and work, from Handshake AI's own pages
What the platform publishes in general. These are not extra terms confirmed for this particular role.
- Getting paid
- Paid weekly through Stripe. Handshake says it usually sends payouts by Wednesday afternoon for the previous Monday to Sunday week, and a payment can often take 48 hours to process and appear. Some projects set their own schedule. Non-US tax residents face 30% US withholding unless they certify the work was done outside the US. ai-support.joinhandshake.com/articles/32263614087575, ai-support.joinhandshake.com/articles/33238954868759, ai-support.joinhandshake.com/articles/39964143294615
- Before your first paid task
- Its pages give different answers on who can join. Its AI page says you must be based in the US, its help center says people outside the US can join by invitation only, and some of its postings ask for Indian work authorization or a base in Canada. Identity verification, tax details and a payout method come before paid work, and a failed assessment usually cannot be retaken. joinhandshake.com/ai, ai-support.joinhandshake.com/articles/37145099086743, joinhandshake.com/ai/opportunities/physics-expert-india, joinhandshake.com/ai/opportunities/ai-evaluation-speciali..., ai-support.joinhandshake.com/articles/32244754462615, ai-support.joinhandshake.com/articles/36935929970711, ai-support.joinhandshake.com/articles/41129932721431
- How much work
- Applying does not guarantee a project, and there is no fixed timeline for an invitation. Projects can start, pause or end at short notice. ai-support.joinhandshake.com/articles/32244169079703, ai-support.joinhandshake.com/articles/33238954868759, ai-support.joinhandshake.com/articles/38150760132119
- Contract
- Contractor, under an agreement with Handshake AI Solutions, LLC that says you are not an employee. joinhandshake.com/legal/contractor-agreement
Read on the pages linked above on 24 Sep 2026. Platforms change these terms, so check the linked page before you rely on one.
How does the pay compare?Across Coding & software eval roles, not this role alone
From our own daily reads of every open listing on the platforms we follow, not from Handshake AI's posting. How we count.
Pay across the field: Coding & software eval
Across 392 roles in this field with a stated hourly rate in US dollars, on 14 platforms, the middle half pays $65 to $120 an hour at the top of the range, and the median is $90. This role's top rate, $120, is in the top quarter. Of the 139 distinct rates we count, 95 are lower and 30 are higher.
| Platform | Roles | Top of range, per hour |
|---|---|---|
| Alignerr | 127 | $50 to $400 · median $100 |
| micro1 | 49 | $60 to $400 · median $110 |
| Handshake AI (this platform) | 42 | $47 to $125 · median $80 |
| Mercor | 36 | $60 to $200 · median $110 |
| Meridial (Invisible) | 34 | $22 to $150 · median $60 |
Sources and listing historyWhere this information comes from
This listing's history
- First seen here on 5 Sep 2026, and still on Handshake AI's list when we last read it on 25 Oct 2026.
- The listed pay has not changed since then.
- Posted by Handshake AI
- First seen by AIPayList
- Last seen live
- Listing ID
- 11368561
Pay as the source states it: “Up to $120/hr”.
Platforms sometimes change a rate after posting. Every listing here is re-read at least once a day and corrected when its source moves, so a difference you see on the platform is usually a change made since the last read. How freshness works.
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