MercorCoding & software eval
Mechanical Engineering Experts
up to $120/hr
About this role, in Mercor's words
Mercor is seeking experienced Mechanical Engineers to support an advanced engineering and AI research initiative with a leading technology organisation. We are looking for deeply hands-on engineers who have designed, analysed, built, tested, validated, or troubleshot real-world mechanical and electromechanical systems in production environments.
What you'll do
Key Responsibilities
- Apply hands-on mechanical engineering expertise to technically complex engineering tasks involving real physical systems and products.
- Review and evaluate mechanical designs, engineering analyses, simulation results, test methodologies, and troubleshooting approaches.
- Analyse engineering trade-offs involving structures, materials, thermal performance, mechanical design, dynamics, vibration, controls, reliability, and manufacturability .
Show all 8 itemsHide the other 5 in Key Responsibilities
- Assess the technical correctness and practical feasibility of engineering solutions generated for real-world mechanical engineering problems.
- Identify incorrect assumptions, unrealistic boundary conditions, design deficiencies, failure modes, and potential implementation or reliability risks.
- Develop or review technically rigorous engineering problems, reference solutions, evaluation criteria, and supporting technical documentation.
- Draw on practical experience with design, simulation, prototyping, hardware integration, test, validation, qualification, debugging, and manufacturing .
- Provide clear technical feedback grounded in real-world engineering experience and established engineering principles.
Quoted from selected sections of Mercor'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 Mercor's words
Posted by Mercor, reproduced here so you can judge the role before clicking. Original posting ↗
Mercor is seeking experienced Mechanical Engineers to support an advanced engineering and AI research initiative with a leading technology organisation. We are looking for deeply hands-on engineers who have designed, analysed, built, tested, validated, or troubleshot real-world mechanical and electromechanical systems in production environments.
Relevant backgrounds include:
• Structural / Stress Engineering
• Thermal Engineering
• Mechanical Design Engineering
• Dynamics & Controls Engineering
This role is particularly well suited for engineers who have worked directly on complex physical products and can bring practical engineering judgment to evaluating technical designs, analyses, testing workflows, failure modes, and real-world engineering problems.
Key Responsibilities
• Apply hands-on mechanical engineering expertise to technically complex engineering tasks involving real physical systems and products.
• Review and evaluate mechanical designs, engineering analyses, simulation results, test methodologies, and troubleshooting approaches.
• Analyse engineering trade-offs involving structures, materials, thermal performance, mechanical design, dynamics, vibration, controls, reliability, and manufacturability .
• Assess the technical correctness and practical feasibility of engineering solutions generated for real-world mechanical engineering problems.
• Identify incorrect assumptions, unrealistic boundary conditions, design deficiencies, failure modes, and potential implementation or reliability risks.
• Develop or review technically rigorous engineering problems, reference solutions, evaluation criteria, and supporting technical documentation.
• Draw on practical experience with design, simulation, prototyping, hardware integration, test, validation, qualification, debugging, and manufacturing .
• Provide clear technical feedback grounded in real-world engineering experience and established engineering principles.
You’re a Strong Fit If You Have
• 5+ years of professional mechanical engineering experience , including at least 3 years of recent, actively hands-on experience in hardware development, analysis, testing, validation, integration, bring-up, or troubleshooting—not solely program or people management.
• Demonstrated experience as the responsible engineer for real hardware or physical systems , owning meaningful portions of the engineering lifecycle from requirements and analysis through design, prototype development, testing, validation, qualification, and manufacturing readiness.
• Deep technical expertise in at least one core domain: structural/stress analysis and FEA; thermal analysis, heat transfer, and thermal management; mechanical design and product development; or dynamics, vibration, mechanisms, and controls .
• Strong practical command of materials, loads and boundary conditions, structural margins, fatigue, thermal constraints, tolerances/GD&T, component selection, reliability, manufacturability, system integration, and engineering failure-mode analysis .
• Extensive hands-on experience analyzing, testing, debugging, and validating physical hardware , using relevant engineering tools such as CAD/CAE, FEA, CFD/thermal simulation, dynamic or controls simulation, test instrumentation, data acquisition, and structured root-cause analysis.
• Proven experience developing hardware in real-world product or manufacturing environments , ideally across aerospace/defense, space, automotive/EV, semiconductors, consumer electronics, robotics/eVTOL, industrial/energy, or medical devices—e.g., Lockheed Martin, RTX, Boeing, Blue Origin, Rocket Lab, Tesla, Rivian, NVIDIA, Qualcomm, Apple, Google, Meta, Skydio, Shield AI, Joby, Boston Dynamics, Siemens, GE Aerospace, ABB, Medtronic, or Intuitive Surgical —with the ability to clearly explain technical decisions, design trade-offs, test results, and failure mechanisms.
Preferred Background
Experience working for a company that designs, builds, tests, and manufactures physical hardware products or systems is strongly preferred. Relevant organisations may include, but are not limited to:
• Aerospace & Defense: Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, RTX, Boeing, General Atomics, L3Harris, BAE Systems, General Dynamics, Honeywell Aerospace, Textron
• Space: Blue Origin, Rocket Lab, Relativity Space, Firefly Aerospace, Sierra Space, Astranis, Planet, Maxar, Axiom Space
• Automotive & EV: Tesla, Rivian, General Motors, Ford, Lucid, Waymo, Zoox, Aptiv, Bosch
• Semiconductors: NVIDIA, Qualcomm, Intel, Analog Devices, Texas Instruments, Broadcom, Marvell, Micron, NXP, Infineon
• Consumer Electronics & Computing: Apple, Google Hardware, Meta Reality Labs, Microsoft Devices, Amazon, Samsung, Garmin, Sonos
• Drones, eVTOL & Robotics: Skydio, Shield AI, Zipline, Joby Aviation, Archer Aviation, Boston Dynamics, Figure, Agility Robotics, Wing
• Industrial, Energy & Medical Devices: Siemens, GE Aerospace, GE Vernova, ABB, Schneider Electric, Rockwell Automation, Enphase, Medtronic, Intuitive Surgical
Candidates from comparable hardware-focused organisations are equally encouraged to apply.
Why Join
• Apply your mechanical engineering expertise to technically challenging problems at the intersection of advanced hardware engineering and AI research .
• Work on projects where practical, real-world engineering experience and first-principles technical judgment are highly valued.
• Help improve how advanced AI systems reason about mechanical design, structural analysis, thermal systems, dynamics, controls, testing, and hardware troubleshooting .
• Contribute remotely with flexible engagement structures alongside experienced engineers and researchers.
• Work on problems that require genuine engineering judgment and hands-on industry expertise rather than purely theoretical knowledge.
Working with MercorPay, getting started and work, from Mercor's own pages
What the platform publishes in general. These are not extra terms confirmed for this particular role.
- Getting paid
- Hourly work is paid every Wednesday for the previous week, through Stripe Connect or Wise, whichever Mercor assigns to your region. Stripe holds the first payout for 7 days. talent.docs.mercor.com/how-to/payments, talent.docs.mercor.com/policies/contracts
- Before your first paid task
- An AI interview of about 20 minutes, reused for other roles that need it, then any assessments the role asks for. Before logging hours: ID verification through Persona, a tax form, the contract documents, the Insightful time tracker, and a background check the onboarding guide says usually takes one to two weeks. talent.docs.mercor.com/support/ai-interview, talent.docs.mercor.com/how-to/apply, talent.docs.mercor.com/policies/contracts, talent.docs.mercor.com/how-to/id-verification, talent.docs.mercor.com/working/project-onboarding
- How much work
- Hearing back after the AI interview usually takes 2 to 4 weeks. When a project ends you are not moved to a new one automatically. talent.docs.mercor.com/support/ai-interview, talent.docs.mercor.com/support/project
- Contract
- Independent contractor with Mercor.io Corporation of San Francisco, which deducts no taxes. talent.docs.mercor.com/policies/taxes-work-authorization, talent.docs.mercor.com/support/legal
Read on the pages linked above on 23 Sep 2026. Platforms change these terms, so check the linked page before you rely on one.
Alex's experience on MercorA personal account, not a promise about your project
Alexruns this site and has worked on Mercor himself. Written 31 Aug 2026.
- Every interview I took used an AI interviewer. They always checked my microphone and camera and asked me to share my screen, and some included a timed exercise of around 25 minutes.
- Many later applications needed no new interview from me. With the required assessments complete and no other outstanding steps, applying could be close to one click.
- The application I checked did not ask for a rate. My offer matched my minimum in Work Preferences. That does not establish that Mercor always caps higher offers at your preference.
- Onboarding and setup came to about 4 hours, with more security and tool setup. Of the three platforms I worked on, it was the most complicated for me. That is an estimate from my projects, not a platform average.
- Mercor required the Insightful tracker on my project. I observed app and website usage monitoring, and I am unsure which screenshot settings applied, so check the configuration.
- I was paid for hours logged, once every 14 days, and I have not experienced late or incorrect payments. That was my arrangement. Mercor's current documentation describes weekly payout cycles, so check your own offer.
One person's applications, not a promise about yours.
What happens after you apply, first-handHow 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 Mercor's posting. How we count.
Pay across the field: Coding & software eval
Across 393 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 $95. This role's top rate, $120, is in the top quarter. Of the 141 distinct rates we count, 97 are lower and 31 are higher.
| Platform | Roles | Top of range, per hour |
|---|---|---|
| Alignerr | 137 | $50 to $400 · median $100 |
| micro1 | 46 | $35 to $350 · median $110 |
| Handshake AI | 43 | $47 to $125 · median $80 |
| Meridial (Invisible) | 34 | $22 to $150 · median $60 |
| Mercor (this platform) | 32 | $60 to $200 · median $105 |
Sources and listing historyWhere this information comes from
This listing's history
- First seen here on 26 Sep 2026, and still on Mercor's list when we last read it on 13 Oct 2026.
- The listed pay has not changed since then.
- Posted by Mercor
- First seen by AIPayList
- Last seen live
- Listing ID
- list_AAABoN3On6pC5dA5aDRBErDP
Pay as the source states it: “100–120 USD HOUR”.
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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