MercorData annotation
Video Editing Professional
$50/hr
About this role, in Mercor's words
Mercor is assembling a panel of professional video editors to build post-production tasks used to train and evaluate AI agents. Each task gives an AI agent what you'd hand a junior editor: source footage, a brief, and a deliverable spec, plus a hidden answer key or rubric so the finished video can be scored on the result, not on a text answer.
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 ↗
About the work
Mercor is assembling a panel of professional video editors to build post-production tasks used to train and evaluate AI agents. Each task gives an AI agent what you'd hand a junior editor: source footage, a brief, and a deliverable spec, plus a hidden answer key or rubric so the finished video can be scored on the result, not on a text answer.
You will:
• Contribute original footage you shot and fully own (or source openly licensed footage) and author realistic editing briefs from it.
• Build each task end to end in your own editing software: cut, introduce defects or distractors where the task calls for them, and produce the reference edit a correct result is judged against.
• Write the grading criteria — concrete, checkable standards with the editorial reasoning behind them.
• Blind-solve tasks built by other editors and write up a step-by-step solution.
Background we're looking for
• 5+ years editing professionally in film and TV, commercials, broadcast news, or creator and social production, owning deliverables end to end.
• Fluent in at least one professional editor (Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve, Final Cut Pro, Avid Media Composer), including basic color and audio cleanup.
• Comfortable with delivery specs: resolution, frame rate, codecs, audio channel layouts and frame-accurate cuts.
• Strong plus: a library of unpublished original footage you shot and fully own, with people on camera who will sign an appearance release. The more, the better.
The application
• Submit your resume and a link to your reel or portfolio.
• Complete a short AI interview about your editing background.
• Answer a few questions about your footage: what you have, whether you own it outright, and whether the people in it consent to its use.
Before you apply
• Not open to residents of California.
• Expect about 12 hours/week.
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 Data annotation 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: Data annotation
Across 58 roles in this field with a stated hourly rate in US dollars, on 10 platforms, the middle half pays $15 to $50 an hour at the top of the range, and the median is $25. This role's top rate, $50, is in the top quarter. Of the 30 distinct rates we count, 21 are lower and 7 are higher.
| Platform | Roles | Top of range, per hour |
|---|---|---|
| Claru | 27 | $10 to $100 · median $28 |
| micro1 | 14 | $10 to $80 · median $15 |
| Alignerr | 7 | $24 to $120 |
| Grayder | 3 | $45 to $100 |
| Innodata | 2 | $15 |
Sources and listing historyWhere this information comes from
This listing's history
- First seen here on 9 Oct 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_AAABoR2PeFf7cQwruS5FCqF1
Pay as the source states it: “50 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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