MercorCoding & software eval
Senior Software Engineer, Backend (Node.js, TypeScript, Rust)
up to $80/hr
About this role, in Mercor's words
Join a high-scale consumer platform team as a Senior Backend Engineer, building the services behind digital experiences used by millions of people every day.
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 ↗
Join a high-scale consumer platform team as a Senior Backend Engineer, building the services behind digital experiences used by millions of people every day.
1. Overview
We're partnering with a large enterprise technology organization to place a Senior Software Engineer on a platform team that powers its core customer-facing experiences across web and mobile. The team works across Engineering, UX, Product, Business, and Analytics to ship fast, iterate through continuous experimentation and customer feedback, and integrate advanced capabilities such as Generative AI into production services. We're seeking senior backend engineers with hands-on Node.js, TypeScript, and Rust experience and a deep understanding of how the web works at scale. This is a full-time commitment of 40 hours per week.
This is a W-2 employment position with Cincinnatus LLC, with the opportunity to be placed within a leading enterprise client's engineering organization as part of their extended workforce.
2. Key Responsibilities
• Lead delivery of scoped features through collaborative engineering teams, keeping work aligned with platform and system objectives.
• Design, develop, test, and maintain high-quality, efficient services in Node.js, TypeScript, and Rust, across the full software lifecycle and CI/CD.
• Build and optimize server-to-server integrations and API layers (REST and GraphQL) that serve high-traffic, customer-facing applications.
• Integrate AI/ML capabilities into product services and use generative AI tools to improve engineering productivity.
• Contribute to solution design, conduct code reviews, and apply best practices for scalable, secure, and maintainable systems.
• Monitor application performance, support defect resolution, and drive continuous improvement.
• Mentor peers and contribute to knowledge sharing and engineering excellence across the team.
3. Core Qualifications
• 4+ years of professional software engineering experience (or a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or a related field and 3+ years), building production systems at a recognized, high-scale organization.
• Hands-on production coding experience in Node.js and TypeScript on the backend.
• Hands-on coding experience in Rust, in production services, performance-critical modules, or substantial systems work.
• Strong web fundamentals: HTTP semantics, cookies, headers, caching, sessions, and server-to-server communication patterns (auth between services, timeouts, retries).
• Experience building or operating high-traffic, consumer-facing web platforms.
• Experience with GraphQL on Node.js (schema design, resolvers, federation) is a plus.
• Familiarity with web accessibility standards is a plus.
• Demonstrable career progression to senior-level ownership.
• Ability to engage reliably for at least 40 hours/week during weekdays.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, and the ability to explain complex technical concepts clearly to broad audiences.
About Cincinnatus LLC: Cincinnatus LLC is an enterprise staffing company that partners with leading technology companies to source and employ highly skilled professionals for contingent and contract-based opportunities. Cincinnatus serves as the employer of record for these engagements, providing W-2 employment, payroll, benefits, and compliance, while placing employees directly within client teams to work on high-impact initiatives.
Equal Employment Opportunity: Cincinnatus is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, reproductive health decisions, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, genetic information, political views or activity, or any other legally protected characteristic.
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, $80, is in the middle half. Of the 140 distinct rates we count, 49 are lower and 82 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 $110 |
Sources and listing historyWhere this information comes from
This listing's history
- First seen here on 22 Sep 2026, and still on Mercor's list when we last read it on 13 Oct 2026.
- Listed pay changed on 23 Sep 2026: up to $65/hr before, up to $80/hr after.
A change can also be a correction to how we read Mercor's feed. The figure at the top of this page is always the latest read.
- Posted by Mercor
- First seen by AIPayList
- Last seen live
- Listing ID
- list_AAABoMtDExxnRVLyaolPD7pJ
Pay as the source states it: “50–80 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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