MercorCoding & software eval
Electrical & Hardware Engineering Experts
up to $120/hr
About this role, in Mercor's words
Mercor is seeking experienced Electrical and Hardware 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, built, tested, brought up, debugged, or validated real-world hardware systems in production environments.
What you'll do
Key Responsibilities
- Apply hands-on electrical and hardware engineering expertise to technically complex engineering tasks.
- Review and evaluate hardware designs, engineering workflows, technical analyses, and troubleshooting approaches.
- Analyse design trade-offs, failure modes, measurements, test results, and system-level engineering decisions.
Show all 8 itemsHide the other 5 in Key Responsibilities
- Assess the technical correctness and practicality of engineering solutions generated for real-world hardware problems.
- Identify errors, missing assumptions, unrealistic recommendations, and potential design or implementation risks.
- Develop or review technically rigorous engineering problems, reference solutions, evaluation criteria, or supporting documentation.
- Draw on practical experience with hardware development, validation, bring-up, debugging, manufacturing, and testing.
- Provide clear technical feedback grounded in real engineering experience and industry best practices.
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 Electrical and Hardware 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, built, tested, brought up, debugged, or validated real-world hardware systems in production environments.
Relevant backgrounds include:
• RF / Antenna Engineering
• Power Electronics Engineering
• Analog / Mixed-Signal Engineering
• Hardware / PCB Design Engineering
• Signal Integrity 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, troubleshooting workflows, and real-world hardware problems.
Key Responsibilities
• Apply hands-on electrical and hardware engineering expertise to technically complex engineering tasks.
• Review and evaluate hardware designs, engineering workflows, technical analyses, and troubleshooting approaches.
• Analyse design trade-offs, failure modes, measurements, test results, and system-level engineering decisions.
• Assess the technical correctness and practicality of engineering solutions generated for real-world hardware problems.
• Identify errors, missing assumptions, unrealistic recommendations, and potential design or implementation risks.
• Develop or review technically rigorous engineering problems, reference solutions, evaluation criteria, or supporting documentation.
• Draw on practical experience with hardware development, validation, bring-up, debugging, manufacturing, and testing.
• Provide clear technical feedback grounded in real engineering experience and industry best practices.
You’re a Strong Fit If You Have
• 5+ years of professional industry experience , including at least 3 years of recent, actively hands-on experience in hardware development, testing, bring-up, validation, or troubleshooting.
• Direct experience serving as the responsible engineer for substantial portions of a hardware development or engineering workflow, rather than solely managing engineering teams or projects.
• Deep expertise in at least one of the following areas:
• RF systems, antennas, electromagnetic design, or RF validation
• Power electronics, power conversion, motor drives, or power delivery
• Analog or mixed-signal circuit design
• PCB architecture, schematic design, board bring-up, or hardware debugging
• Signal integrity, power integrity, high-speed interfaces, or system-level electrical validation
• Strong understanding of practical engineering constraints including component selection, tolerances, measurement, manufacturing, reliability, thermal considerations, and system integration.
• Experience debugging real hardware using relevant laboratory equipment, simulation tools, and engineering instrumentation.
• Ability to explain technical decisions, trade-offs, and failure modes clearly and rigorously.
Preferred Background
Experience working for a company that designs and manufactures physical hardware products is strongly preferred. Relevant organisations may include, but are not limited to:
• Aerospace & Defence: 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, Analogue 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 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 is highly valued.
• Help improve how advanced AI systems reason about electrical engineering, hardware design, testing, and troubleshooting.
• Contribute remotely with flexible engagement structures alongside experienced engineers and researchers.
• Work on problems that require genuine engineering judgment 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_AAABoN2AhG3DPZYg43dGFICd
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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