MercorCoding & software eval
Industrial & Manufacturing Engineers (Must own MacBook)
up to $60/hr
About this role, in Mercor's words
Mercor is looking for industrial and manufacturing engineers with 2-3 years of professional experience, or currently enrolled postgrad engineering students, to support a research project with a leading AI lab. You will work through real process, operations, and production engineering workflows on your own Mac to help benchmark and improve cutting-edge AI models.
Candidate background
Qualifications
- Required: You must own a MacBook or Mac with an Apple M-series chip or Intel processor, running macOS 15 or higher. Applicants without a Mac cannot be considered.
- Degree in Industrial, Manufacturing, or Systems Engineering, or a related field
- Experience with process design, lean/Six Sigma, production planning, quality control, or supply chain analysis using spreadsheets, CAD, process-mapping, or statistical tools
- Currently pursuing or recently completed Masters studies, or have 2-3 years of relevant experience + Bachelors from a prestigious institution
- Ability to clearly explain your engineering decisions while you work
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills
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 ↗
Role Overview:
Mercor is looking for industrial and manufacturing engineers with 2-3 years of professional experience, or currently enrolled postgrad engineering students, to support a research project with a leading AI lab. You will work through real process, operations, and production engineering workflows on your own Mac to help benchmark and improve cutting-edge AI models.
Qualifications:
• Required: You must own a MacBook or Mac with an Apple M-series chip or Intel processor, running macOS 15 or higher. Applicants without a Mac cannot be considered.
• Degree in Industrial, Manufacturing, or Systems Engineering, or a related field
• Experience with process design, lean/Six Sigma, production planning, quality control, or supply chain analysis using spreadsheets, CAD, process-mapping, or statistical tools
• Currently pursuing or recently completed Masters studies, or have 2-3 years of relevant experience + Bachelors from a prestigious institution
• Ability to clearly explain your engineering decisions while you work
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
Job Details:
• Part-time commitment of approximately 10-20 hours per week
• Responsibilities include completing and narrating real industrial and manufacturing engineering tasks on your Mac to create high-quality training data for advanced AI models
• Clearly structured responsibilities without the high pressure typically found in internships or full-time consulting roles
• Immediate start preferred
Application and Onboarding Process:
• Submit your resume, followed by a brief (3-minute) conversation with our AI interviewer to assess research and reasoning skills
• Complete a brief paid assessment to further evaluate your fit for the role
• You will receive follow-up communication within a few days regarding your application status and next steps
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
- The current interview FAQ gives no reply-time estimate. Mercor says it notifies you when your application moves to the next stage and that you can keep applying. 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 $90. This role's top rate, $60, is in the bottom quarter. Of the 143 distinct rates we count, 25 are lower and 109 are higher.
| Platform | Roles | Top of range, per hour |
|---|---|---|
| Alignerr | 125 | $50 to $400 · median $100 |
| micro1 | 50 | $60 to $400 · median $110 |
| Handshake AI | 43 | $47 to $125 · median $80 |
| Mercor (this platform) | 35 | $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 18 Oct 2026, and still on Mercor's list when we last read it on 20 Oct 2026.
- The listed pay has not changed since then.
- Posted by Mercor
- First seen by AIPayList
- Last seen live
- Listing ID
- list_AAABoVBmX0ZP9cQMwYZIa4th
Pay as the source states it: “50–60 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.
Keep exploring
More like this
Related field, different requirements. Check each role's own page before you apply.