MercorSenior Software Engineer, Discovery
Mercor is hiring a Senior Software Engineer, Discovery in San Francisco, United States. It pays $250k-$500k a year and Level rates it ; you can apply on Mercor.
Level's read on this job
- Works on AI ●●●○ is how Level rates this software engineer role: the daily work is on AI products, without building the model.
- The listed pay starts 50% above the typical software engineer posting on Level.
- Tools and skills the posting cites include python, machine learning and software engineering.
- Level lists 88 other open roles at Mercor.
- The role was posted in the last few days.
AI in this role
Senior software engineer building self-optimizing automation platforms and agents to source and manage data production for AI training.
Mercor's mission is to organize human intelligence to power the AI economy. We're a leading AI data company, building the layer between human expertise and frontier models. Millions of domain experts on the platform are paid over $4 million per day to train frontier AI models. Mercor's APEX benchmark family measures AI's real-world impact on professional work. Mercor Enterprise brings this same infrastructure to Fortune 500 companies: helping companies capture how their best people actually work, translating that expertise directly back into agents.
Mercor is creating a new category of work where expertise powers AI advancement. Achieving this requires an ambitious, fast-paced and deeply committed team. You’ll work alongside researchers, operators, and AI companies at the forefront of shaping the systems that are redefining society. Mercor is a profitable Series C company valued at $10 billion. We work in-person five days a week in our San Francisco, NYC, or London offices.
The Role
Project leads at Mercor run and scale distinct data production businesses, each hiring and upskilling thousands of experts, while managing throughput and quality. We're building a self-optimizing automation platform that lets one person run a business of tens-hundreds of millions in revenue.
You'll own major parts of it:
Agents that source, vet and staff with minimal human input
Pay and incentives models that hire and retain the best experts
Experiments and workflows that keep huge projects running smoothly
Agents that are accountable for monitoring and driving real revenue goals
Who We're Looking For
We want engineers with 5+ years of experience who thrive under ambiguity, seek out outsized scope and fight for high quality.
Benefits
Bi-annual performance bonus structure
Generous equity grant vested over 4 years
Up to $15k Relocation bonus
$10K housing bonus (if you live within 0.5 miles of our office)
$1.5K monthly stipend for meals
Free Equinox membership
$200 monthly laundry reimbursement
$200 monthly personal wellness reimbursement
Health, Dental, Vision insurance
How we rate this
Senior Software Engineer, Discovery at Mercor rates 65 out of 100 for how much of the daily work is AI. That makes it Works on AI (AI Level 3 of 4). The level is about AI in the job, not seniority.
Works on AI. The daily work is on AI products, without building the model.
- ●●●● Builds AI80 to 100
- ●●●○ Works on AI60 to 79
- ●●○○ Uses AI40 to 59
- ●○○○ Little AI0 to 39
Levels come from how often the tools, models and workflows of the role are named in the posting itself. Read the description and count the AI tools, models and workflows it names.
Prepare for this job
Built from this posting and from similar jobs on Level.
Skills and AI tools this role asks for
Pay
- This job starts at
- $250k
- Typical software engineer job
- $167k
This posting starts 50% above the typical software engineer job. See software engineer jobs
Questions you could be asked
- Tell me about a project where python was part of your work. What did you do?
- Tell me about a project where machine learning was part of your work. What did you do?
- Tell me about a project where software engineering was part of your work. What did you do?
- Tell me about a project where agents was part of your work. What did you do?
- Describe a typical day in a role like this one: which parts run through AI directly?
Adapt your resume
- List these exact terms on your resume: Python, Machine learning, Software Engineering, and Agents. An applicant tracking system matches the wording, not the idea.
- Attach one line of real, concrete experience to at least one of them. A tool named with nothing behind it rarely survives a human read.
- Show where AI is part of your daily process, not a one-off project. This role expects it to be a running habit.
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About Mercor as a platform
Level reads Mercor’s own pages for pay, entry steps and accepted countries, and sets them beside the other platforms. See the Mercor platform page or compare AI training platforms.