Senior Software Engineer, Discovery at Mercor (San Francisco, CA)
Mercor· San Francisco, CA· $250k–$500k·
Role details
Job description
About Mercor
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
Why work at Mercor
- Culture: "Built for people who thrive in high-velocity environments." Values include Intensity, Simplicity, User Obsession, High Standards, Can-Do Attitude, and Time Travelers (thinking ahead).
- Work model: In-person collaboration from offices in San Francisco, New York City, and London. No remote option — the company believes in-person collaboration helps move faster and solve harder problems.
- Engineering culture: Direct exposure to frontier AI research, labs, and startups. Every team works with frontier models daily. Described as "the fastest-growing company in the world."
- Compensation: Generous equity grants, competitive salaries (ranges from $100K–$500K depending on role), and a "proximity bonus" (generous annual housing support).
- Benefits:
- Unlimited paid vacation and sick days
- Free Equinox membership (premium fitness access)
- Monthly wellness stipend and free mental health services
- Monthly food stipend
- 401k with employer match
- Parental leave for both birthing and non-birthing parents
- Team: "A team of ambitious, diverse people who want to work on what matters most." Open roles across Engineering (31 roles), Operations (15 roles), Enterprise (5 roles), Finance (4 roles), and more.