Molecular Biology PhD - DNA Design

About the job

Mercor connects elite creative and technical talent with leading AI research labs. Headquartered in San Francisco, our investors include Benchmark, General Catalyst, Peter Thiel, Adam D'Angelo, Larry Summers, and Jack Dorsey.

Position: Molecular Biology Experts - US
Type: Contract
Compensation: $70–$105/hour
Location: Remote

Role Responsibilities

• Collaborate with research and engineering teams to identify and address gaps in AI model molecular biology reasoning.
• Design challenging, domain-specific tasks and document solutions, including primers for PCR, qPCR, plasmids, expression vectors, and CRISPR editing constructs.
• Review molecular biology tasks and model outputs against expert-quality solutions, providing clear feedback on correctness and biological reasoning.
• Develop guidelines and rubrics for sequence design quality, focusing on primer melting temperature, specificity, and codon optimization.
• Work with other subject matter experts to ensure training data consistency and accuracy.

Qualifications

Must-Have

• PhD strongly preferred in molecular biology, genetics, biochemistry, synthetic biology, bioengineering, or related life science field.
• Experience designing nucleic acid constructs, including primers, plasmids, vectors, gRNA, sgRNA, mRNA, and HDR templates.
• Strong peer-reviewed publication record, especially first-author work in journals like Nature, Cell, and PNAS.
• Ability to commit to at least 20 hours/week on weekdays.
• Strong written communication skills.

Preferred

• Previous experience in AI training, model evaluation, or data annotation.

Application Process (Takes 20–30 mins to complete)

• Upload resume
• AI interview based on your resume
• Submit form

Resources & Support

• For details about the interview process and platform information, please check: https://talent.docs.mercor.com/welcome
• For any help or support, reach out to: [email protected]

PS: Our team reviews applications daily. Please complete your AI interview and application steps to be considered for this opportunity.