Manufacturing - Automotive (Mechanical Engineering) Expert

About the role

This opportunity is with Mercor, a company that connects high-caliber creative and technical professionals with leading AI research labs. The organization is based in San Francisco and is backed by Benchmark, General Catalyst, Peter Thiel, Adam D'Angelo, Larry Summers, and Jack Dorsey.

Role summary

You will help create realistic benchmark environments for frontier AI systems by modeling authentic automotive engineering workflows. The work focuses on manufacturing and mechanical engineering tasks that reflect day-to-day industry practices.

What you will do

• Design a believable digital workspace built around the Drive folders used in real work, including design review files, DFMEA/PFMEA documents, PPAP packs, tolerance studies, benchmarking presentations, test reports, and email conversations.
• Create multi-step assignments based on genuine automotive workflows, requiring interaction across several applications, files, and stakeholders to test advanced AI agents.
• Work with other automotive engineering specialists to shape the task environment, define scope, and check that the scenarios remain realistic and demanding.
• Partner asynchronously with research teams to improve task design and assessment standards for automotive engineering benchmarks.
• Contribute directly to frontier AI research by helping build and evaluate the next generation of AI training and testing systems.

Required profile

• You should hold a BS or MS in Mechanical Engineering or a closely related field.
• You need more than 3 years of full-time experience with a Fortune 500 automotive OEM or a Tier-1 supplier.
• Hands-on expertise is expected in vehicle or subsystem design, CAE/CAD/simulation engineering, manufacturing or process engineering, or quality engineering.
• Daily working knowledge of ANSYS Fluent, STAR-CCM+, Siemens Opcenter, or SAP S/4HANA is required.
• Strong analytical reasoning and written communication skills are important for success in this role.

Compensation and legal notes

The role is paid on a task basis, with compensation ranging from $1,150 to $1,450 per task depending on quality. There is also a weekly performance bonus for top contributors, and high-performing workers may later move into hourly pay for consistent output and quality.

Application process

The application typically takes 20 to 30 minutes and includes three steps: uploading your resume, completing an AI interview based on your background, and submitting the form.

Support

If you need help with the process, support is available at [email protected].

Additional information

The team reviews applications every day. Candidates must finish the AI interview and application steps to be considered for the opportunity.