Chemistry PhD - Synthetic Specialist

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: Chemistry Specialist, Synthetic & Analytical Chemistry

Type: Contract

Compensation: $70–$100/hour

Location: Remote

Role Responsibilities

• Guide research and engineering teams to close knowledge gaps and improve AI model performance in synthetic chemistry, reaction mechanisms, and structure elucidation.
• Design challenging, non-searchable chemistry tasks, benchmarks, and training data. Write accurate, well-structured solutions to problems like multi-step route design and reaction optimization.
• Evaluate AI model outputs and step-by-step reasoning on chemistry tasks. Diagnose errors in chemical logic and provide clear, written technical feedback.
• Develop specifications, grading rubrics, and verification processes for chemistry data. Act as the domain authority on data quality.
• Advise on experimental design, common lab failure modes, and the chemical validity of model outputs, including molecular representations such as SMILES .
• Collaborate with other subject matter experts to ensure consistency and accuracy in training data.

Qualifications

Must-Have

• PhD in chemistry or equivalent research experience.
• 3+ years of hands-on chemistry experience at a recognized organization.
• Hands-on experience in small-molecule synthesis and optimizing reactions.
• Practical experience with analytical techniques like NMR , mass spectrometry, IR , and HPLC / LC-MS .
• Comfortable using cheminformatics and scientific AI tools .
• Ability to engage reliably for at least 20 hours/week during weekdays.
• Strong written communication skills.

Preferred

• Experience with cheminformatics representations ( SMILES / SMARTS ).
• Experience writing grading rubrics or designing benchmarks.

Application Process (Takes 20–30 mins to complete)

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

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