Mercor

AI Safety Expert - Red Team

South Africa full-time Senior R29 - R45
full-time Senior level Technology & IT Salary listed Curated
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About the role

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: AI Safety Experts — English & Portuguese (global)
Type:Contract
Compensation:$29–$45/hour
Location:Remote
Role Responsibilities

Red team conversational AI models and agents. Focus on jailbreaks, prompt injections, misuse cases, bias exploitation, and multi-turn manipulation.

Generate high-quality human data. Annotate failures, classify vulnerabilities, and flag systemic risks.

Apply structure using taxonomies, benchmarks, and playbooks to maintain consistent testing.

Document reproducibly. Produce reports, datasets, and attack cases that customers can act on.

Work independently and asynchronously. Participate in optional higher-sensitivity projects with clear guidelines and wellness resources.

Qualifications

Must-Have

Native fluency in English and Portuguese (global, excluding Brazilian Portuguese).

Prior red teaming experience in AI adversarial work, cybersecurity, or socio-technical probing.

Strong communication skills to explain risks to technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Preferred

Experience in Adversarial ML: jailbreak datasets, prompt injection, RLHF/DPO attacks, model extraction.

Cybersecurity skills: penetration testing, exploit development, reverse engineering.

Socio-technical risk expertise: harassment/disinfo probing, abuse analysis, conversational AI testing.

Creative probing skills in psychology, acting, or writing for unconventional adversarial thinking.

Application Process (Takes 20–30 mins to complete)

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Originally posted on Himalayas

Interview prep

Walk in with sharper answers.

Use this as a quick practice sheet before you speak with the employer.

Senior
Technology & IT Remote Collaboration Writing Safety Expert Red Senior level

Likely questions

  1. Tell us about work you have done that is close to the AI Safety Expert - Red Team role.
  2. How would you approach your first 30 days at Mercor?
  3. Which of Remote Collaboration, Writing and Safety have you used recently, and what did it help you achieve?
  4. How have you led people, improved a process, or made a hard decision in a previous role?
  5. How do you handle busy days, changing priorities, or pressure at work?

Prepare before the call

  • A recent example that proves your experience with Remote Collaboration, Writing and Safety.
  • One short story with a problem, your action, and the result.
  • Two examples that show the strengths listed on your CV.
  • A clear reason why this role and company interest you.
  • Your availability, preferred work style, and salary expectations.

Ask them

  • What would success look like in the first 90 days?
  • What are the main problems this hire should help solve?
  • How does the team give feedback and measure good work?
  • What does a normal working week look like for this role?
Practice line

I am interested in the AI Safety Expert - Red Team role because I can bring practical experience in Remote Collaboration, Writing and Safety, learn the team quickly, and contribute to the outcomes Mercor needs from this hire.

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