Coding

Cybersecurity Practitioner: Paid Expert Interviews (SOC, Incident Response, Detection, AppSec)

Status: Open

Mercor

Pay
$125–$175/hr
Location
Remote — United States (remote) (United States)
Employment type
Contractor
Hours
2 hrs/week
Posted
2026-09-23

About this opportunity

About the work Mercor is designing a benchmark that measures how well AI agents do real enterprise cyber defense work. Before we build it, we want to hear from people who do that work every day. This is a short paid research engagement, not a task or data project. You will join two to three one-hour video conversations with the Mercor team over roughly four weeks, scheduled around your availability. What we will talk about How your work actually happens: the tools you live in, what lands in your queue, where judgment matters and where it does not. How your team measures whether a triage, investigation, containment, hunt, detection rule or patch was done well. Where AI assistance helps you today, where it gets in the way, and what would make a benchmark of AI on this work credible to you. Our draft task taxonomy: what is missing, what is mislabeled, what you would weight differently. Who we are looking for Current or recent hands-on practitioners in enterprise security, for example: SOC analysts and SOC leads (tier 2 and above) Incident responders and digital forensics investigators Detection engineers and threat hunters Application security or product security engineers who find and fix vulnerabilities in production code Security engineers who have run or been on the receiving end of a red team engagement Experience with an EDR and SIEM stack (CrowdStrike Falcon, Microsoft Defender and Sentinel, Splunk, SentinelOne, Elastic or similar) is a plus. Security leaders are welcome if you are still close to the work. Pay and time Paid hourly for interview time as a spot bonus. Sessions are one hour; no prep is expected. Two to three sessions in total. Nothing to build, label or submit. Remote, US-based. Confidentiality We will ask you to describe patterns, not specific incidents, and to leave out anything confidential about current or former employers or customers. Your input is used only to design the benchmark and is never attributed to you or your employer.

Requirements

  • Current or recent hands-on practitioners in enterprise security, for example:
  • SOC analysts and SOC leads (tier 2 and above)
  • Incident responders and digital forensics investigators
  • Detection engineers and threat hunters
  • Application security or product security engineers who find and fix vulnerabilities in production code
  • Security engineers who have run or been on the receiving end of a red team engagement
  • Experience with an EDR and SIEM stack (CrowdStrike Falcon, Microsoft Defender and Sentinel, Splunk, SentinelOne, Elastic or similar) is a plus. Security leaders are welcome if you are still close to the work.
Expert WorkMercor

Local Political Expert (Iowa) — Elections Forecasting & Political Risk

About the work We are building expert-authored forecasting and research data used to evaluate and improve AI models on real political and financial analysis. Each task asks a practitioner to reason from a fixed evidence cutoff — no hindsight — and document the judgment a strong analyst would have made at that moment. This role covers political report authorship: elections, polling, and political-risk events. What you will do Author point-in-time political reports and forecasts from a stated evidence cutoff Make and document directional judgments about polling, win probabilities, and market-implied odds Explain the causal mechanism behind an event's expected political and market impact Review model-generated analyses and grade them against your own standard Who we are looking for Local political analysts with hands-on experience on specific races in swing states: current or upcoming Senate, governor, or statewide contests, or recent cycles in the same state On-the-ground knowledge of the electorate, the candidates, and the local political environment, from roles such as university political scientist, state or regional pollster, state-level campaign or party analytics staff, or state political-risk analyst A record of making live judgments about polling, win probabilities, or odds in those races — not retrospective commentary Strong polling literacy and causal event analysis Typically 8+ years of direct experience, or unusually strong evidence of equivalent performance Backgrounds we look at first: political science departments and survey research centers at universities in the target states, state and regional pollsters, state-level campaign and party analytics teams, and decision desks or race-ratings outlets with state-specific coverage. National forecasting or political-risk experience is welcome when paired with deep knowledge of a specific state. Brand-name experience is a strong first-pass signal but is not a hard requirement — direct experience and performance on the work sample determine who qualifies. Not a fit Profiles whose experience is mainly international politics, geopolitics, or country risk, with little or no work on US races Analysts who have not worked on a current or recent US race in the state they would cover Pure communications or journalism profiles without demonstrated forecasting, polling, or probabilistic judgment Academic profiles whose work is purely theoretical, with no analysis of live races Point-in-time discipline Every task is graded on reasoning from the stated cutoff without hindsight, data leakage, confidential information, or material non-public information.

Contractor· Remote (Canada and United States)

Status: Open

$100–$200/hr

Verified Oct 17, 2026

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Expert WorkMercor

Local Political Expert (Maine) — Elections Forecasting & Political Risk

About the work We are building expert-authored forecasting and research data used to evaluate and improve AI models on real political and financial analysis. Each task asks a practitioner to reason from a fixed evidence cutoff — no hindsight — and document the judgment a strong analyst would have made at that moment. This role covers political report authorship: elections, polling, and political-risk events. What you will do Author point-in-time political reports and forecasts from a stated evidence cutoff Make and document directional judgments about polling, win probabilities, and market-implied odds Explain the causal mechanism behind an event's expected political and market impact Review model-generated analyses and grade them against your own standard Who we are looking for Local political analysts with hands-on experience on specific races in swing states: current or upcoming Senate, governor, or statewide contests, or recent cycles in the same state On-the-ground knowledge of the electorate, the candidates, and the local political environment, from roles such as university political scientist, state or regional pollster, state-level campaign or party analytics staff, or state political-risk analyst A record of making live judgments about polling, win probabilities, or odds in those races — not retrospective commentary Strong polling literacy and causal event analysis Typically 8+ years of direct experience, or unusually strong evidence of equivalent performance Backgrounds we look at first: political science departments and survey research centers at universities in the target states, state and regional pollsters, state-level campaign and party analytics teams, and decision desks or race-ratings outlets with state-specific coverage. National forecasting or political-risk experience is welcome when paired with deep knowledge of a specific state. Brand-name experience is a strong first-pass signal but is not a hard requirement — direct experience and performance on the work sample determine who qualifies. Not a fit Profiles whose experience is mainly international politics, geopolitics, or country risk, with little or no work on US races Analysts who have not worked on a current or recent US race in the state they would cover Pure communications or journalism profiles without demonstrated forecasting, polling, or probabilistic judgment Academic profiles whose work is purely theoretical, with no analysis of live races Point-in-time discipline Every task is graded on reasoning from the stated cutoff without hindsight, data leakage, confidential information, or material non-public information.

Contractor· Remote (Canada and United States)

Status: Open

$100–$200/hr

Verified Oct 17, 2026

Apply → (opens in a new tab)
Expert WorkMercor

Film & Video Craft Expert (Camera, VFX, Editing & Performance)

Join a leading AI lab's cutting-edge research team to be at the core of the AI revolution, where your expertise fuels the development of the most advanced AI models. 1\. Overview Join a leading AI lab's cutting-edge research team and help shape how its next generation of video models is judged. We're seeking film, theater and visual effects professionals who understand how a shot is built, from lighting and grade to framing, camera movement, continuity, texture and performance, to compare AI-generated video side by side and explain which result holds up to a professional eye. This work is ongoing, with new rounds as new models are released. This is a W-2 employment position with Cincinnatus LLC (or appropriate international entity), with the opportunity to be placed at a leading AI Lab as part of their extended workforce. 2\. Key Responsibilities Evaluate pairs of AI-generated videos made from the same prompt and choose the stronger result on specific craft axes: lighting and grade, framing and composition, camera and lens direction, texture and physical realism, shot continuity, and acting and dialogue delivery. Write short, precise reasons for each judgment that name what worked and what broke, in the language a supervisor would use in dailies. Check each video against its prompt, including whether the requested camera move, lens, framing or performance was actually delivered. Take part in calibration rounds with other raters so judgments stay consistent across the pool, and flag prompts or guidelines that are unclear. Collaborate with other subject matter experts to ensure consistency and accuracy in evaluation data. 3\. Core Qualifications Professional or graduate experience in at least one of the following: film or theater (including current graduate students), character animation focused on human performance, character technical direction, acting coaching or teaching, directing (especially crowd and background action), assistant directing, compositing, lighting, texture or surfacing, render wrangling, color or digital imaging (assistant colorist or DIT), camera department (1st AC or camera operator), editing, or display and AV quality assurance. Either training at a respected film, theater or animation program plus 2+ years of practical experience, or 4+ years of practical experience including at least two projects with a theatrical release. A trained eye for detail on screen and the ability to put it into clear, specific words. Fluency in English. Proficiency in a second dubbing language (French, Italian, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Korean or Hindi) is a strong plus. Access to a good quality display and headphones for reviewing video and dialogue. Ability to engage reliably for at least 20 hours/week during weekdays. Strong written communication skills and the ability to explain creative judgments clearly. About Cincinnatus LLC: Cincinnatus LLC is an enterprise staffing company that partners with leading technology companies to source and employ highly skilled professionals for contingent and contract-based opportunities. Cincinnatus serves as the employer of record for these engagements, providing W-2 employment, payroll, benefits, and compliance, while placing employees directly within client teams to work on high-impact initiatives. Equal Employment Opportunity: Cincinnatus is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, reproductive health decisions, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, genetic information, political views or activity, or any other legally protected characteristic.

Part-time· Remote

Status: Open

$70–$100/hr

Verified Oct 17, 2026

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