Engineering Manager, Applied AI

About the Role

We’re hiring Engineering Managers to lead teams within our Applied AI organization.

Applied AI builds systems that directly improve model quality, including evaluation infrastructure, annotation products, and emerging multimodal capabilities. You’ll lead a team of engineers, partner with product and research, and help define how Mercor stays at the frontier of AI.

You will also build partnerships with leading AI labs and directly contribute to improving the quality of frontier models through data, evaluation, and systems.

This role requires high ownership and abstraction: setting direction, driving outcomes, and staying hands-on while leading.

What You’ll Work on

Build and Scale Teams

• Manage and grow a team of 6-10 engineers
• Coach and develop high-potential engineers
• Establish strong ownership, culture, and execution standards
• Shape the team: define hiring processes, establish engineering practices, and scale a high-performing team from the ground up

Drive Applied AI Systems and Outcomes

• Drive insights and methodology behind evaluation systems that benchmark and improve model performance
• Lead development while driving improvements in data quality, operational efficiency, system stability, and scalability
• Scale products that generate high-quality training data and improve human-in-the-loop workflows

Own Technical Direction

• Lead system design for complex AI systems
• Stay close to the technical work and guide engineers through ambiguous problems
• Translate high-level AI goals into clear engineering roadmaps and execution plans

Operate Across a Broad Scope

• Partner with product, research, operations, and external AI labs
• Work across systems, data insights, and custom partnerships to drive model quality

Shape the Organization

• Introduce lightweight processes as the organization scales
• Hire and develop strong engineering talent
• Help define engineering management at Mercor

What We’re Looking for

• Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science or a related technical degree such as Electrical Engineering, Physics, Mathematics or Statistics
• 6-10 years in engineering; 2-3+ years managing teams
• Strong background in building scalable systems
• Ability to lead in ambiguous environments with sound technical judgment
• Proven ability to coach engineers and drive execution
• Strong ownership mindset with pragmatic decision-making

Who Thrives Here

• We’re looking for engineering leaders who take ownership in ambiguous environments, make pragmatic decisions, and consistently deliver measurable impact.

Success Metrics

• Build high-performing, well-supported teams
• Hire and retain strong engineers
• Improve team velocity and execution quality
• Contribute to systems that measurably improve model performance

Location

• San Francisco (preferred) or New York
• Relocation assistance will be provided as needed

Why This Role

• Direct impact on frontier AI development
• Build partnerships with leading AI labs and shape how frontier models improve
• High ownership across team, systems, and hiring
• Opportunity to shape a rapidly scaling organization
• Work at the intersection of engineering, product, data, and AI

Benefits

• Bi-annual performance bonus structure
• Generous equity grant vested over 4 years
• Up to $15k Relocation bonus
• $10K housing bonus (if you live within 0.5 miles of our office)
• $1.5K monthly stipend for meals
• Free Equinox membership
• $200 monthly laundry reimbursement
• $200 monthly personal wellness reimbursement
• Health, Dental, Vision insurance