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Software Engineer, Systems & Platform Applied AI

mercorSan FranciscoEngineering
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Salary
$220K – $500K
Job type
Full-time
Experience
Mid · 2+ yrs
Posted
24 Sept 2026
Status
Open · checked 7d ago

About this role

Mercor is hiring a Software Engineer for the Systems and Platform Applied AI organization in San Francisco to design, build, and operate backend services that power training data pipelines for frontier models. This full-time, in-person position suits backend engineers with professional experience who enjoy building scalable infrastructure and taking full ownership of production systems.

Role Overview

Mercor is seeking a Software Engineer to join the Applied AI organization in San Francisco. The team builds the systems that transform human expertise into training data, expert workflows, and evaluation infrastructure. Working five days a week in the San Francisco office, the engineer will own backend services, data models, APIs, and pipelines that remain correct and fast as volume scales.

Key Responsibilities

Design, build, and operate backend services within the Applied AI stack, including data models, APIs, and background jobs.
Own features from start to finish by scoping problems, writing designs, shipping code, and maintaining production health.
Construct and tune high-throughput data and job pipelines incorporating queuing, batching, retries, and backpressure.
Monitor system performance, profile hot spots, manage token and cost attribution, and enforce strict latency and error budgets.
Launch and manage thousands of containers, handle resource allocation, and maintain infrastructure using Terraform.
Participate in on-call rotations, debug production incidents, and write clear design documentation and code reviews.

Requirements

Two to five years of professional backend engineering experience operating production systems.
Strong fundamentals in backend engineering, including concurrency, data structures, and algorithms.
Practical background in API design using REST, gRPC, or GraphQL alongside relational database modeling and query performance.
Experience with distributed systems basics such as event streams, caching, rate limiting, and workflow management systems like Airflow, Temporal, or Dagster.
Capability to handle ambiguity, communicate clearly in writing, and demonstrate high ownership.

Nice to Have

Experience building or integrating with production-level LLM-backed services for evaluation, orchestration, or serving.
Familiarity with AI infrastructure providers such as Modal, Fireworks, Baseten, or Temporal.

Skills and Tools

Backend Development
REST, gRPC, GraphQL
Relational and NoSQL Databases
Terraform
Airflow, Temporal, Dagster
CI/CD and Container Management
AI Development Tools (Claude Code, Cursor, Copilot)

Salary and Benefits

Salary range of $220K to $500K with equity offers
Bi-annual performance bonus structure and generous equity grants
Up to $15k relocation bonus and $10K housing bonus for living within 0.5 miles of the office
$1.5K monthly meal stipend
Free Equinox membership
$200 monthly laundry reimbursement and $200 monthly personal wellness reimbursement
Health, dental, and vision insurance

About the Company

Mercor organizes human intelligence to power the AI economy by building the infrastructure layer between human expertise and frontier models. Millions of domain experts use the platform to train frontier AI models, while enterprise offerings bring this infrastructure to Fortune 500 companies. Mercor operates as a profitable Series C company valued at $10 billion with offices in San Francisco, New York City, and London.

How to Apply

Candidates should apply directly on the official company careers page.

Skills and tech stack

RESTgRPCGraphQLTerraformAirflowTemporalDagsterClaude CodeCursorCopilotLLMDistributed Systems

Questions candidates ask

Where is this job located?

This role requires working in-person five days a week at the San Francisco office.

How many years of experience are required?

The posting requires 2 to 5 years of professional backend engineering experience.

What is the salary and equity structure for this position?

The salary ranges from $220K to $500K with equity offers and a bi-annual performance bonus structure.

What benefits are provided with this role?

Benefits include health, dental, and vision insurance, a $1.5K monthly meal stipend, a free Equinox membership, relocation and housing bonuses, and monthly reimbursements for laundry and wellness.

What workflow and data orchestration tools are relevant to this position?

Experience with data orchestration and workflow management systems like Airflow, Temporal, or Dagster is requested.

Ready to apply?

The application is on the official mercor careers page.

Apply on company site