Investment Banking Expert

$100–130/hrrate as listed

Mercor is staffing investment banking practitioners to build and grade financial-modeling, pitch, and memo tasks for a frontier AI lab's research project. Minimum 10 hours per week on a four-week engagement, with observed rates of $100–130/hour.

Summary, eligibility guidance and screening preparation are prepared by Sidequest from the platform's posting. Check the source listing before applying.

What the work involves

You will produce and evaluate banking-grade deliverables that an AI model is being trained to imitate — three-statement and DCF models, LBO builds, comp sets, pitch and CIM sections, investment memos, and industry or company deep-dives. In practice a task looks like one of two things: you author a reference deliverable with your reasoning made explicit, or you review a model's attempt and mark where it breaks — a circular reference left unresolved, a working-capital schedule that doesn't tie, a comps table using the wrong calendarization, a memo that asserts a thesis the exhibits don't support. Written rationale matters as much as the verdict; a rating without a defensible explanation of the error and its materiality has little value to the lab.

What the platform screens for

Mercor's screen is an AI-led interview plus resume verification. Expect it to test whether your banking experience is real and specific: which group, which deal types, what you personally built versus what the team shipped. Vague seniority claims tend to unwind under follow-up. The second thing it measures is evaluation judgment — whether you can distinguish a cosmetic formatting issue from an assumption error that changes the output by a turn of EBITDA, and whether you can articulate a standard rather than a preference. Two years of experience at a recognized firm is the stated floor, and depth in at least one of modeling, pitch materials, memos, or sector analysis is required.

Logistics

Fully remote and asynchronous; work is drawn from a task queue on your own schedule.
Minimum 10 hours per week, four-week initial engagement, with extension or rotation onto adjacent projects for strong contributors.
Open to contributors based in the U.S., UK, Canada, Europe, and Australia.
Observed pay band is $100–130/hour, with the platform indicating increases for top performers. Rates are set per project and are not guaranteed.

What they look for

2+ years in investment banking at a recognized firm
Financial modeling: three-statement, DCF, LBO, comps
Pitch deck, CIM, or investment memo authorship
Company and industry analysis with defensible assumptions
Clear written rationale for evaluation decisions
Availability of 10+ hours per week, asynchronous

Before you apply

Would you pass this screen?

Drawn from what this listing actually requires. Answered in your browser — nothing is sent to us, and we do not store your answers.

Do you have at least 2 years of full-time experience working in investment banking at a top-tier firm (e.g., Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, Lazard, Evercore, Centerview, or equivalent regional leaders)?
Investment Banking Experience · required
Do you have practical experience in at least one of the following: financial modeling, pitch deck creation, investment/analysis summaries and memos, or company/industry analysis?
Domain Expertise in Modeling or Analysis · required
Can you commit a minimum of 10 hours per week for at least 4 weeks starting immediately?
Weekly Availability · required
Are you currently based in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Europe, or Australia?
Geographic Location · required

0 of 4 answered

Included with this listing

Interview prep — 12 questions

Matched to what this platform's screening actually measures. Answer each out loud in 60–90 seconds: claim → concrete example → implication.

What it tests: Whether you've genuinely constructed multi-scenario models under pressure, not just reviewed them, and whether you understand the causal link between model design and deal logic.
A strong answer: Name a specific deal or sector, identify 2–3 core value drivers (revenue growth, margin assumptions, exit multiple), explain why those assumptions were contentious or critical, and show how the model output directly informed a go/no-go or pricing call.
Where people lose it: Describing a model in generic terms ('I built a 3-statement model') without naming a real scenario, assumption set, or outcome—or claiming credit for models you helped compile rather than architected.