Marketing Expert

$80–150/hrrate as listed

Design grading rubrics for real-world marketing deliverables and score AI-generated work against them with written justifications. Mercor is staffing this for an AI research lab; observed rates run $80–150/hr, contract and remote.

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

What the work actually involves

You are not making the campaign — you are defining what a good one looks like and defending that definition in writing. A typical task starts with a realistic marketing prompt (a creative brief for a CPG launch, a repositioning framework, a set of :30 scripts, a client-ready deck) and asks you to build a task-specific rubric before you see any output. You then score AI-generated and human work samples against that rubric, line by line, with justifications that another reviewer could audit and reproduce.

The hard part is consistency. Two work samples that feel equally polished often differ sharply once you check them against the brief and the business objective, and your written rationale has to make that difference legible. Senior reviewers will push back on scores, flag rubric criteria that are vague or unmeasurable, and calibrate you against peers scoring the same items. Expect to revise your own rubrics after that feedback.

What the screen looks for

Verifiable seniority in the craft — 5+ years at agencies or in-house brand teams, with specific accounts, categories, and your actual role on them. Creative director, account lead, and brand strategist backgrounds are the stated target.
Judgment under follow-up — you will be asked why a piece of copy fails, then asked again, more precisely. Taste stated as taste does not survive; taste traced back to the brief does.
Writing quality — the deliverable is prose. Short, unambiguous, evidence-anchored justifications matter more than eloquence.
Media planning, attribution, and measurement expertise are explicitly not required here.

Logistics

Remote and asynchronous, contract-based, with work claimed from a queue rather than assigned on a fixed schedule. Most contributors treat it as part-time — commitments in the 10–20 hr/week range are common, though volume fluctuates with project phase and can pause between batches. The $80–150/hr band reflects rates observed on Mercor listings of this type; actual offers vary by seniority, calibration performance, and project, and are not guaranteed. Onboarding usually includes a paid or unpaid calibration exercise before you receive live tasks.

What they look for

5+ years in marketing or advertising at an agency or brand, in a creative direction, account lead, or brand strategy role
Fluency in creative brief writing and evaluating work against a brief and a business objective
Brand positioning and messaging framework development
Exceptionally clear written justification and critique
Consistency and comfort being calibrated against peer reviewers
Prior AI evaluation, RLHF, or human-data project experience (plus)

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 5 years of professional experience working in marketing, advertising, or brand strategy?
Years of professional marketing experience · required
Have you held a senior role (creative director, account lead, brand strategist, or equivalent) at a top-tier global creative agency, or worked as a senior brand marketer at a leading consumer-facing company?
Senior agency or brand marketing role · required
Have you spent significant time (as part of your regular work) writing briefs, developing campaign concepts, or judging and critiquing creative work against a brief and business objective?
Hands-on experience evaluating creative work · required
Are you confident in your ability to write clear, detailed, evidence-based justifications explaining why a piece of marketing work does or does not meet a standard?
Written communication proficiency · required

0 of 4 answered

Included with this listing

Interview prep — 11 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: Can they articulate the bridge between business strategy and creative execution, and do they understand what a good brief contains and why it matters?
A strong answer: The answer should name a real client or brand, state a concrete business goal (e.g., 'reposition as premium'), explain the creative insight or strategic move that addressed it, and show how they communicated constraints and direction to the creative team so the work stayed on strategy.
Where people lose it: Candidates describe the final creative output (the ad, the logo) rather than the strategic thinking and brief-writing that preceded it. They confuse being in a marketing role with understanding how to judge marketing work against a brief.