Software Engineer, Full Stack — India

$25–30/hrrate as listed

Build and ship full-stack applications against pre-release frontier model APIs for a leading AI lab's GenAI team, then document the failure modes you hit along the way. This is a 40 hour/week weekday engagement placed through Mercor, with observed rates of $29–35/hr.

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

This is engineering work, not annotation. You'll be writing production-quality code — services, internal tools, front ends, evaluation harnesses — on top of models that haven't shipped yet. A typical week mixes building working increments against loosely specified requirements with the surrounding scaffolding that makes frontier models usable: tool interfaces, telemetry, retry and error handling, and test rigs.

The second half of the job is written. When a pre-release model breaks in your integration — bad tool calls, silent format drift, reasoning that collapses on long context — you're expected to isolate it, reproduce it, and write it up clearly enough that a research team can act on it. Engineers who treat the write-up as an afterthought tend not to last in these cohorts.

What the platform screens for

Verifiable production history. 3+ years shipping software at a recognized organization, with specifics: what you owned, what scale, what broke.
Language breadth. Production depth in at least one of Python, Java, Rust, C#, or C++, plus real working proficiency in a second. The cohort is deliberately staffed across ecosystems.
Genuine full-stack range. Backend APIs, a modern front-end framework, relational or document data stores, and cloud deployment you actually operated.
Fast ramp on unfamiliar code. Expect questions about the last time you shipped inside a codebase you didn't write.
Written clarity. Screens typically include a written component; terse or vague answers read as a signal.

Logistics

Fully remote from India, full-time at 40 hours/week during weekdays, with overlap expectations set by the lab's engineering manager. Engagements are contract-based and scoped by project, so duration varies with the lab's roadmap. Pay in the $29–35/hr range has been observed for this listing; actual offers depend on cohort, language track, and interview outcome, and are not guaranteed.

What they look for

3+ years production software engineering at a recognized organization
Production experience in Python, Java, Rust, C#, or C++, plus a second language
Full-stack range: backend APIs, React or equivalent, SQL/NoSQL, cloud deployment
Fast onboarding onto unfamiliar codebases with minimal ramp-up
Clear technical writing for research audiences
Reliable 40 hrs/week weekday availability

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 3 years of professional experience building and shipping production software at a recognized organization?
Professional software engineering experience · required
Have you shipped production software in at least one of: Python, Java, Rust, C#, or C++?
Production depth in primary language · required
Do you have working proficiency in a second programming language (beyond your primary)?
Working proficiency in a second language · required
Have you built and deployed production software across the full stack, including backend services, a modern frontend framework, a database, and cloud infrastructure?
Full-stack production experience · required
Are you able to commit to a minimum of 40 hours per week during standard weekday business hours for the duration of this engagement?
Availability for 40 hours/week · required
Are you based in India or able to work during India-adjacent hours (IST or overlapping UTC)?
Work location and timezone · preferred

0 of 6 answered

Included with this listing

Interview prep — 10 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 candidate has genuine full-stack depth across backend services, frontend framework, and database; whether they own architectural decisions rather than following templates; whether they can articulate why specific tech choices mattered.
A strong answer: A clear narrative naming a specific product or internal tool, the business problem it addressed, the backend language and framework used, the frontend framework, the database choice, and one concrete reason each choice was made — not a resume recitation but a story showing judgment.
Where people lose it: Naming multiple projects rapidly without detail, or describing only the layer they're comfortable in while glossing over frontend or database specifics as 'using React' or 'a database' — signals they haven't owned a full stack or are padding experience.