Software Expert, Development & Programming
North Star Staffing
Job Overview
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Job Description
Software Expert, Development & Programming
One of our clients, Mercor, is seeking experienced software development professionals to support a high-priority data collection initiative in collaboration with leading AI research labs. This fully remote, asynchronous independent contractor role focuses on capturing real-world development and programming workflows to help AI systems better understand complex software interfaces, engineering tools, and multi-step technical processes. The work you contribute will directly support the training and evaluation of next-generation AI systems.
Role Overview
This role is crucial for a data collection initiative in collaboration with leading AI research labs. As a Software Expert, Development & Programming, you will capture real-world development and programming workflows to advance AI systems' understanding of complex software interfaces and engineering tools. Your contributions will directly train and evaluate next-generation AI.
Key Responsibilities
- Record screen sessions demonstrating development and programming workflows with clear verbal narration explaining each step.
- Annotate screenshots of professional development software by drawing precise bounding boxes around relevant UI elements.
- Follow provided staging instructions to configure specific UI states prior to recording.
- Use custom capture tools to record workflows accurately and consistently.
- Adhere closely to task guidelines to ensure data quality, consistency, and usability.
- Deliver outputs suitable for large-scale AI research and downstream model training.
Qualifications
- Strong hands-on experience with professional development and programming tools, including Visual Studio Code, Android Studio, Quartus, and VMware.
- High attention to detail and ability to follow precise technical instructions.
- Comfortable working independently and meeting tight deadlines.
- Fluent English communication skills.
- Access to a physical Mac and ability to create a fresh macOS user profile if required.
Nice to Have
- Prior experience with data collection, annotation, or QA work.
- Experience recording or documenting development workflows.
- Comfort working with new tools and staged environments.
Engagement Details
- Fully remote, asynchronous independent contractor role.
- Flexible working schedule.
- Project duration may vary and can be extended, shortened, or concluded based on performance and project needs.
- Work includes screen recording, UI annotation, and workflow documentation.
Compensation & Contract Terms
- Hourly compensation aligned with task scope and expertise.
- Payments issued weekly via Stripe or Wise.
- Engagement is on an independent contractor basis.
- No access to confidential or proprietary information from any employer, client, or institution.
- H1-B and STEM OPT candidates cannot be supported at this time.
Eligibility
Applicants must be legally authorized to work as independent contractors in their country of residence.
About the Client
Mercor partners with leading AI labs and enterprises to train frontier AI systems using real-world human expertise. Contributors collaborate with leading researchers and help shape the next generation of AI capabilities across software, engineering, and technical domains.
Key skills/competency
- Software Development
- Programming
- AI Research
- Data Collection
- UI Annotation
- Workflow Documentation
- Visual Studio Code
- Android Studio
- Quartus
- VMware
How to Get Hired at North Star Staffing
- Research North Star Staffing's culture: Study their mission, values, recent news, and employee testimonials on LinkedIn and Glassdoor.
- Tailor your resume: Customize your resume to highlight experience in software development, AI data collection, and specific tools like Visual Studio Code and Android Studio for the Software Expert, Development & Programming role.
- Highlight AI collaboration experience: Emphasize any previous work with AI systems, data annotation, or contributions to machine learning projects to stand out for this role at North Star Staffing.
- Prepare for technical interviews: Be ready to discuss your proficiency with development environments and demonstrate your ability to articulate complex technical workflows clearly, as required for the Software Expert position.
- Showcase your Mac development environment: Confirm you meet the hardware requirements and can effectively use a physical Mac for recording and annotation tasks, a key part of this remote role with North Star Staffing.
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