Mercor
MercorVerified Source
Remote

Cybersecurity Research Expert – Offensive Security & Vulnerability Research | $200-$250/hr Remote

200–250/hr
Remote
Posted August 10, 2026
part-time
5 openings

Overview

This remote, part-time role brings elite offensive security researchers together to stress-test and evaluate AI systems on complex security tasks. You'll review AI-generated vulnerability reports, exploit analyses, and secure-coding evaluations, then provide structured feedback that helps improve the models. The work spans multiple domains—software, OS, networking, cloud, and web—and suits practitioners with deep hands-on expertise in exploit development, reverse engineering, and vulnerability research. What sets this apart is direct involvement in shaping the next generation of AI for cybersecurity, with competitive hourly compensation.

What You'll Do5

  • 1Assess AI outputs on sophisticated security scenarios, including vulnerability reports and exploit chains, for technical accuracy and feasibility.
  • 2Review written analyses for correctness, practical exploitability, and the quality of proposed mitigations.
  • 3Validate root-cause assessments across diverse environments such as operating systems, cloud infrastructure, web applications, and network protocols.
  • 4Deliver structured feedback on reasoning quality, exploit-path soundness, and defensive recommendations.
  • 5Help build benchmarks that measure advanced AI security reasoning and vulnerability-analysis capabilities.

Requirements4

  • 1A proven record in offensive security, demonstrated by CTF team rankings, published CVEs, or accepted bug bounty findings from major vendor programs.
  • 2Strong working knowledge of exploit development, reverse engineering, binary analysis, operating system internals, networking, web security, or cryptography.
  • 3Comfort using reverse-engineering and analysis tooling such as IDA Pro, Ghidra, Binary Ninja, or Radare2, along with fuzzing or static/dynamic analysis frameworks.
  • 4Solid programming skills in languages like C/C++, Rust, Python, Go, or Java, plus the ability to explain complex security concepts in writing.

Who Should Apply

You're a hands-on security researcher who spends time breaking systems, finding real CVEs, or competing in elite CTF competitions, and you can back that up with public contributions. You're comfortable reviewing technical writeups and AI-generated analyses with a critical eye, and you enjoy explaining why a vulnerability is exploitable and how to fix it. Whether your background is in academia, industry research, or independent bug hunting, you're looking for a flexible, high-impact side engagement.

Salary Insight

Paid at an hourly rate of $200 to $250, depending on experience and credentials.

Location

Typeremote
LocationRemote
This is a remote position

Required Skills

offensive securityvulnerability researchexploit developmentreverse engineeringbinary analysisida proghidrabinary ninjaradare2fuzzingsymbolic executionstatic analysisdynamic analysisccpprustpythongojavalinuxwindowsbrowser securitycloud securityweb securitynetwork securitycryptographyembedded securitymobile securityctfbug bounty

Application Tip

Put together a short portfolio with links to your CTF team profile, CVE entries, or bug bounty writeups, and include a recent technical analysis you authored—this will help reviewers quickly verify your hands-on expertise.

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