Remote | Senior Mechanical Engineer — Up to $80/hour

We are sharing a specialised consulting opportunity for senior mechanical engineers with doctoral-level expertise and extensive hands-on industry experience across mechanical design, engineering analysis, or research and development.

This role supports an advanced AI research initiative focused on creating highly challenging mechanical engineering problems grounded in realistic industry scenarios. Selected professionals will author original free-response questions, develop complete expert-level solutions, and test each problem against frontier AI models to ensure it requires sophisticated engineering reasoning.

Key Responsibilities

Mechanical Engineering Problem Development

• Author original, technically rigorous free-response mechanical engineering problems
• Develop questions grounded in realistic professional and industrial scenarios
• Create problems requiring advanced multi-step reasoning and engineering judgment
• Incorporate practical constraints, assumptions, trade-offs, and real-world engineering considerations

Engineering Analysis & Reasoning

• Develop scenarios involving mechanical design, engineering analysis, or R&D workflows
• Apply advanced mechanical engineering principles to complex technical problems
• Incorporate appropriate calculations, modelling approaches, physical assumptions, and design considerations
• Ensure problems reflect the level of reasoning expected from experienced industry professionals
• Review technical content for accuracy, realism, and internal consistency

Expert Solution Development

• Write complete expert-level solutions for each authored problem
• Clearly document calculations, assumptions, reasoning, and engineering methodology
• Explain technical decisions and relevant trade-offs in a structured manner
• Ensure solutions are rigorous, reproducible, and independently verifiable
• Provide sufficient technical depth to establish a clear reference answer

AI Difficulty Validation

• Test authored problems against multiple frontier language models
• Evaluate whether current AI systems can correctly solve each problem
• Identify reasoning errors, calculation failures, or incomplete technical approaches
• Refine questions where necessary to maintain an appropriately demanding level of difficulty
• Validate that each problem meaningfully tests advanced mechanical engineering reasoning

Ideal Profile

Strong candidates may have:

• A PhD in Mechanical Engineering
• At least 8 years of hands-on professional or industry experience
• Substantial experience in mechanical design, engineering analysis, R&D, or a combination of these areas
• Strong command of advanced mechanical engineering principles
• Experience solving complex technical problems in professional engineering environments
• Ability to translate real-world engineering challenges into structured technical questions
• Excellent analytical reasoning and technical writing skills
• Strong attention to assumptions, calculations, and engineering validity

Educational Background

• A PhD in Mechanical Engineering is required
• Doctoral-level technical expertise should be complemented by substantial professional or industry experience
• Research and academic expertise combined with hands-on engineering practice is particularly relevant for this engagement

Nice to Have

• Experience within a major industrial, aerospace, automotive, energy, manufacturing, technology, or engineering organisation
• Background leading complex mechanical engineering projects
• Advanced experience in product development, simulation, analysis, or engineering R&D
• Experience authoring engineering assessments, technical problems, training materials, or technical documentation
• Strong record of solving open-ended engineering problems requiring professional judgment
• Familiarity with AI models or structured technical evaluation

Why This Opportunity

• Apply advanced mechanical engineering expertise to challenging AI research
• Create original engineering problems based on realistic professional scenarios
• Combine extensive industry experience with rigorous technical problem-solving
• Test the reasoning capabilities of frontier AI systems
• Help identify limitations in current AI models across complex engineering tasks
• Participate in flexible remote consulting work with competitive compensation

Contract Details

• Independent contractor role
• Fully remote with flexible scheduling
• Compensation of up to $80 per hour depending on expertise and project scope
• Work may include engineering problem authoring, expert solution development, technical validation, and AI model evaluation
• Weekly payments via Stripe or Wise
• Projects may be extended, shortened, or adjusted depending on scope and performance
• Work will not involve access to confidential or proprietary information from any employer, client, or institution

About the Platform

This opportunity is available through 24-MAG LLC. We connect experienced professionals with remote consulting opportunities across technical, evaluation, and project-based workstreams.

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