Infrastructure Debugging Expert - Fully Remote

About the job

Mercor connects elite creative and technical talent with leading AI research labs. Headquartered in San Francisco, our investors include Benchmark , General Catalyst , Peter Thiel , Adam D'Angelo , Larry Summers , and Jack Dorsey .

Position: Software Engineer
Type: Freelance
Compensation: $75–$80/hour
Location: Remote
Duration: 1–2 weeks
Commitment: 15–40 hours/week

Role Responsibilities

• Evaluate and compare the performance of AI-powered CLI coding agents on real-world infrastructure debugging tasks.
• Solve TerminalBench tasks using AI CLI agents to diagnose and fix failing systems.
• Write bash scripts to address root causes and ensure they survive service restarts.
• Diagnose broken systems inside Docker containers involving databases, TLS, pipelines, and more.
• Compare and rank agents' approaches after each task to inform product decisions.
• Work independently and asynchronously with flexible hours .

Qualifications

Must-Have

• 3+ years of experience in software engineering with hands-on debugging of systems and infrastructure.
• Strong bash/shell scripting proficiency.
• Experience with Docker and containerization.
• Skills in infrastructure and systems debugging with PostgreSQL , MySQL , Redis , nginx , TLS , systemd , and log analysis.
• Familiarity with version control workflows (Git , PRs, issue tracking).

Preferred

• Experience with AI coding tools like Copilot , Cursor , or Claude .

Start Date

• Immediate

Application Process (Takes 20–30 mins to complete)

• Upload resume
• AI interview: A short, 15-minute conversational session to understand your background, experience, and interest in the role
• Follow-up communication within a few days with next steps and onboarding details

Resources & Support

• For details about the interview process and platform information, please check:
• For any help or support, reach out to:

PS: Our team reviews applications daily. Please complete your AI interview and application steps to be considered for this opportunity.