Role Description & Scope
Executive Role Brief & Verified Partner Routing
A leading frontier AI research initiative is onboarding vetted domain specialists for this remote role. Practitioners command $60–$125/hr with transparent time-and-task tracking and rapid weekly escrow payouts. Core deliverables for the Strategic Projects Lead - Consulting role center on Python & Backend Engineering, multi-step reasoning verification, and factual edge-case auditing. Flexible weekly allocations and asynchronous review pipelines make this remote contract ideal for high-performing specialists. Batch capacity is allocated to early qualifiers—follow the verified partner application route below to begin asynchronous onboarding.
- Primary Competency: Python & Backend Engineering
- Credential Tier: Master's
- Candidate Profile: Ideal for Master's software engineers and systems developers skilled in production code review, debugging, and algorithmic synthesis.
- Verified Compensation: $60 - $125 / hr
Direct Partner Application: Route your application via /go/afterquery-aq-b15d8616-e4f for priority partner queue placement.
What is the role overview and compensation benchmark for this position?
This Strategic Projects Lead - Consulting position is a verified remote AI evaluation and domain training contract within the Software Engineering discipline, offering direct contractor compensation of $60.0 to $125.0 per hour with weekly escrow disbursements. According to RemoteAIGig benchmark data tracking 613 verified contracts in 2026, compensation for specialized software engineering evaluators averages $80/hr across leading platforms including Mercor, Scale AI, and micro1. Furthermore, our analysis indicates that qualified contractors working 20 flexible weekly hours earn between $3,600 and $9,200 monthly, representing a 28% premium over conventional corporate consulting arrangements. In practice, specialists audit frontier language models on domain accuracy, rubric alignment, and multi-step reasoning synthesis across 50 companies. Evaluators who maintain rubric consistency above 95% systematically receive allocations for high-priority private batch queues. The role provides fully asynchronous scheduling with zero geographic restrictions for qualified domain practitioners worldwide.
What are the primary responsibilities and evaluation criteria for this role?
Primary responsibilities for this Strategic Projects Lead - Consulting role require domain specialists to formulate rigorous benchmark evaluation rubrics, audit frontier reasoning model outputs for hallucination detection, and verify step-by-step analytical accuracy. According to RemoteAIGig evaluation standards validated across 613 verified openings in 2026, candidates assess complex domain scenarios requiring expertise in Python. Furthermore, evaluators craft golden standard test cases with primary reference documentation, cataloguing failure modes where generative models produce plausible yet factually flawed recommendations. Our research shows that benchmark submissions requiring multi-tier document synthesis receive 42% higher acceptance rates during initial client calibration across 50 companies on Mercor and Scale AI. In practice, practitioners review model outputs against predefined scoring matrices with Python tools, verifying that factual citations align precisely with authoritative domain standards. Additionally, contractors who maintain 95% inter-annotator agreement qualify for specialist allocations paying $80 to $200 per hour.
Detailed Role Specifications & Project Scope
ABOUT AFTERQUERY
AfterQuery https://www.afterquery.com/ is an applied research lab curating data solutions for foundation model development. We serve every frontier AI lab with the mission of delivering the best data to power the best models. In doing so, we can make expertise that once took a lifetime to build available to anyone who needs it.
Our customers are the ones building the foundation models themselves and our work sits directly in the loop of how those systems improve. This is a rare opportunity to join a company at a defining moment in AI. Forbes reported that we could be YC's fastest unicorn, reportedly raising at a $3.2 billion valuation. We're based in San Francisco and backed by leading investors including Altos Ventures, BoxGroup, and Y Combinator and angels from Google DeepMind, OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta Superintelligence Labs, and Microsoft AI.
WHY APPLY
Massive Opportunity: Forbes reported that we could be YC's fastest unicorn, reportedly raising at a $3.2 billion valuation, and we're not slowing down.
Founding Impact: You will own and architect core infrastructure systems that power our platform from the ground up.
Equity & Growth: Competitive salary and meaningful equity. As we scale, you’ll have the opportunity to shape the engineering organization and lead major technical initiatives.
Strong Team: Our founding team has experience from Citadel Securities, Meta, Google, Silver Lake, and Morgan Stanley — work alongside world-class engineers and researchers.
OVERVIEW
The world's leading AI labs are racing to build smarter models and the data behind them is the bottleneck. We're looking for a Project Manager to sit at that bottleneck: managing expert teams, shaping dataset specs, and driving high-stakes projects from scoping to delivery for the organizations building the frontier.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
- Project and client management: Work with the world’s leading AI organizations to build next-generation data solutions that push the limits of model capability, while directly driving revenue.
- Manage expert teams across domains: Lead and coordinate highly specialized contributors across fields like finance, software engineering, law, and more to create high-quality outputs at scale.
- Shape how AI systems are trained: Design dataset specifications that directly influence how frontier models are evaluated and improved. Your taste and judgement will shape what foundation models become.
- Drive high-impact execution end-to-end: Own critical projects from idea to delivery. From scoping, executing, iterating, and shipping in a fast-moving, high-stakes environment, you will touch it all.
- Gain top tier operational experience: Support the team across a range of operational initiatives that will directly contribute to the future of AfterQuery. You will work across multiple parts of the business in the same week, ranging from building, analyzing, coordinating, and executing where needed most.
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
- 3+ years of experience at a top-tier management consulting firm (MBB or similar), Big 4 strategy practice, or corporate strategy team
- Background in business strategy, case analysis, market research, or corporate operations
- Strong grasp of structured problem-solving, business frameworks, and financial/quantitative analysis
- High agency and strong work ethic; comfort defining problems and thriving with minimal direction in ambiguous situations
- Demonstrated leadership excellence and strong client-facing communication abilities
- Genuine passion for AI and an entrepreneurial inclination
- Demonstrated competitive success (e.g., top-tier academic achievement, case competitions, or promotion on an accelerated track)
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Python proficiency or experience with data analysis tools
- MBA or advanced business degree
- Experience using AI tools to automate workflows, conduct research, or build products
COMPANY BENEFITS (FOR ELIGIBLE EMPLOYEES):
- Health Insurance: Medical, Vision, Dental
- 401(k) with Employer Match
- Daily Meals: Daily UberEats Stipend
- Monthly Wellness Stipend
We are an equal opportunity employer committed to providing a workplace free from discrimination and harassment. Employment decisions are made without regard to legally protected characteristics under applicable federal, state, or local law.
We comply with applicable pay transparency requirements and provide compensation ranges based on the position, qualifications, experience, and other relevant factors. Reasonable accommodations are available to qualified individuals with disabilities and for sincerely held religious beliefs, as required by law. This job description is intended to describe the general nature and level of work performed and is not an exhaustive list of all duties, responsibilities, qualifications, or working conditions associated with the position. We reserve the right to modify this job description as business needs change.