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Contract Developer Jobs in California (NOW HIRING)

Parker Hannifin Corporation

Contract Adm

Irvine, CA · On-site

Position Summary Contract Admin - Fluid Systems Division Parker Hannifin is a Fortune 250 global ... Our passionate people with deep engineering expertise, together with our breadth of differentiated ...

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Showing results 21-40

All JobsContract Developer JobsContract Developer Jobs in California

Contract Developer information

See California salary details

$39.5K

$127.7K

$156.4K

How much do contract developer jobs pay per year?

As of Sep 2, 2026, the average yearly pay for contract developer in California is $127,654.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $104,600.00 and $154,900.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What is a contract developer?

A Contract Developer is a software developer hired on a temporary or project basis to create, modify, or maintain applications and systems. They typically work for clients or companies under a contract agreement rather than as a full-time employee. Their responsibilities may include coding, debugging, testing, and collaborating with teams to meet project requirements. Contract Developers often specialize in specific programming languages or technologies and may work remotely or on-site. The duration and terms of their work vary based on the contract and project scope.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a contract developer?

To excel as a Contract Developer, strong programming skills, experience with relevant frameworks, and a solid educational background in computer science or related fields are essential. Familiarity with version control systems like Git, project management tools, and possibly certifications such as AWS Certified Developer or Microsoft Certified: Azure Developer Associate are advantageous. Excellent time management, client communication, and adaptability are critical soft skills for success in contract-based work. These skills enable a Contract Developer to efficiently deliver quality results, meet client expectations, and thrive in dynamic, project-oriented environments.

What are some common challenges faced by contract developers and how can they be managed?

Contract Developers often work on multiple projects or with various clients, which can present challenges such as rapidly adapting to different codebases, meeting tight deadlines, and managing shifting priorities. Effective communication with stakeholders and clear agreement on project scope and deliverables can help minimize misunderstandings. Staying organized through productivity tools and maintaining continuous skills development also contribute to handling workload fluctuations. By proactively addressing these challenges, contract developers can deliver high-quality work and build strong professional relationships.

What does a contract developer do?

A contract developer is a software professional hired on a temporary basis to design, develop, and maintain applications or systems according to client specifications. They typically work with programming languages, development tools, and project deadlines, often collaborating with teams or clients to deliver specific project goals within a set timeframe.

What are the most commonly searched types of Developer jobs in California?

The most popular types of Developer jobs in California are:

What are popular job titles related to Contract Developer jobs in California?

For Contract Developer jobs in California, the most frequently searched job titles are:

What job categories do people searching Contract Developer jobs in California look for?

The top searched job categories for Contract Developer jobs in California are:

What cities in California are hiring for Contract Developer jobs?

Cities in California with the most Contract Developer job openings:

Contract Developer jobs near you
Infographic showing various Contract Developer job openings in California as of August 2026, with employment types broken down into 84% Full Time, 6% Part Time, and 10% Contract. Highlights an 80% Physical, 5% Hybrid, and 15% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $127,654 per year, or $61.4 per hour.

AI Red Team Engineer, Frontier Model Evaluation (Contract)

Cobalt

Fremont, CA • On-site

Other

Posted 3 days ago

New

Job description

About Cobalt:

Cobalt is seeking security engineers to adversarially test frontier models and AI agents, and to produce the reasoning and evaluation data used to measure and improve how those systems hold up under pressure.

This opportunity is suited to people with a security background who have turned their attention to AI systems, whether professionally, through structured red teaming and model bounty programs, or through sustained independent research. Traditional offensive security experience without prior AI work is welcome, provided you can code and can learn a new target quickly.

You do not need a formal AI research background. What matters is that you can reliably find failure modes others miss, that you can tell a lucky one-off from a reproducible weakness, and that you can build the harness needed to prove it.

All work is performed against sandboxed environments, purpose-built targets, and model endpoints supplied by us or by the lab. We do not accept work performed against systems you are not authorized to test, and we do not accept material covered by a client agreement or obtained without authorization.


What you'll do:

Depending on the project, you may:

  • Probe models and agents for failure modes, including prompt injection, unsafe tool and browser use, data exfiltration paths, and breakdowns in refusal or policy adherence, and document each case so another engineer can reproduce it
  • Build test harnesses and automation that run attempts at scale against model APIs and agent frameworks, rather than testing by hand
  • Produce written attack traces, capturing how you form and test hypotheses, what you rule out and why, and how you arrive at a working approach, rather than only the successful prompt
  • Author adversarial evaluation scenarios and benchmark items with verifiable success criteria, including multi-turn and agentic tasks
  • Design rubrics and partial-credit criteria for scoring model behavior, and classify observed failures into a consistent taxonomy

Projects follow their own guidelines, scope rules, and quality standards, and you will work with feedback from reviewers and lab research teams.


Required qualifications:

  • Demonstrable security experience, and demonstrable adversarial work against language models or AI agents through professional red teaming, structured bounty programs, published research, or a substantive independent record
  • Strong coding ability, typically Python, sufficient to build your own harnesses, automate at scale, and work with model APIs and agent frameworks
  • Depth in at least one relevant area, for example prompt injection and jailbreak techniques, agent and tool-use security, multimodal attacks, or cyber misuse evaluation
  • Ability to distinguish reproducible weaknesses from one-off outputs, and to explain each step of your reasoning clearly in writing
  • Willingness to work strictly within defined scope, to follow the project's disclosure process, and to sign a confidentiality agreement covering findings and project materials


Why join Cobalt AI:

  • Advance frontier AI where it counts. Apply your security expertise to data that frontier labs cannot obtain any other way, where your judgment directly shapes how the next generation of models reasons about security.
  • Grow professionally. Expand your influence through evaluation projects, advisory roles, and research collaborations, while developing a working understanding of how frontier models are trained and assessed.
  • Work with a top-tier network. Collaborate with security engineers and researchers from leading organizations on high-impact, flexible work.
  • Set your own schedule. Flexible 10 to 40 hour weeks that fit around your existing engagements and your life.
  • Competitive pay. Rates vary by project and are determined by a number of factors, including scope, skillset, and experience.

Apply