Remote Research Software Engineer Jobs in Durham, NC

Remote Software Engineer – Technical Advisor

$150.00 USD/hour | 100% Remote (USA Only) | Mostly Asynchronous

We are seeking software engineers in a remote capacity to fill code review and evaluation roles.  Our client is an AI safety and research company based in San Francisco, CA, focused on Constitutional AI and alignment research. Its work centers on developing AI systems that are safe, reliable, interpretable, and aligned with human values.  This is a 6 month, W2, contract opportunity, with the chance of extension.  This mostly asynchronous role may be supported from anywhere in the USA - only.

Role Details:

Job Type: Part-Time / Contract

Contract Type: W2 Contractor

Contract Length: 6 months, with possibility of extension

Pay: $150.00 USD/hour

Location: United States (Remote)

Schedule: 30–40 hrs/week, mostly async; must be reachable during US business hours for periodic syncs. Your own local time zone — not restricted to Pacific time. Our client is based in San Francisco.

Dual Employment: Allowed on the side, but incompatible with a second full-time role given the hours. Not permitted alongside work for a direct AI competitor.

What the Role Involves:

A Software Engineer – Technical Advisor evaluates frontier AI coding models to identify where and why they break on real engineering tasks. This is a code-review and evaluation role, not a build-from-scratch role. Typical work includes:

• Auditing model-generated pull requests against real production repositories, documenting issues with severity and technical rationale
• Reviewing full coding-agent session logs to assess what a model investigated, verified, assumed, or skipped
• Designing container-based (Docker) technical benchmarks to test AI models
• Writing clear, original technical rationales explaining code failures (all written work must be self-authored, without AI text generators)
• Collaborating asynchronously with AI researchers to refine evaluation criteria

Who Fits the Target profile:

• 8+ years of production engineering experience (exceptions for standout profiles)
• Senior/Staff/Principal engineers, tech leads, or open-source maintainers
• Experience in codebases with a strict code review culture
• Comfortable working across multiple languages, not just Python/TypeScript
• Strong with Docker, git, and CLI-based debugging
• Cross-layer fluency: backend, frontend, APIs, data, testing, or tooling
• Strong written communication — explaining why code fails, not just fixing it

Process Overview:

Recruiter screen → Coding assessment → Phone interview → Verification & paperwork → Paid 2-week trial → Client interview → Start

We're upfront that this process includes one unpaid step (the coding assessment below) before any paid work begins. Everything after that — including the 2-week trial — is paid at $150/hr.

Step 1: Recruiter Screen

A brief conversation with your Ascent Placement recruiter to confirm interest, availability, and fit.

Step 2: Coding Assessment (Unpaid)

A ~90-minute Code Signal assessment, completed in one sitting, covering general programming/algorithms, requirement understanding, and debugging. This step is unpaid and cannot be retaken — we want to be upfront about that before you start. A passing score is 500+.

Link: https://app.codesignal.com/public-test/KWJMaEuEfaMa5ihAZ/cct8vNutLbnMJe

Step 3: Phone Interview

A screening video call with your recruiter to discuss your background, the role, and answer questions — before any documents or identity verification are requested.

Step 4: Verification & Documentation

Once you've passed the assessment and completed the phone interview, we'll move to identity verification and paperwork, needed for W2 contractor onboarding and client compliance. This includes:

• Government-issued ID verification, conducted initially through Ascent Placement.
• Updated resume highlighting senior production and code-review experience
• Contact phone number
• Confirmation of US work eligibility (W2 only — no C2C, no visa sponsorship)

Step 5: Paid 2-Week Trial ($150/hr)

• Assessment 1 (~10–15 hrs): Code quality audit of model-written pull requests
• Assessment 2 (~20–30 hrs): Multi-round code review exercise, scoring written bug rationales against expert reviewers
• Together, these test whether you catch what CI and the original author missed, and can explain why

Step 6: Client Interview & Start

Final interview with the client, followed by onboarding.

A Note on Trust:

We know remote contract postings at this pay rate attract scrutiny, and we think that scrutiny is healthy. If anything about this process feels off, you're welcome to verify Ascent Placement independently before sending any documents, and to ask your recruiter directly how your ID and personal information will be stored and used.

NDA note:

An NDA is required only at onboarding or before specific role discussions — not for the CodeSignal assessment.

Recruiter:

Tim - Ascent Placement

Ascent Placement Partners is a leadership focused staffing firm dedicated to helping organizations reach the peak of excellence by identifying the leaders who make the difference. We believe that every successful organization has a defining leader, the one who completes the climb, elevates performance, and unlocks the next level of growth.
Our approach goes beyond filling roles. We take the time to understand each company’s vision, culture, and challenges to identify leaders who align strategically and inspire meaningful impact. By combining deep market insight with a consultative, relationship driven process, we connect organizations with proven talent capable of driving sustainable success.