Staff Software Engineer (AI Evals)
Contract | $100--$200/hour | 20-40 hrs/week | Start ASAP
We're looking for highly experienced software engineer to help evaluate the quality of interactions with modern coding agents such as OpenAI Codex and Claude Code.
This is not a traditional engineering role.
You won't be writing production code.
You'll be evaluating something harder: whether the model thinks like a great engineer.
What This Role Actually Is
You will assess how AI coding agents behave in real-world scenarios --- focusing on:
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Whether the response makes sense
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Whether the preamble and reasoning are useful
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Whether the output reflects strong engineering judgment
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Whether the interaction feels right to an experienced developer
This role is about engineering taste --- not syntax correctness.
What You'll Be Doing
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Evaluate AI-generated coding interactions end-to-end
Judge whether outputs are:
Useful
Correct (at a high level)
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Aligned with how a strong engineer would think
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Assess the quality of explanations and reasoning, not just code
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Distinguish between different levels of response quality (e.g. what makes something a 2 vs 4)
Provide clear, opinionated feedback on:
What worked
What didn't
What felt "off" or misleading
- Help define what great looks like when interacting with tools like Cursor
What We Mean by "Taste"
We're specifically looking for engineers who can answer questions like:
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Does this feel like something a strong engineer would actually say?
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Is this explanation helpful, or just technically correct?
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Is the model guiding the user well, or just dumping output?
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Would this interaction build or erode trust?
You should be comfortable making subjective but rigorous judgments.
Who You Are
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Staff / Principal-level engineer (or equivalent experience)
Strong background in one of the below:
Go
Python
Rust
TypeScript / JavaScript
Hands-on experience using:
OpenAI Codex
Claude Code
Cursor
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Deep familiarity with modern AI-assisted dev workflows
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Able to evaluate code without needing to fully execute or deeply review every line
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Comfortable giving direct, opinionated feedback
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High bar for what "good engineering" looks like
Nice to Have
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Experience with tools like Cursor or similar AI-first IDEs
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Prior exposure to prompt design or evaluation workflows
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Experience mentoring senior engineers or defining engineering standards
Engagement Details
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Rate: $100--$200/hour
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Hours: ~20 hours+
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Duration: Through October w/possible extentions
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Start: ASAP
Process:
Take-home evaluation exercise
Background Check
Offer
Originally posted on Himalayas
