Bilingual Japanese STEM Expert (PhD): AI Safety

What you'll do

Japan has a deep tradition of doing science in its own language: textbooks, conference talks and much lab communication happen in Japanese, with a technical vocabulary that is its own system rather than borrowed English. That makes a Japanese-speaking PhD scientist well placed for this role, which checks whether AI models handle sensitive science as carefully in Japanese as in English. At $68–72 an hour, it is the second-best-paid role in Mercor's bilingual AI safety series.

The tasks:

• Writing expert-level prompts in Japanese on specialised scientific topics
• Evaluating and annotating model responses for scientific accuracy, helpfulness and handling of sensitive content
• Classifying prompts and conversations using structured guidelines

Subjects span chemical, biological, and radiological and nuclear science. The judgment you bring is dual-use: telling legitimate research, teaching and safety questions apart from requests aimed at dangerous capability, and assessing whether the model's Japanese answers respect that line. The role tests safeguards; it does not involve producing harmful content.

No AI experience is required; Mercor trains you on the workflow.

Who qualifies

• A PhD in chemistry, biology or a closely related field, ongoing or completed
• Depth to write across chemical, biological, or radiological and nuclear subject areas
• Native or near-native Japanese and business-level written English
• Deep familiarity with modern laboratory and computational techniques in your subfield
• Sound judgment on scientific safety and dual-use information

Preferred, per the ad: depth in one subfield (organic or inorganic synthesis, molecular biology, microbiology, virology, genetics and similar); radiological and nuclear coverage from chemistry (radiochemistry, nuclear chemistry, energetic materials, radiation physics); research or coursework on chemical security, biosafety or hazardous-materials handling; and experience reviewing, grading or red-teaming technical content.

Japan or the wider East Asia region is preferred, not required.

What it pays

$68–72 per hour, Mercor's published figure. The Japanese generalist version pays $48–52, so the PhD premium here is $20 an hour, the largest in the series. Only Norwegian STEM ($77–81) pays more; Korean STEM pays $63–67.

Payments are weekly via Stripe or Wise, based on services rendered.

Worth knowing

Good:

• Second-highest rate in the series and the biggest PhD premium
• Doctoral candidates qualify
• Active: 9 hires this month when we checked
• Remote on your own schedule, immediate start

Less good:

• Hazardous-science topics throughout
• No stated weekly hours, project length or end client; projects can be extended, shortened or ended early
• Independent contractor with no benefits; researchers on Japanese university contracts should check side-work (fukugyō) rules first
• H-1B and STEM OPT candidates excluded

About this listing

Posted by Mercor as a part-time remote position, confirmed open on 24 September 2026. Pay, requirements, location preference and payment terms are the ad's own; the context and comparisons are ours. See Mercor.