UK-Based MBB and Top-Tier Strategy Consulting Experts

What you'll do

The premise is not annotation, and it is worth understanding before you judge the rate. You are asked to "produce the kind of professional documents and deliverables you create day to day in your own field": the decks, models, operating-model maps and structured analysis of an ordinary engagement. Those outputs are then logged and used to build the tasks and rubrics that train and evaluate frontier AI models.

So you do consulting work while it is recorded, and your professional judgement is the product. Some seats focus on hands-on delivery and others on documenting and structuring that work, so the balance varies.

You work alongside experts from two other domains staffed on the same engagement. One of them is UK-Based Data Engineering Experts, on the same rate and the same dates.

What you need

• Partner, Engagement Manager, Associate or Consultant grade at a top-tier strategy firm: all four are named at the same published rate
• Ideally target operating model or organisational redesign experience
• Based in the United Kingdom, with the right to work in the United Kingdom. The ad calls this essential
• Free for 40 hours a week from 14 September to 10 October 2026

No firm list, no years-of-experience floor and no university requirement is published, and "top-tier strategy firms" is left undefined. If you are two years into a strategy firm, you are inside the stated pool.

The ad separately states it is "unable to support H1-B or STEM OPT candidates at this time". Both are United States immigration statuses, which reads oddly on a UK-based role. We note it because it is in the ad, not because we can explain it.

The dates are the real constraint

The ad sets fixed hours and dates:

• 40 hours per week
• 14 September to 10 October 2026: four weeks
• The project team works to a UK business-hours rhythm
• You "should not be committed to other projects requiring significant hours during this period", though smaller side projects can be discussed

That is a full-time month. Realistically it suits someone between engagements, on garden leave, recently independent, or taking a deliberate break, not someone currently billing. Projects "can be extended, shortened, or concluded early depending on needs and performance", so four weeks is a plan rather than a commitment. The runway is short too: vetting has to finish before 14 September.

What it pays

$140–200/hour. At 40 hours a week across four weeks that is roughly $22,400 to $32,000 for the engagement, our arithmetic on the stated rate and hours, though the ad notes the project may be shortened or extended.

It is a plain hourly rate for hours worked, with no task-based or output-based qualification anywhere in the ad. Set against consulting rates it is modest; set against a month you were not going to bill anyway, it is a strong number, and the second comparison is the one that applies to most readers.

You are engaged as an independent contractor. Tax is not withheld, and local registration and reporting are on you. See our FAQ on tax handling.

How you get hired

Two stages, both stated: a resume and work history screen, then a short assessment evaluating domain expertise. No AI interview is named on this ad.

One clause worth reading twice

Your work at Mercor will not involve access to confidential or proprietary information from any employer, client, or institution.

For a consultant that clause matters. Client confidentiality is the constraint that would otherwise make this impossible: you cannot repurpose a client deliverable, and most of your best material is not yours to show. The engagement is stated not to ask you to. You produce fresh work rather than surfacing anything you already hold.

Worth knowing

Good:

• $140–200/hour as a plain hourly rate for hours worked
• Associates and Consultants are named alongside Partners at the same rate
• No firm list, no years-of-experience floor, no university requirement
• Fixed, known dates you can plan a month around
• Light vetting: two stages, no unpaid AI interview named
• The work is stated not to require confidential client information

Less good:

• 40 hours a week for a month with near-exclusivity expected, which rules out anyone currently engaged
• Short runway: the project starts 14 September
• It can be "extended, shortened, or concluded early", so the four weeks is not guaranteed
• UK residence and right to work are hard requirements
• "Top-tier strategy firms" is undefined, so you cannot tell in advance whether yours counts
• Independent contractor: no benefits, no notice period, your own tax and any local registration
• Neither the AI lab nor the third domain being staffed is named

About this listing

Posted by Mercor, confirmed open on 7 September 2026. The $140–200/hour rate, the 14 September to 10 October dates, the 40-hour commitment, the UK requirement, the named grades and the vetting steps are its own published text for this listing.

The $22,400–32,000 engagement figure is our arithmetic on the stated rate and hours, not a total the ad publishes. This is one of the few listings with a stated end date, so it will expire on its own. The AI lab, the client, and which firms count as top-tier are all unnamed. Eligibility and payment run at the platform level. See Mercor.