# Software Engineer, Automation

**Company:** [Mercor](https://hotfix.jobs/companies/mercor)
**Location:** San Francisco, CA
**Role:** Backend Engineering
**Salary:** $130k – $500k/yr
**Skills:** Python, LLM APIs, Distributed Systems, APIs, Production Infrastructure, Mcp Servers, Evaluation Frameworks, Action Queues, Playbook Orchestration, Observability
**Posted:** 2026-03-12

> Builds autonomous agent systems for internal operations using Python and LLM APIs, including MCP servers, evaluation frameworks, and workflow orchestration. Owns end-to-end backend infrastructure with focus on reliability and real-world impact.

## Job Description

## What You’ll Do

- Build and maintain MCP servers that give agents structured access to Mercor’s platform — reading project state, taking management actions, and triggering communications.
- Design and implement evaluation frameworks to measure agent decision quality and drive continuous improvement through feedback loops.
- Develop action queues and playbook orchestration systems that allow agents to execute multi-step workflows with conditional logic.
- Instrument agent systems end-to-end — capturing outcomes, closing feedback loops, and enabling hill-climbing on eval metrics.
- Collaborate directly with operators to identify high-leverage automation opportunities and translate them into robust agent behaviors.
- Debug and harden agent systems in production, designing for reliability at scale.
- Contribute to foundational patterns and infrastructure that the rest of the company will build on.

## What We’re Looking For

- **Strong backend engineering fundamentals in Python** (or equivalent modern language).
- **Experience building with LLM APIs** — including tool use, structured outputs, and multi-step reasoning workflows.
- Comfort designing evaluation frameworks and thinking rigorously about agent failure modes.
- Ability to ship quickly and iterate on systems that interact with the real world.
- **Understanding of distributed systems, APIs, and production infrastructure**.
- Full-stack experience is a plus — owning features end-to-end will increase your impact.

## Benefits

- Generous equity grant vested over 4 years
- A $10K housing bonus (if you live within 0.5 miles of our office)
- A $1.5K monthly stipend for meals
- Free Equinox membership
- Health insurance

## Similar roles

- [Software Engineer, Marketplace](https://hotfix.jobs/jobs/ba27ff48-8073-433a-9faf-3bd55baa59c6) - Mercor - San Francisco, CA - $130k – $500k/yr
- [Software Engineer, Platform](https://hotfix.jobs/jobs/eb8dbc1d-9bdf-4f0b-8552-9d16529733ec) - Mercor - San Francisco, CA - $130k – $500k/yr
- [Software Engineer, Fraud](https://hotfix.jobs/jobs/1e19ce3d-20b7-4c6f-bf62-fc2fb7daa12a) - Mercor - San Francisco, CA - $130k – $500k/yr
- [Backend Engineer, API](https://hotfix.jobs/jobs/7a84fe03-10ed-4a3f-a833-bc6038338ed8) - Pylon - Palo Alto, CA - $130k – $220k/yr
- [Backend Engineer, Underwriting](https://hotfix.jobs/jobs/dbcd03c9-9876-4066-af0e-125530a61a43) - Pylon - Palo Alto, CA - $130k – $220k/yr

**Apply:** https://hotfix.jobs/jobs/2bd271bc-7638-4b38-add1-97d0c3cc0df0
**Canonical:** https://hotfix.jobs/jobs/2bd271bc-7638-4b38-add1-97d0c3cc0df0