Preclinical R&D Scientist - Drug Development

About the job Mercor connects elite creative and technical talent with leading AI research labs. Headquartered in San Francisco, our investors include Benchmark , General Catalyst , Peter Thiel , Adam D'Angelo , Larry Summers , and Jack Dorsey . Position: Preclinical R&D Expert – In-house Drug Development Type: Contract Compensation: $60–$100/hour Location: Remote Commitment: 10 hours/week Role Responsibilities

Review technical materials and real-world R&D data in your area of expertise.

Label, classify, and annotate scientific data and model outputs to improve model performance.

Provide expert perspective on key scientific and development decisions, including target/modality selection and optimization.

Help define structure and quality standards for the client's dataset pipeline .

Participate in expert discussions, interviews, and research engagements.

Interface directly with the client team to ensure alignment and progress.

Qualifications

Must-Have

Hands-on, non-administrative preclinical R&D experience at a company developing its own drug assets.

Experience in core R&D functions : discovery biology, medicinal chemistry, protein/antibody engineering, computational, in vivo/translational, pharmacology/PK-PD, toxicology, or CMC/formulation.

Hands-on experience with one or more drug modalities: small molecules, monoclonal antibodies, peptides, ADCs, bispecifics, mRNA, siRNA, ASOs, PROTACs, molecular glues, cell therapies, gene therapies, radioligand therapies, etc.

5+ years of relevant industry R&D experience .

Preferred

Experience taking a program through lead optimization or IND-enabling/preclinical development.

Experience at mid-sized, emerging, or resource-constrained biotech, ideally outside the top-20 pharmaceutical companies.

Application Process (Takes 20–30 mins to complete)

Upload resume

AI interview based on your resume

Submit form

Resources & Support

For details about the interview process and platform information, please check:

For any help or support, reach out to:

PS: Our team reviews applications daily. Please complete your AI interview and application steps to be considered for this opportunity. Originally posted on Himalayas