Survey Research & Consumer Insights Expert
Mercor is partnering with a leading AI research organisation to engage experienced professionals in survey research, market research, consumer insights, and behavioural science for a project focused on evaluating and improving sophisticated survey-based research. We are looking…
- Field
- Generalist
- Where
- Remote
- Commitment
- hourly
- Hours
- up to 40/week
- Openings
- 4
- Posted
- 2 months ago
How this pay compares
At $120/hr, this role pays more than 91% of the 206 open generalist roles with a listed pay range, above the median of $60.
Among platforms with 10 or more priced generalist roles, Alignerr has the highest median ($80/hr across 17 roles) and micro1 the lowest ($50/hr across 54).
Mercor roles that closed since late October stayed listed a median of 39 days (136 roles). Mercor posted this one 68 days ago.
Computed from 2,746 open roles we track across Mercor, micro1, Handshake AI, Alignerr, Appen and OpenTrain AI, refreshed daily. Midpoints of listed ranges; “up to” ceilings are left out of medians.
What you would earn at this rate
Rate
$120/hr
Per week, before tax
$4,800
Per month, if the work is steady
$20,800
- Tax
- Contract pay arrives with no tax withheld. A US contractor at this rate and these hours would set aside about $4,812 a month for self-employment tax plus federal income tax at the 12% bracket (23%, before state tax). Outside the US, your own country's rules apply.
Assumes paid hours only; unpaid assessments, onboarding and gaps between projects lower the real figure. Full take-home calculator · Track what you actually earn
Open generalist roles on each platform
The same kind of work, priced on every platform we track, with the best-paid open role on each.
| Platform | Open | Median | Best-paid open role |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alignerr | 17 | $80/hr | Frontier Data Lead – Client Success & AI Partnerships$85-120/hr |
| Mercorthis role | 22 | $63/hr | Luxury Automotive Strategy Expert$300-350/hr |
| OpenTrain AI | 115 | $61/hr | Contract Manager and Negotiator (English)$150/hr |
| micro1 | 60 | $50/hr | Member of Technical Staff, Enterprise AI$300k-700k/yr |
| Handshake AI | 24 | up to $88/hr | Intelligence Expert (Bachelor's, Master's and PhDs) - AI TrainerUp to $200/hr |
“Up to” rows list only ceilings, so their median is a maximum, not comparable with the range midpoints above them.
All 238 open generalist roles →The full listing
As posted on Mercor. See the original
Mercor is partnering with a leading AI research organisation to engage experienced professionals in survey research, market research, consumer insights, and behavioural science for a project focused on evaluating and improving sophisticated survey-based research. We are looking for individuals who have professionally designed, fielded, managed, or evaluated surveys and understand what separates a rigorous, decision-useful survey from one that produces noisy, biased, or misleading results. This opportunity is intentionally open to professionals from a range of research backgrounds. Candidates do not need to be academic survey methodologists; strong practitioners from market research agencies, consumer insights teams, behavioural science organisations, polling/research firms, or in-house research functions are highly encouraged to apply.
What You’ll Do
- Review and evaluate surveys for methodological quality, clarity, and fitness for purpose.
- Assess survey questions for issues such as leading language, ambiguity, double-barreled questions, response-option problems, ordering effects, and respondent burden.
- Evaluate screeners, eligibility criteria, survey flows, skip/display logic, scales, and questionnaire structure.
- Identify potential sources of sampling, measurement, response, and selection bias.
- Assess whether surveys are likely to generate reliable and interpretable data from the intended respondent population.
- Review approaches to survey fielding, respondent recruitment, quotas, sample composition, and data-quality controls.
- Apply practical research judgment to ambiguous survey-design problems where there may not be a single objectively correct answer.
- Provide clear, structured rationales explaining methodological issues and recommended improvements.
- Help evaluate AI-generated survey content and research reasoning against professional research standards.
What We’re Looking For
We are open to candidates from several backgrounds, including:
- Market Research / Consumer Insights: Professionals who have designed and fielded quantitative surveys at market research firms, insights consultancies, research agencies, or internal consumer/customer insights teams.
- Survey Methodology: Survey researchers or methodologists with deep expertise in questionnaire design, sampling, measurement, fieldwork, or survey statistics.
- Behavioural Science: Researchers who have used surveys, experiments, or structured questionnaires as a meaningful part of applied behavioural research.
- UX / Customer Research: Quantitative or mixed-methods researchers with substantial hands-on survey design and fielding experience.
- Polling / Social Research: Professionals experienced in public opinion, political, social, policy, or population-based survey research.
Ideal Qualifications
- 3+ years of professional experience in survey research, market research, consumer insights, behavioural science, UX research, or a closely related field.
- Meaningful hands-on experience designing and/or fielding surveys professionally.
- Strong understanding of questionnaire design and common sources of survey error and bias.
- Experience working with respondent panels, sampling strategies, screeners, quotas, or survey fieldwork is highly valuable.
- Ability to critically evaluate survey methodology rather than execute a predefined questionnaire.
- Strong written communication skills and the ability to explain why a survey design decision is methodologically strong or weak.
- High attention to detail and comfort making nuanced judgments with incomplete or ambiguous information.
- Experience with platforms such as Qualtrics, SurveyMonkey, Alchemer, Decipher/Forsta, QuestionPro, or similar research tools is helpful but not required.
Particularly Strong Profiles
Strong candidates may include Senior Research Managers, Consumer Insights Managers, Market Research Managers, Survey Researchers, Survey Methodologists, Quantitative Researchers, Behavioural Scientists, Insights Consultants, Research Directors, UX Researchers, or Research Scientists. Experience at established market research and insights organisations, research-intensive technology or consumer companies, academic survey centres, behavioural science organisations, or polling/social research institutions is especially relevant.
Why Join
- Apply professional research expertise to cutting-edge AI research.
- Work on problems that require genuine methodological judgment rather than routine survey administration.
- Help improve how advanced AI systems understand survey design, research methodology, respondent behaviour, and evidence quality.
From applying to your first payment on Mercor
- 1
Apply to this listing
Apply on Mercor with your resume.
- 2
AI interview
Take Mercor's recorded AI interview, about 20 minutes. A completed interview carries over to other listings that use the same one.
- 3
Work
Hourly work is counted in weeks that run Saturday to Friday.
- 4
First payment
Mercor pays each Wednesday around noon Pacific through Stripe (or Wise). Stripe holds a first payout for 7 days, and standard transfers take up to 5 business days to reach your bank.
Sources: Mercor talent docs: AI interview, Mercor talent docs: payments
Full Mercor profile: watch-outs and the public record →Pay history
Mercor has listed this role at $120/hr since Nov 3, 2026 with no change.
Across Mercor's generalist roles, the median listed pay was $55/hr on Nov 1, 2026 (20 roles) and is $63/hr as of Nov 11, 2026 (21 roles).
What workers report about Mercor
Anonymous reports from people who applied or worked there: whether they got work, what they were paid and how fast.
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