Business & Sales Operations Domain Expert
Company: Mercor · Pay: $60–$100/hr · Location: Remote — Global · Type: contractor, full time · Posted: 2026-09-14
The Frontier of Generative AI: Why Business Operations Experts Are Leading the Next Revolution
The artificial intelligence revolution has officially expanded past pure software engineering and natural language syntax. Today, leading AI laboratories and frontier tech enterprises are pouring massive resources into a critical bottleneck: teaching artificial intelligence models how to comprehend, reason through, and execute complex business, revenue, and sales operations. While early AI systems excelled at creative writing and basic coding, they frequently falter when confronted with nuanced corporate operational structures, multi-tiered pricing architectures, quota design logic, and complex supply chain workflows.
This reality has created an extraordinary, high-paying career opportunity for seasoned corporate operators. Platforms like Mercor, in partnership with employer-of-record firms like Cincinnatus LLC, are bridging the gap between cutting-edge AI research and deep industry mastery. Roles such as the Business & Sales Operations Domain Expert place experienced practitioners at the literal core of the AI revolution, offering competitive compensation between $60 and $100 per hour for full-time hybrid commitments based in the Bay Area, California.
Comprehensive Overview of the Role
For high-performing professionals who have spent years managing sales pipelines, scaling go-to-market systems, optimizing supply chains, and directing revenue operations, this position offers an unparalleled chance to impact the next generation of enterprise AI models. Rather than operating as a generalist freelancer, you will work directly alongside top-tier AI researchers and program management teams.
Your operating expertise forms the foundational substance of the role. Your primary objective is to review the quality of business operations knowledge work tasks, construct precise instruction specifications, write golden solutions that establish what true operational correctness looks like, and build robust benchmarks that test whether frontier AI models are genuinely improving.
Core Responsibilities:
- Data QA and Rigorous Reviews: Vet the quality of business and sales operations knowledge work tasks and model outputs, spotting missing behaviors, superficial reasoning, flawed underlying assumptions, numbers that do not tie together, and answers that read convincingly but would fail an actual executive operating review.
- Instruction Specs and Golden Datasets: Author elite instruction specifications, produce flawless golden solutions to multi-faceted operational problems, and design fresh evaluation tasks that mirror how business is conducted in practice.
- Benchmarks and Domain Depth: Formulate challenging operations workloads and rigorous evaluation sets, collaborating hand-in-hand with research teams to build domain-specific skills and tooling.
- Operational Calibration: Work directly with client researchers and cross-functional specialists to keep quality standards consistent, translating tacit executive operating judgment into explicit, teachable criteria.
Candidate Requirements & Professional Qualifications
Because these positions directly train frontier artificial intelligence systems used by major global enterprises, the selection criteria are stringent. This role is built specifically for practicing corporate operators with demonstrable leadership and functional depth.
- Professional Experience: Minimum of 4+ years of substantive ownership over a business, revenue, or sales operations function at a recognized, reputable organization (individual quota-carrying sales roles without operations ownership do not qualify).
- Leadership Seniority: Clear career progression into senior management tiers—such as Manager, Senior Manager, Director, Vice President, COO, or President—with tangible ownership over a functional budget, department, or team.
- Domain Specialization: Deep, authentic expertise in at least one key operational vertical, including sales operations, territory/quota design, revenue forecasting, CRM/GTM architecture, pricing and deal desks, supply chain/inventory planning, business analytics, or process re-engineering.
- Educational Background: Bachelor’s degree required; an MBA or an equivalent advanced professional degree is strongly preferred.
- AI Fluency & Critical Thinking: Practical, hands-on working knowledge of large language models in daily professional workflows, combined with the sharp editorial judgment needed to differentiate a well-reasoned operational output from a plausible-sounding hallucination.
- Commitment & Availability: Ability to commit reliably to 40 hours per week for an initial 6-month engagement.
- Geographic Requirement: Must reside in the Bay Area, California, or be willing to relocate there at your own expense prior to commencement (relocation assistance is not provided). This is a hybrid role requiring on-site collaboration multiple days each week.
Employment Structure: W-2 Stability via Cincinnatus LLC
Unlike project-based freelance gigs or short-term advisory side hustles, this engagement provides the structural stability and security of formal employment. Cincinnatus LLC serves as the employer of record, administering W-2 employment status, comprehensive payroll, benefits, and compliance safeguards while placing you directly within the client's elite internal teams.
You will be provisioned with client-issued accounts and hardware, operating directly inside the client's proprietary tools alongside world-class research scientists. This setup ensures seamless enterprise integration while you command an elite hourly rate of $60 to $100.
Maximizing Your Career Potential in the Age of AI
If you have spent your career building scalable go-to-market engines, streamlining corporate revenue cycles, and navigating complex operational roadblocks, your tacit knowledge is among the most valuable commodities in today's tech landscape. Traditional executive roles often carry immense political overhead and endless hours; transitioning your expertise into AI training allows you to focus purely on high-level analytical problem-solving and model alignment.
Working alongside premier AI labs ensures that your industry skills remain cutting-edge, granting you a front-row seat to the technological shifts that will define global commerce for decades to come.
Secure Your Place in the Future of AI
Opportunities to influence frontier AI development while maintaining full-time W-2 stability and premium compensation are extremely rare. Early applicant demand for this hybrid Bay Area role is robust. Review your qualifications and submit your application today to take the next monumental step in your professional journey.
Responsibilities
- Data QA and Rigorous Reviews: Vet the quality of business and sales operations knowledge work tasks and model outputs, spotting missing behaviors, superficial reasoning, flawed underlying assumptions, numbers that do not tie together, and answers that read convincingly but would fail an actual executive operating review.
- Instruction Specs and Golden Datasets: Author elite instruction specifications, produce flawless golden solutions to multi-faceted operational problems, and design fresh evaluation tasks that mirror how business is conducted in practice.
- Benchmarks and Domain Depth: Formulate challenging operations workloads and rigorous evaluation sets, collaborating hand-in-hand with research teams to build domain-specific skills and tooling.
- Operational Calibration: Work directly with client researchers and cross-functional specialists to keep quality standards consistent, translating tacit executive operating judgment into explicit, teachable criteria.
Qualifications
- Professional Experience: Minimum of 4+ years of substantive ownership over a business, revenue, or sales operations function at a recognized, reputable organization (individual quota-carrying sales roles without operations ownership do not qualify).
- Leadership Seniority: Clear career progression into senior management tiers—such as Manager, Senior Manager, Director, Vice President, COO, or President—with tangible ownership over a functional budget, department, or team.
- Domain Specialization: Deep, authentic expertise in at least one key operational vertical, including sales operations, territory/quota design, revenue forecasting, CRM/GTM architecture, pricing and deal desks, supply chain/inventory planning, business analytics, or process re-engineering.
- Educational Background: Bachelor’s degree required; an MBA or an equivalent advanced professional degree is strongly preferred.
- AI Fluency & Critical Thinking: Practical, hands-on working knowledge of large language models in daily professional workflows, combined with the sharp editorial judgment needed to differentiate a well-reasoned operational output from a plausible-sounding hallucination.
- Commitment & Availability: Ability to commit reliably to 40 hours per week for an initial 6-month engagement.
- Geographic Requirement: Must reside in the Bay Area, California, or be willing to relocate there at your own expense prior to commencement (relocation assistance is not provided). This is a hybrid role requiring on-site collaboration multiple days each week.