Trainium (NKI) Kernel Expert
Trainium (NKI) Kernel Expert is an open role at Mercor Experts, available remotely, with pay listed as $70–$90/hr.
Applications open on Mercor Experts’s own site. How we make money.
About this role
Evaluate the quality, correctness, and hardware-appropriateness of Neuron Kernel Interface (NKI) development tasks used to train and evaluate a frontier AI lab's models. You'll assess CUDA→NKI migration fidelity, Trainium-specific performance-optimization quality, and cross-platform numerical-correctness standards — and provide clear, rubric-based written feedback. Basic Qualifications • 2+ years of hands-on experience developing or optimizing kernels using the Neuron Kernel Interface (NKI) targeting AWS Trainium/Inferentia2 hardware • Strong understanding of NKI-specific development patterns: tile-based computation, SBUF/PSUM/HBM memory-hierarchy management, partition-dimension constraints, and DMA orchestration • Demonstrated experience assessing CUDA→NKI migration quality • Familiarity with Trainium-specific performance profiling (NeuronCore pipeline utilization, tensor-engine throughput, memory-bandwidth bottlenecks) • Experience defining or evaluating cross-platform numerical-correctness standards (GPU vs Trainium accumulation order, rounding behavior, mixed-precision semantics) Preferred Qualifications • Direct experience with AWS Neuron SDK, Neuron Compiler internals, or contributions to NKI kernel libraries • Prior CUDA or Triton kernel development • Familiarity with Trainium hardware specifications (NeuronCore-v2 architecture, on-chip SRAM topology, supported data types: FP32/BF16/FP8/INT8) • Experience benchmarking ML training workloads on Trn1/Trn2 instances
Pay
$70–$90/hr
About Mercor Experts
Mercor Experts's connection to Mercor: Direct expert network. Law, medicine, finance, engineering, operations and AI evaluation
Ownership confidence: Confirmed. See the full network profile →
Similar open roles
Frequently asked questions
How do I apply for the Trainium (NKI) Kernel Expert role at Mercor Experts?
Applications go through Mercor Experts's own portal - HumanSourcer links to the listing and never collects applications or handles hiring. Mercor Experts's access model is "Apply" (Profile / role application). This listing was first seen here on August 27, 2026 and was still live at the last check.
Is the Trainium (NKI) Kernel Expert role at Mercor Experts remote?
Yes - Mercor Experts lists this role as remote.
What does the Trainium (NKI) Kernel Expert role at Mercor Experts pay?
Mercor Experts lists this role's pay as $70–$90/hr, quoted from the listing rather than estimated.
What kind of work is Trainium (NKI) Kernel Expert?
AI model evaluation. Law, medicine, finance, engineering, operations and AI evaluation
Is Mercor Experts a legitimate AI-training platform?
Direct expert network - and that relationship is rated "Confirmed" here because it can be checked against www.mercor.com rather than taken on Mercor Experts's word. Confidence describes how well the ownership is evidenced. It is not a rating of how the platform treats the people who work for it, which no public source covers reliably.
Get new AI-training roles by email
One weekly digest of newly listed roles across every tracked network - pay where it's disclosed, no spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Free. See how we make money.