Remote | Competitive Coder — $45–$65/hour

  • New York, New York, United States
  • Contractor
  • Remote

Job Description:

We are sharing a specialised consulting opportunity for experienced Competitive Coders with strong expertise in C++, algorithmic problem solving, checker development, test-case design, edge-case analysis, and competitive-programming evaluation to contribute to an advanced AI training and reinforcement-learning project.

Selected professionals will create original competitive-programming problems, develop reference solutions, build robust test suites, and design reinforcement-learning environments that test an AI model's ability to solve complex algorithmic tasks. The work requires deep competitive-programming judgement, advanced C++ proficiency, and meticulous attention to correctness across constraints, outputs, checkers, and edge cases. No prior experience in AI is required.

Key Responsibilities

Competitive Programming Problem Design

  • Create original competitive-programming problems
  • Develop tasks that are not duplicated from existing online judges
  • Define clear problem statements, constraints, and expected behaviour
  • Design problems requiring substantive algorithmic reasoning
  • Ensure tasks are technically rigorous and objectively verifiable

Reinforcement Learning Environment Development

  • Create environments that test AI performance on complex coding problems
  • Define measurable success criteria
  • Build deterministic evaluation workflows
  • Support reliable assessment of model-generated solutions
  • Ensure environments reflect realistic competitive-programming challenges

Reference Solution Development

  • Implement correct and efficient reference solutions
  • Validate solutions against stated constraints
  • Analyse time and space complexity
  • Confirm reference behaviour across normal and adversarial cases
  • Maintain clear and maintainable C++ implementations

Checker Development

  • Design and implement custom checkers
  • Handle problems with multiple valid outputs
  • Ensure checker logic is deterministic and robust
  • Validate output correctness across diverse solution formats
  • Prevent false positives and false negatives in evaluation

Test Suite Design

  • Develop comprehensive test suites
  • Cover edge cases, corner cases, and boundary conditions
  • Create adversarial tests targeting common solution weaknesses
  • Ensure tests distinguish correct from partially correct implementations
  • Validate test coverage against reference and intentionally flawed solutions

Submission Evaluation

  • Review and validate participant or model-generated submissions
  • Compare implementations against problem requirements
  • Identify logical, algorithmic, or implementation errors
  • Assess handling of constraints and edge cases
  • Verify output consistency and correctness

Algorithmic Analysis

  • Analyse multiple possible solution paths
  • Evaluate complexity trade-offs
  • Identify optimal or acceptable algorithms
  • Detect hidden assumptions in proposed approaches
  • Distinguish valid alternative solutions from incorrect reasoning

C++ Engineering

  • Develop reliable evaluation and checker code in C++
  • Write maintainable and efficient implementations
  • Handle input/output constraints carefully
  • Debug subtle correctness and performance issues
  • Apply strong competitive-programming coding practices

Problem Validation & Ambiguity Review

  • Review problem statements for ambiguity
  • Identify underspecified constraints or unclear requirements
  • Clarify behaviour for edge cases
  • Ensure problem statements support objective evaluation
  • Recommend revisions before tasks are finalised

Peer Review & Feedback

  • Review problems, checkers, and test cases created by other contributors
  • Identify weaknesses in task construction
  • Suggest improvements to validation logic
  • Provide actionable feedback to problem setters and reviewers
  • Maintain consistent technical standards across project content

Documentation & Communication

  • Document checker logic and evaluation behaviour
  • Explain edge cases and technical decisions clearly
  • Communicate algorithmic reasoning in written and verbal formats
  • Support collaboration with project teams
  • Maintain clear technical records for review and iteration

Ideal Profile

  • Strong competitive-programming background
  • Advanced C++ proficiency
  • Deep understanding of algorithms and data structures
  • Strong ability to analyse complex problem constraints
  • Experience reasoning across multiple valid solution paths
  • Strong checker and test-case design skills
  • Ability to identify subtle edge cases
  • Excellent debugging and validation skills
  • Strong attention to output correctness and consistency
  • Ability to write clear and maintainable C++ code
  • Exceptional analytical and problem-solving ability
  • Strong written and verbal communication skills
  • Comfortable working independently in a remote environment
  • Able to produce high-quality technical work under tight deadlines
  • Prior experience as a problem setter, tester, or checker on major competitive-programming platforms is highly advantageous
  • No prior AI-training or model-evaluation experience is required

Engagement Details

  • Part-time independent contractor engagement
  • Fully remote
  • Expected commitment: 15+ hours per week
  • Displayed compensation range: $45–$65/hour
  • Actual compensation structure is output-based, with payment made per task that meets project specifications
  • Task completion time may vary depending on individual experience and workflow
  • Minimum weekly submission requirements apply; the source does not specify the exact number of required tasks
  • Work will involve competitive-programming problem design, C++, checker development, reference solutions, test suites, reinforcement-learning environments, and AI-generated code evaluation
  • Strong competitive-programming and algorithmic problem-solving ability is central to this engagement
  • Roles are typically filled within approximately 48 hours
  • Selected experts are expected to begin initial tasks within approximately 24–48 hours after onboarding
  • Project scope, task difficulty, algorithms, evaluation criteria, and testing requirements may evolve depending on project needs
  • Work must be completed without using confidential, proprietary, restricted, private-contest, or otherwise protected problem content or source code belonging to any employer, contest platform, client, research organisation, or other third party

About the Platform

This opportunity is available through 24-MAG LLC. We connect experienced professionals with remote consulting opportunities across technical, evaluation, and project-based workstreams.

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