Data Annotation Specialist, Engineering (civil, mechanical, electrical, chemical)
Data Annotation Specialist · Mid · Contract · Remote
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Role
What you'll do.
As a Data Annotation Specialist for Engineering at Cohere, you'll evaluate and improve how AI models handle complex engineering workflows across civil, mechanical, electrical, and chemical disciplines. This part-time remote contract role involves breaking down engineering procedures into granular steps, annotating model outputs, and training Cohere's foundation models to better understand domain-specific engineering logic. Ideal candidates possess 3+ years of engineering industry experience, formal engineering education, and hands-on expertise with CAD software, component design, and product lifecycle management.
Responsibilities
- Model Performance Evaluation: Systematically evaluate and test the foundation model's ability to comprehend and respond accurately to engineering procedures, workflows, and domain-specific technical queries across civil, mechanical, electrical, and chemical engineering disciplines.
- Engineering Task Decomposition: Break down complex engineering tasks such as component sourcing, design reporting, material billing analysis, and project documentation into discrete, logical steps that teach the AI model how to complete multi-stage engineering workflows using tool-based reasoning.
- Data Annotation and Labeling: Label, proofread, and enhance both machine-generated and human-written engineering technical content, ensuring accuracy, clarity, and adherence to established style guidelines and engineering documentation standards.
- Quality Assurance and Feedback: Verify the accuracy of model responses against verified engineering information and industry best practices, providing constructive feedback to improve model reasoning for specialized engineering applications.
- Style Guide Implementation: Apply comprehensive style guides consistently across all annotations while identifying edge cases and making informed recommendations for unique situations that extend beyond documented guidelines, contributing to continuous process improvement.
Qualifications
What we look for.
Technical
CAD Software Proficiency
Working knowledge of Computer-Aided Design (CAD) software platforms such as AutoCAD, SolidWorks, CATIA, Revit, or similar tools commonly used in engineering design, documentation, and component visualization across multiple disciplines.
Product Lifecycle Management Systems
Experience with Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) systems and tools such as SAP, Oracle PDM, Windchill, or similar platforms used for managing engineering data, design revisions, manufacturing information, and product documentation.
Material and Component Management
Familiarity with material billing systems, bill of materials (BOM) creation and management, component specifications, supplier documentation, and cost estimation procedures used in engineering procurement and project administration.
Education
Engineering Degree
Bachelor's degree in engineering (Civil, Mechanical, Electrical, Chemical, or related discipline) or equivalent professional certification/qualification from accredited engineering programs or technician training institutions.
Engineering Technician Training
Formal technician or engineering specialist training and certification in relevant engineering disciplines, demonstrating foundational technical competency and understanding of engineering principles and practices.
Experience
Industry Engineering Experience
Minimum 3 years of professional experience working directly in one or more engineering fields including civil engineering (infrastructure, structural design), mechanical engineering (component design, assembly), electrical engineering (systems design, power distribution), or chemical engineering (process design, material science).
Project Complexity Exposure
Hands-on experience working on medium to large-scale engineering projects involving complete lifecycle activities including conceptual design, detailed engineering, prototyping, component testing, manufacturing coordination, and project delivery.
Technical Documentation
Experience generating, reviewing, and managing technical engineering documentation including reports, specifications, bills of materials, design documentation, and component sourcing procedures in professional settings.
Skills
Required
Domain-Specific Engineering Knowledge
Deep understanding of one or more engineering disciplines (civil, mechanical, electrical, chemical) including technical terminology, industry standards (ISO, ASTM, IEEE, ASME), design principles, and best practices applicable to your specialty.
Technical Communication
Exceptional written and verbal communication abilities with the capacity to explain complex engineering concepts clearly, evaluate technical accuracy, identify inconsistencies, and provide constructive engineering-focused feedback on model-generated content.
Attention to Detail
Meticulous attention to technical precision, specifications, and accuracy in engineering contexts where small errors can have significant consequences; ability to catch inconsistencies and maintain quality standards consistently.
Critical Thinking and Reasoning
Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities to evaluate model reasoning for engineering workflows, identify logical gaps, assess technical soundness, and provide informed judgments on engineering task completion and methodology.
AI/ML Model Interaction
Comfort learning and working with AI systems, chatbot interfaces, and language models; ability to understand how LLMs reason about problems and provide structured feedback to improve model performance on engineering tasks.
Preferred
Advanced CAD Expertise
Nice to haveExpert-level proficiency with multiple CAD platforms and parametric design concepts; experience using CAD data for engineering analysis, optimization, and documentation—particularly valuable for annotating model understanding of design workflows.
Manufacturing and Prototyping Experience
Nice to haveHands-on experience guiding components through manufacturing processes, prototype development, design iteration cycles, and production quality control; understanding of how design decisions impact manufacturing feasibility and cost.
Data Analysis and Quality Control
Nice to haveBackground in quality assurance, process improvement, or technical auditing within engineering environments; experience with structured data review, systematic error identification, and documentation of findings for process refinement.
Training and Knowledge Transfer
Nice to haveExperience mentoring junior engineers, creating technical training materials, or documenting engineering procedures; ability to break down complex processes into teachable components for audience understanding.
Cross-Disciplinary Engineering Knowledge
Nice to haveUnderstanding of how engineering disciplines interact (e.g., mechanical-electrical integration, structural-civil coordination); ability to evaluate integrated engineering solutions and workflows spanning multiple specialties.
Tech stack
Languages
Frameworks
Tools
Other
Compensation
Pay and benefits.
Base·CAD 49,920 – 49,920
Process
Interview steps.
- 01
Resume and Writing Sample Review
Initial screening phase where Cohere's Talent Team evaluates your resume for relevant engineering experience, educational background, and technical expertise, alongside assessment of writing samples to gauge communication quality and technical precision.
- 02
Virtual Annotation Assessment
Technical evaluation assignment testing your ability to handle annotation tasks through various language-based challenges including writing samples, interactive chatbot evaluation, model output assessment, and other practical annotation exercises that simulate real job responsibilities.
- 03
Video Interview with Operations Team
Short-form virtual interview with a member of Cohere's Operations Team to discuss your engineering background, annotation experience, understanding of the role requirements, and clarification of any questions about expectations for independent contractor work.
- 04
Independent Contractor Agreement
Final stage involving review and execution of the Independent Contractor Agreement outlining scope of work, compensation structure, intellectual property requirements, non-compete provisions with competitors, and ongoing work expectations.
Full posting
Original listing.
Who are we?
Cohere is the leading security-first enterprise AI company. We build cutting-edge foundation AI models and end-to-end products that are designed to solve real-world business problems.
We’re training and deploying frontier models for enterprises who are building AI systems. We believe that our work is instrumental to the widespread adoption of AI and we are looking for folks that want to be part of that.
We obsess over what we build. Each one of us is responsible for contributing to increasing the capabilities of our models and the value they drive for our customers. Cohere is a team of researchers, engineers, designers, and more, who are all passionate about their craft.
We are a global technology company headquartered in Toronto with key offices in London, New York City, San Francisco, Montreal, Paris, Berlin and Seoul. Join us!
Why this role?
This role will focus on breaking down engineering tasks such as reporting, component search and handling of material billing/information into individual steps that can be tackled through tool use. Your breakdown will teach the Cohere model the logic needed to complete each task.
Please Note: This is a part-time independent contractor position available within Canada. We seek candidates who are able to commit to 16 hours per week minimum at a 30 CAD/hour contract rate. This role is BYOD 💻 - Bring Your Own Device (laptop). Remote work within Canada. 12 month contract. Performance incentives included!
As a Data Annotation Specialist, you will:
Evaluate the model's ability to respond to engineering procedures and workflows
Task models to complete engineering tasks along with verified information to evaluate the accuracy of the model's responses
Label, proofread, and improve machine-written and human-written engineering-related outputs.
Follow our style guide, and make recommendations on unique situations that fall outside of its scope.
You may be a good fit if you have:
3+ years of industry experience working in engineering fields (civil, mechanical, electrical, chemical)
Technician/engineering specialist training and experience preferredAn education background in engineering (Bachelors, Masters or similar)
Experience on medium-large scale engineering projects involving designing, prototyping and manufacturing components
Experience with CAD software, material billing and product lifecycle management (PCMs)
The Candidate Journey:
Initial Screening - Once you have submitted your application our Talent Team will review your resume and writing samples.
Virtual Annotation Test - This assignment will test your written skill through various language-based tasks, such as a a writing sample, interacting with a chat bot, and more.
Video Screen - If selected to move forward, you will have a short video call with a member of our Operations Team!
Offer - Independent Contractor Agreement
As an independent contractor, you maintain control over how you complete your work and may work with multiple clients simultaneously, although we ask you to declare if any of these are with a direct competitor of Cohere and maintain IP confidentiality of the Cohere project. Independent contractors are not eligible for health benefits or other benefits provided to employees. Compensation for services is provided to contractors by contractors invoicing for services provided pursuant to the terms of our agreement with the contractor.
It is important to understand that as an independent contractor, continuous work is not guaranteed. The client-contractor relationship is fundamentally project-based, meaning engagements may be temporary, periodic, or intermittent based on our organizational needs and project availability. As an independent contractor, you should anticipate fluctuations in workflow and therefore compensation for services when Cohere does not require as many hours of services in a week.
Prospective candidates, please be advised: this role involves working with human generated and model generated tasks that may involve exposure to not safe for work (NSFW) text content as part of data annotation tasks, including explicit, offensive, or other inappropriate material.
If some of the above doesn’t line up perfectly with your experience, we still encourage you to apply!
We value and celebrate diversity and strive to create an inclusive work environment for all. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and are committed to providing equal opportunities. Should you require any accommodations during the recruitment process, please submit an Accommodations Request Form, and we will work together to meet your needs.
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