Brand & Advertising Art Director (AI Evaluation)

$70–$120/hr USDMercorJob location: United StatesWork arrangement unspecifiedUS residents only

At a glance

You will guide research teams and produce reference design work to improve AI models in brand identity and advertising, and evaluate AI-generated design with written feedback. You need 5+ years of shipped agency brand and advertising design work and daily hands-on fluency in Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop and Figma, at 40 hours per week.

Summary written by AI from the original listing.

  • 40 hours a week
  • Top of the range ($120/hr USD) is well above the typical $70/hr USD for similar roles on Mercor See how this pay compares ↓
  • Posted Nov 5, 2026 · 20 openings reported

About the role

Join a leading AI lab's cutting-edge GenAI team to be at the core of the AI revolution, where your expertise fuels the development of the most advanced generative AI models.

1\. Overview Join a leading AI lab's cutting-edge GenAI team and help build foundational AI models from the ground up. We're seeking a Brand & Advertising Art Director or Senior Brand Designer with deep, hands-on agency or studio experience in brand identity, packaging, out-of-home and multi-format campaign design to bring real design judgment and elevate the quality of our AI training data. This is a full-time commitment of 40 hours per week.

This is a W-2 employment position with Cincinnatus LLC, with the opportunity to be placed at a leading AI Lab as part of their extended workforce.

2\. Key Responsibilities

  • Guide research teams to close knowledge gaps and improve AI model performance in brand identity, advertising and graphic design.
  • Design challenging, real-world design tasks drawn from agency workflows, such as identity systems, packaging, out-of-home and multi-format campaign suites, and produce reference deliverables in editable source files.
  • Evaluate AI-generated design work and give clear, written feedback, catching problems with typography, grids, hierarchy, color, print feasibility and consistency across formats.
  • Develop guidelines, rubrics and quality checks for graphic design, including technical checks on vector and print-ready files.
  • Collaborate with other subject matter experts to ensure consistency and accuracy in training data.

3\. Core Qualifications

  • 5+ years of shipped commercial brand and advertising design work as an art director or senior designer at a creative agency, brand consultancy, packaging studio or in-house brand studio (for example Wieden+Kennedy, Droga5, Ogilvy, TBWA, Mother, Pentagram, Collins, Landor, Interbrand, Pearlfisher, JKR, or an equivalent in-house studio), not crowd rating or student work.
  • Hands-on daily fluency in Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop and Figma, with InDesign for layout and print, and the ability to build final files yourself rather than only direct others.
  • Delivered brand identity systems: wordmark or logo, typographic system, colour, iconography and guidelines, rolled out across real touchpoints.
  • Delivered print production on real packaging dielines or large-format out-of-home specs through to press-ready files, including bleed, safe zones, CMYK and Pantone specs and prepress checks.
  • Delivered out-of-home and multi-format campaign suites (billboards, transit, print, digital display, paid social in 1:1, 4:5 and 9:16) and localized versions for multiple markets.
  • Strong typography and grid craft, and confident vector illustration and image retouching.
  • Fluency with editable source files and exchange formats: .ai, .psd, .fig, .indd, .svg, PDF/X, dieline files, and packaged print-ready deliverables.
  • Hands-on generative AI practice in design work, for example Midjourney, Adobe Firefly, Ideogram, Stable Diffusion or Flux for imagery and type exploration or Photoshop Generative Fill and Magnific for retouching, and the judgment to tell a strong result from a plausible-looking weak one.
  • A public portfolio or reel of shipped work; you will be asked to walk through it.
  • Ability to engage reliably for at least 40 hours/week during weekdays.
  • Strong written communication skills and the ability to explain creative decisions clearly.

About Cincinnatus LLC: Cincinnatus LLC is an enterprise staffing company that partners with leading technology companies to source and employ highly skilled professionals for contingent and contract-based opportunities. Cincinnatus serves as the employer of record for these engagements, providing W-2 employment, payroll, benefits, and compliance, while placing employees directly within client teams to work on high-impact initiatives.

Equal Employment Opportunity: Cincinnatus is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, reproductive health decisions, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, genetic information, political views or activity, or any other legally protected characteristic.

Applicant countries
US residents only

The listing requires applicants to reside in the United States. Check the original listing for any additional requirements.

Openings reported
20
Work arrangement
Work arrangement unspecified
Advertised job location
United States
Originally posted
2026-11-05
Last checked

How this pay compares

Design: typical hourly pay on each platform, November 2026.

This role $70–$120/hr USDTypical on Mercor $70/hr USDTypical across platforms $55/hr USD

  • MercorThis platform$70/hr USD26 rolesMiddle half of roles: $35–$90/hr USD
  • micro1$47/hr USD30 rolesMiddle half of roles: $28–$78/hr USD
  • Alignerr$70/hr USD9 rolesMiddle half of roles: $40–$80/hr USD
  • Meridial$37/hr USD8 rolesMiddle half of roles: $36–$37/hr USD
  • SME Careers$20/hr USD12 rolesMiddle half of roles: $15–$52/hr USD
  • Handshake AI$120/hr USD13 rolesMiddle half of roles: $80–$125/hr USD

Based on 104 hourly-paid roles listed in November 2026. Per-task and project rates are not included. Each platform sets its own pay.

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