Trade Surveillance Expert (Market Abuse & Conduct Monitoring)

Role Overview

Mercor is seeking experienced Trade Surveillance Experts to support the development and evaluation of advanced AI systems used in capital markets compliance and market abuse detection.

In this role, you will leverage expertise in trade surveillance, market conduct monitoring, and regulatory compliance to evaluate complex trading scenarios, identify suspicious activity, and help create high-quality training data for next-generation AI models.

This opportunity is particularly relevant for professionals experienced with surveillance platforms such as Nasdaq SMARTS, NICE Actimize, Eventus Validus, ACA Sigma, SteelEye, eFlow, OneMarket Surveillance, TradingHub, and similar market surveillance systems.

Responsibilities

• Review and analyze simulated and real-world trading scenarios for indicators of market abuse
• Evaluate AI-generated surveillance alerts and determine whether escalation is required, closure is appropriate, or further investigation is warranted
• Develop and refine surveillance evaluation frameworks covering Insider Trading, Market Manipulation, Spoofing & Layering, Wash Trading, Front Running, Marking the Close, Cross-Market Manipulation, and Information Leakage
• Assess surveillance workflows and alert investigation methodologies
• Provide expert feedback on AI-generated case narratives, investigations, and regulatory reasoning
• Validate whether surveillance conclusions align with regulations and industry best practices
• Contribute expertise to improve AI systems used for compliance monitoring and financial crime detection

Requirements

• 5+ years of experience in trade surveillance, market surveillance, market abuse monitoring, compliance surveillance, or regulatory oversight
• Hands-on experience with one or more surveillance platforms (Nasdaq SMARTS, NICE Actimize, Eventus Validus, ACA Sigma, SteelEye, eFlow, TradingHub, or similar)
• Strong understanding of SEC regulations, FINRA regulations, MAR, MiFID II, FCA market conduct requirements, and exchange surveillance standards
• Experience investigating surveillance alerts and documenting case outcomes
• Familiarity with equities, options, futures, fixed income, FX, commodities, and digital assets
• Strong written communication skills and ability to clearly explain investigative reasoning
• Fluent English communication

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience at investment banks, broker-dealers, exchanges, regulatory agencies, hedge funds, proprietary trading firms, or surveillance technology providers
• Experience with surveillance model tuning, alert calibration, threshold optimization, or surveillance program design
• Experience working directly with regulators or responding to examinations and inquiries
• Knowledge of algorithmic trading, high-frequency trading, or electronic market structure
• Preferred certifications: CAMS, CISI, CFA, FRM, or equivalent compliance credentials

Contract & Payment Terms

• Independent contractor engagement
• Fully remote, flexible schedule
• $100/hour — weekly payments via Stripe or Wise
• Projects may be extended, shortened, or concluded based on business needs and performance

Note: Mercor currently cannot support H1-B or STEM OPT candidates.

About Mercor

Mercor partners with leading AI labs and enterprises to train and evaluate frontier AI systems using human expertise. Contributors work on projects helping shape the next generation of AI-powered financial compliance and surveillance technologies.