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Mathematical Formalization Specialist

$50-150/hrRemoteFreelanceSTEM

About the Role

What if your deep mathematical training could directly shape the future of AI reasoning? We're looking for mathematicians with hands-on experience in formal proof systems to translate rigorous human arguments into machine-verifiable formalizations — working at the bleeding edge of what proof assistants can express, capture, and automate.

This is a fully remote, flexible contract role built for mathematicians who are passionate about precision, formal verification, and the challenge of pushing modern proof assistants to their limits.

  • Organization: Alignerr
  • Type: Hourly Contract
  • Location: Remote
  • Commitment: Flexible

What You'll Do

  • Translate informal mathematical proofs into Lean (and related proof systems) with an emphasis on clarity, structure, and correctness
  • Analyze generic and domain-specific proofs — identifying gaps, hidden assumptions, and formalizable sub-structures
  • Construct formalizations that test the limits of existing proof assistants, especially where automated tools struggle or fail
  • Collaborate with AI researchers to design, refine, and evaluate strategies for improving formal verification pipelines
  • Develop clean, reproducible proof scripts aligned with mathematical best practices and proof assistant idioms
  • Advise on proof decomposition, lemma selection, and structuring techniques for formal models

Who You Are

  • Hold a Master's degree or higher in Mathematics, Logic, Theoretical Computer Science, or a closely related field
  • Have a strong foundation in rigorous proof writing across areas such as algebra, analysis, topology, logic, or discrete mathematics
  • Have hands-on experience with Lean (Lean 3 or Lean 4), Coq, Isabelle/HOL, Agda, or comparable formal systems — Lean strongly preferred
  • Genuinely passionate about formal verification, proof assistants, and the future of mechanized mathematics
  • Able to translate dense informal arguments into clean, well-structured formal proofs
  • Self-directed and reliable when working independently on technically demanding tasks

Nice to Have

  • Familiarity with type theory, the Curry–Howard correspondence, and proof automation tools
  • Experience contributing to large-scale formalization projects such as mathlib
  • Exposure to theorem provers where automated reasoning frequently breaks down or requires manual scaffolding
  • Strong communication skills for articulating formalization decisions, edge cases, and proof strategies

Sample Work You Might Do

  • Formalize classical proofs and compare machine-verifiable structures against standard textbook arguments
  • Investigate where automated provers break down — and document exactly why (complexity, missing lemmas, library gaps, etc.)
  • Create Lean proofs that surface deeper patterns or generalizations implicit in the original mathematics
  • Help map the frontier of what current formal verification tools can and cannot yet handle

Why Join Us

  • Work on genuinely cutting-edge AI projects alongside leading research labs
  • Fully remote and flexible — work when and where it suits you
  • Freelance autonomy with the structure of meaningful, intellectually rigorous work
  • Contribute to a growing field where your expertise directly advances the reliability and reasoning capability of AI systems
  • Potential for ongoing work and contract extension as new formalization projects launch