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Applied Formal Methods Researcher (Lean 4)

$170-200/hrRemoteFreelanceSTEM

About the Role

What if your deep mathematical training could directly shape how AI reasons, proves, and understands mathematics at a fundamental level? We're looking for Applied Formal Methods Researchers to formalize advanced mathematical proofs in Lean 4 — working at the precise intersection of rigorous mathematics and cutting-edge AI research.

This is a fully remote, flexible contract role designed for mathematicians who are passionate about formal verification and want their expertise to matter at scale.

  • Organization: Alignerr
  • Type: Hourly Contract
  • Location: Remote
  • Commitment: 10–40 hours/week

What You'll Do

  • Translate informal mathematical proofs into clean, machine-verifiable Lean 4 formalizations with an emphasis on clarity, structure, and correctness
  • Analyze both generic and domain-specific proofs — identifying gaps, hidden assumptions, and formalizable sub-structures
  • Construct formalizations that probe the limits of existing proof assistants, especially where automation fails or falls short
  • Collaborate with researchers to design, refine, and evaluate strategies for improving formal verification pipelines
  • Develop highly readable, reproducible proof scripts aligned with mathematical best practices and proof assistant idioms
  • Provide expert guidance on proof decomposition, lemma selection, and structuring techniques for formal models
  • Investigate where automated provers break down and articulate why — complexity, missing lemmas, insufficient libraries, and beyond
  • Create Lean proofs that reveal deeper patterns or generalizations implicit in the original mathematics

Who You Are

  • Hold a Master's degree or higher in Mathematics, Logic, Theoretical Computer Science, or a closely related field
  • Possess a strong foundation in rigorous proof writing across areas such as algebra, analysis, topology, logic, or discrete math
  • Have hands-on experience with Lean (Lean 3 or Lean 4), Coq, Isabelle/HOL, Agda, or comparable proof systems — Lean strongly preferred
  • Deeply enthusiastic about formal verification, proof assistants, and the future of mechanized mathematics
  • Able to translate informal mathematical arguments into precise, clean, structured formal proofs
  • Thrive working independently and asynchronously at the frontier of a fast-moving field

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 fails or requires manual scaffolding
  • Prior experience with data annotation, data quality evaluation, or AI training workflows
  • Strong communication skills for articulating formalization decisions, edge cases, and reasoning strategies

Why Join Us

  • Work directly with world-leading AI research teams on projects at the cutting edge of formal mathematics and AI
  • Fully remote and flexible — work when and where it suits you
  • Freelance autonomy with meaningful, intellectually stimulating work
  • Gain rare exposure to how advanced AI models are trained to reason mathematically
  • Contribute to defining the frontier of what formal verification can express, capture, and automate
  • Potential for ongoing work and contract extension as new projects launch