career-lane: apply queue 2026-10-13 — 7 verified-live roles + 2 carry, pitch + screening answers, queue instructions for Timmy

career-lane/apply-queue-2026-10-13.md

@@ -0,0 +1,205 @@
+# APPLY QUEUE — 2026-10-13 (for Timmy to queue, Alexander submits)
+
+**Authority:** Alexander asked Zeph to send Timmy "everything I can apply for
+today" and have Timmy queue it for Alexander's own submission.
+**Rules:** Timmy queues only — never submits, never creates accounts, never
+contacts anyone on Alexander's behalf. Materials below are public-safe
+(professional name only; no email, phone, or private facts).
+Compiled by Zephyrus Sparkborn, 2026-10-13 ~13:35Z. Liveness verified from a
+clean external network unless marked otherwise.
+
+## Queue order (by conversion speed)
+
+### 1. Turing — "Senior Python Engineer - AI Agents Evaluation" ✅ APPLY-READY
+- URL: https://work.turing.com/r/HI7GzvKjPF (200/43,820 B, surfaced <24h,
+  verified 2026-10-13)
+- Terms: full-time contractual, remote, 40h/wk global overlap, 1-month,
+  ~25min AI interview.
+- Pay: UNVERIFIED (none stated on page).
+- Friction: LOW — Alexander already has a Turing account (Oct-3 interview).
+- Materials: adapt the item-2 pitch below (same skill family).
+- Missing from Alexander: rate number if the form asks.
+
+### 2. Turing — "Senior SWE – Python (LLM Evaluation & Repository Validation)" ⚠️ GATED
+- URL: https://work.turing.com/r/C94ooVlx1g (200/49,847 B, verified live
+  2026-10-13 ~09:28 ET and re-verified by Zeph ~13:30Z)
+- Terms: contractor (no benefits), ≥4h/day, min 20h/wk, 4h PST overlap,
+  **duration 4–8 weeks** (not 3 months — corrected 2026-10-13),
+  expected start next week. Evaluation: profile/delivery review + 45–60 min
+  delivery interview.
+- Pay: UNVERIFIED (none stated on page).
+- **Gates on the live listing (verbatim, lines 47–49):** "Bachelor's or
+  Master's degree in Computer Science or a related technical discipline"
+  and "Minimum 8 years of hands-on software engineering experience in
+  leading product companies or technology startups." Whether either is a
+  hard filter is UNVERIFIED. Alexander's pitch narrative runs ~7 years;
+  flag candidly, his call.
+- Geo: no geographic-eligibility copy on the page. A same-title sibling
+  posting (pLkv7ld46e) was killed 2026-10-13 for non-US locations
+  (India/Pakistan/Nigeria) — surviving posting implies US fine; Alexander
+  is a US citizen. Eligibility risk LOW, not proven.
+- Friction: LOW (Turing account exists).
+- Materials: paste-ready pitch DONE (below). Screening answers DONE (below).
+- Missing from Alexander: (a) go/no-go given the gates; (b) rate number if
+  the form asks (Oct-1 Turing inbound was $100–150/hr — his call, do not
+  invent).
+
+**Pitch (paste-ready, ~120 words, his voice):**
+> I'm Alexander Payne, a senior backend engineer (Python) working as an
+> independent contractor. For the last two years my day job has been
+> directing and evaluating AI coding agents end to end on real repositories:
+> setting acceptance criteria, reviewing agent behavior and tool use at the
+> diff level, and making release decisions on their output. Underneath that,
+> 5+ years of production Python — Django, Flask, REST APIs, PostgreSQL,
+> Docker, CI/CD — so I judge generated and human code the way someone who
+> has shipped it does: by running it, reading the tests, and checking
+> coverage, not by skimming the output.
+>
+> Recent work includes line-level audits of public codebases (a 121-entry
+> ledger audit where every outbound source was fetched and tested, and a
+> 30-entry clause-grading sweep with 129 verified rows). I'm comfortable
+> cloning an unfamiliar repo, Dockerizing it, getting its suite green, and
+> saying exactly where the tests are thin. Remote, US citizen, available to
+> start immediately, fine with PST overlap.
+
+**Screening answers (first passes — his words to confirm):**
+- *Why this role:* "The role's core loop — triage real GitHub issues, stand
+  up repos with Docker, evaluate unit-test coverage and quality, then run
+  modified codebases locally to see how an LLM handles bug-fixing — is what
+  I've done for two years evaluating AI coding agents, plus five years of
+  production Python before that."
+- *Python/Docker:* "5+ years production Python (Django, Flask, REST,
+  PostgreSQL); Docker and CI/CD are standard in my workflow —
+  containerizing unfamiliar repos and getting their test suites running is
+  routine. I navigate large unfamiliar codebases by reading tests first,
+  then tracing call paths from failing or thin-covered areas."
+- *LLM evaluation:* "Two years directing and evaluating AI coding agents
+  end to end: defining acceptance criteria, reviewing agent behavior and
+  tool use, grading outputs against rubrics, and making release decisions.
+  I run my own AI lab, so evaluating model output on real code is the day
+  job."
+- *Team-lead angle:* "I've scoped and directed agent-assisted engineering
+  work end to end — goals, constraints, acceptance criteria, release
+  calls — which is the same shape as leading a small team against a
+  quality bar."
+- *Availability/auth:* "Available to start immediately. US citizen,
+  authorized to work in the US, no sponsorship needed now or in the future.
+  20 hrs/wk with PST overlap works."
+- *Rate:* [ALEXANDER'S NUMBER — do not invent.]
+
+**Honesty ledger (what this draft does NOT claim):** no invented OSS
+contributions or repo names; the "public codebase audit" lines describe his
+real Stackchain archive/forge audit work (evaluation, not authorship); no
+Go/Rust/React/AWS/K8s claims; no degree claim; no Staff-scope claim; no
+invented pay expectation.
+
+**Direct-lane door (Alexander sends himself — Timmy does not):**
+Jonathan Siddharth, co-founder & CEO, Turing (X: @jonsidd — handle from
+public podcast description, NOT live-confirmed in-app; verify @jonsidd
+inside the app before sending):
+> Hi Jonathan — I'm Alexander Payne, a senior backend engineer (Python)
+> contracting independently. For two years my day job has been directing
+> and evaluating AI coding agents end to end on real repos — acceptance
+> criteria, diff-level behavior review, release decisions on their output —
+> on top of 5+ years of production Python. Your LLM Evaluation & Repository
+> Validation posting (benchmark tasks, utility + safety evaluators,
+> reference solutions) is squarely what I do. Happy to share background or
+> run your eval process — available to start next week. — Alexander
+
+### 3. Turing — "Senior SWE – LLM Evaluation (US/Canada/WEU based)"
+- URL: https://work.turing.com/r/alSSk0vX2k (200/46,602 B, verified
+  2026-10-13; watch→verified upgrade from 10-12, not a duplicate)
+- Terms: part-time contractor, remote, 1 month + extensions.
+- Pay: UNVERIFIED.
+- Friction: LOW (Turing account exists).
+- Materials: adapt item-2 pitch.
+
+### 4. OpenTrain — "Agentic AI Software Engineer"
+- URL: https://www.opentrain.ai/jobs/agentic-ai-software-engineer--cmv0u6ybv000m06i05anl5nt2/
+  (200/193,284 B, Apply-now CTA, verified 2026-10-13)
+- Terms: contract part-time, remote worldwide, 20+ h/wk, posted Oct 9; MCP
+  tools, AI coding-assistant workflows.
+- Pay: UNVERIFIED. Entry-tier watch flag (experience-tier badge below
+  senior on 2026-10-10 review) — flagged, not disqualified.
+- Flow: OpenTrain board application (account creation expected; same board
+  family as item 7).
+
+### 5. OpenTrain — "Secure Coding-Agent Benchmark Engineer"
+- URL: https://www.opentrain.ai/jobs/secure-software-coding-agent-benchmark-engineer--cmv0u6y87000k06i0ytsnui5a/
+  (200/196,144 B, Apply-now CTA, verified 2026-10-13)
+- Terms: contract part-time, remote worldwide, ≥20 h/wk, posted Oct 9;
+  coding-agent benchmarks, security tests, eval tooling.
+- Pay: UNVERIFIED. Same entry-tier watch flag as item 4.
+
+### 6. micro1 — "Senior Software Engineer" $245–280/hr (second door)
+- URL: https://jobs.micro1.ai/post/3d79ba82-926b-48c0-9d15-8791a364ea81
+  (verified LIVE 2026-10-12 ~09:30 ET, logged-out guest browser)
+- Terms: remote, contractor, AI code evaluation / model review (evaluate
+  AI-generated code; write coding problems, reference solutions, test
+  cases; review model reasoning). Board card: "Senior Software Engineer",
+  $245–280/hr, Remote, Contractor, board date Aug 27 2026.
+- Pay: $245–280/hr (board-stated).
+- Flow: "Apply now" → email then Continue, or Continue with Google /
+  LinkedIn; creates a candidate account ("talent dashboard"). Screening per
+  their own words: "Take the AI interview" (Apply → AI interview →
+  onboarded → start earning), plus skill-based assessments and
+  certification. No proctored desktop-sharing/monitoring software mentioned
+  on the pages checked.
+- Friction: MEDIUM — new account + heavier screening than OpenTrain.
+- **Needs Alexander's authorization before any application is started**
+  (new auth — do not submit without it).
+- Uncertainties: minor title mismatch (card shows "Senior Software
+  Engineer", not the longer mirror title); "~100 openings" mirror claim
+  unverifiable; the Oct-4 desktop-sharing red flag was a DIFFERENT micro1
+  role (Code Generation Research Engineer $50–100/hr), not this listing.
+- LinkedIn hard rule: OAuth on LinkedIn's own page is fine; never type a
+  LinkedIn password into a third-party form.
+
+### 7. OpenTrain — "Senior Software Engineer – Remote" $245–280/hr ⚠️ EXPIRING
+- URL: https://www.opentrain.ai/jobs/software-engineering-ai-code-evaluator--cmtc1224000320ajcwfjzt792/
+- Terms: remote contractor, AI code evaluation.
+- Pay: $245–280/hr (board-stated).
+- **Status 2026-10-13: DELISTED from employer boards.** Canonical page
+  still serves 200 but is orphaned — treat as expiring. Item 6 (micro1)
+  is the live door to the same project family.
+- Application flow is PARKED at Cloudflare "verify you are human"
+  checkbox (nothing submitted, no account created). Alexander authorized
+  "Submit for me" 2026-10-10; the checkbox choice is still his.
+
+## Carry (not re-verified this morning — confirm liveness before queueing)
+
+### 8. Vettedlance — "Senior SWE, Agentic Coding Evaluation"
+- URL: https://vettedlance.com/jobs/senior-software-engineer-agentic-coding-eval
+- Pay: $80–120/hr (employer-stated). "Hiring now."
+- Flow: AI interview → ID check → paid assessment before matching.
+- Last verified 2026-10-12.
+
+### 9. AuraOne — "AI/ML Engineer, Internal Platforms"
+- URL: https://auraone.ai/public/ai-labs/jobs/ai-ml-engineer-internal-platforms-aoj-1a84624291bf77ae5b/
+- Terms: remote, US-eligible, 10+ hrs/week, posted 2026-10-11.
+- Pay: $130/hr (aggregator-stated — UNVERIFIED).
+- 2026-10-13 note: visible on aitrainer.jobs mirror 15h ago; employer role
+  copy not capturable (JS shell). Confirm before queueing.
+- Direct-lane contact: Gurbaksh Chahal, Founder & CEO (auraone.ai/company/about).
+
+## What Timmy should do with this
+
+1. Order the queue as above; mark per-item status:
+   READY (1, 3 — adapt pitch; 2 — pitch done) /
+   NEEDS-ALEXANDER (2: go/no-go + rate; 6: apply authorization;
+   7: checkbox decision — expiring) /
+   DRAFT-NEEDED (3, 4, 5: role-specific pitch from item-2 materials).
+2. Draft role-specific pitches for items 3, 4, 5 from the item-2
+   materials + honesty ledger; post drafts back to the pipe for
+   Alexander's approval — never final.
+3. Track Alexander's answers (rate number, go/no-go, authorizations) as
+   they come in; update statuses.
+4. Do NOT submit, create accounts, or contact anyone.
+
+## Standing rules (unchanged)
+
+- Free-tier evaluation only — never pay a vendor (Alexander, 2026-10-06).
+- Truthful, resume-grounded answers only; never invent experience, rates,
+  degrees, employers, or other facts.
+- Never type a LinkedIn password into a third-party site (Terac rule).
+- Contact details stay off the public pipe.