Controls and Automation Engineer

Nebula PV; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision insurance

Life insurance

Disability coverage

Paid parental leave

401(k) with company match

Education assistance

14 company-paid holidays

25 days paid time off

Job summary

Nebula PV is seeking a senior industrial controls engineer to recommission an advanced manufacturing facility in Carlsbad, CA. You will evaluate, restore, debug, and modernize control systems to enable reliable production across roll-to-roll processes.

You will own the evolution of the controls architecture, troubleshoot legacy equipment, and collaborate with mechanical and process engineers to integrate new instrumentation and instrumentation upgrades.

Qualifications

• Strong industrial controls engineering background with ability to troubleshoot equipment on the production floor.
• Experience with Allen-Bradley PLCs and Rockwell software suites.
• Proficiency in PLC/HMI software development and modernization of legacy systems.

Responsibilities

• Troubleshoot, repair, and recommission automated manufacturing equipment.
• Diagnose PLC, HMI, motion-control, electrical, instrumentation, and industrial-network issues.
• Review legacy PLC programs, electrical drawings, control architecture, and documentation.

Skills

ControlLogix

Studio 5000/RSLogix

Ladder Logic

Structured Text

Function Block

Legacy PLC modernization

Industrial Networking

HMI/SCADA Troubleshooting

Tools

AutoCAD Electrical

Python

C#/.NET

SQL

Ignition SCADA

FactoryTalk View ME/SE

PanelView

Job description

About Nebula-Nebulapv.com

Nebula is an early-stage aerospace and advanced manufacturing company building what will become the largest domestic manufacturing platform for next-generation lightweight, thin-film photovoltaic solutions for space applications. Our mission is to enable a new generation of spacecraft, national security systems, commercial space platforms, and future space infrastructure through dramatically improved power-generation capabilities.

While we are early in our growth, Nebula is well beyond the concept stage. We have a 125,000 sq. ft manufacturing facility in Carlsbad, CA, production equipment, capital, and the technical foundation required to build and scale a meaningful domestic manufacturing capability. We are actively engaged with commercial space customers and government space-related agencies.

Our team is recommissioning and modernizing a highly automated roll-to-roll production facility while building the engineering, manufacturing, and operational systems required to transition into production and ultimately scale to high-volume manufacturing.

Joining Nebula now offers the opportunity to join at a formative stage—early enough to have significant ownership and influence, but with the physical infrastructure and resources already in place to execute. You will work alongside a small technical team and have a direct role in shaping the systems, processes, and technology that will define Nebula as it grows.

Position Summary

This is not a traditional control engineering role.

You will work directly with complex industrial equipment and play a key role in bringing an advanced manufacturing facility back into operation. Much of the equipment already exists, but systems must be evaluated, restored, debugged, integrated, modernized, and ultimately transitioned into reliable production.

One day you may be troubleshooting PLC logic on a legacy production tool. The next, you may diagnose an industrial network, commission a servo system, trace electrical schematics, integrate new instrumentation, or work with mechanical and process engineers to resolve an equipment problem.

You will have significant ownership over how these systems are restored and how the factory’s controls architecture evolves. The position will have direct, day-to-day access to executive leadership.

Roles and Responsibilities

• Troubleshoot, repair, and recommission automated manufacturing equipment
• Diagnose PLC, HMI, motion-control, electrical, instrumentation, and industrial-network issues
• Review and understand legacy PLC programs, electrical drawings, control architecture, and equipment documentation
• Modify and develop PLC and HMI software
• Restore communication between PLCs, drives, remote I/O, instrumentation, HMIs, and higher-level systems
• Commission servo drives, VFDs, motors, sensors, actuators, and motion-control systems
• Support startup and commissioning of roll-to-roll manufacturing and process equipment
• Integrate new equipment and controls into existing manufacturing systems
• Modernize legacy controls where appropriate while preserving equipment functionality
• Support machine-safety systems, interlocks, alarms, and emergency-stop architecture
• Develop and maintain electrical drawings, controls documentation, backups, and configuration records
• Work closely with mechanical, electrical, process, facilities, vendors, OEMs, and outside technical experts
• Help establish controls engineering standards and best practices as the facility transitions into production

First 180 Days

The first six months will focus on recommissioning Nebula’s existing manufacturing equipment and restoring controls systems to safe, reliable operation.

• Troubleshoot legacy PLC, HMI, motion, network, instrumentation, and safety systems.
• Restore communications, drives, I/O, sensors, actuators, and control-system functionality.
• Recommission priority equipment through testing, startup, and production-readiness activities.
• Validate interlocks, alarms, E-stops, safety circuits, and instrumentation.
• Recover and document critical controls programs, backups, and configurations.
• Identify obsolete or high-risk controls hardware requiring near-term modernization.

In 12–18 Months Time

As Nebula scales production, the role will shift toward controls design, modernization, and expansion.

• Design and integrate controls for new equipment and production-line expansion.
• Develop scalable PLC, HMI/SCADA, industrial-network, motion-control, and instrumentation architectures.
• Modernize legacy systems to improve reliability, maintainability, and performance.
• Standardize controls hardware, software, safety, alarms, and documentation.
• Expand data acquisition, diagnostics, historian, and production-visibility capabilities.
• Establish controls standards and design practices for future manufacturing systems.

Core Qualifications

We are looking for a strong industrial controls engineer who can independently troubleshoot equipment on the production floor. Candidates should have meaningful experience with several of the following:

PLC & Automation

• Allen-Bradley ControlLogix and CompactLogix
• Rockwell Studio 5000 / RSLogix
• Ladder Logic, Structured Text, and Function Block programming
• PLC troubleshooting, commissioning, and legacy control-system modernization

Experience with PLC-5, MicroLogix, Omron, and computer language programming is a plus.

HMI / SCADA

• FactoryTalk View ME / SE
• PanelView / PanelView Plus
• Ignition SCADA
• HMI application development, alarm management, data logging, and historical trending

MES experience is a plus.

Industrial Communications

Working knowledge of EtherNet/IP, PROFINET, PROFIBUS, Modbus TCP/IP, Modbus RTU, industrial Ethernet, managed switches, and network diagnostics.

Motion Control & Drives

Experience with servo motors and drives, VFDs, AC/DC motor-control systems, PowerFlex or similar drives, encoders, position-feedback systems, and motion-control applications.

Experience with synchronized motion, web handling, tension control, or roll-to-roll equipment is highly desirable.

Electrical & Instrumentation

Candidates should be comfortable troubleshooting 24 VDC control systems, electrical control panels, MCCs, sensors and instrumentation, relays/contactors, power distribution, electrical schematics, field wiring, and equipment commissioning.

Experience with AutoCAD Electrical or similar electrical-design software is desirable.

Machine Safety

Familiarity with safety PLCs and relays, emergency-stop circuits, machine interlocks, light curtains, area scanners, Lockout/Tagout, NFPA 70E principles, and functional machine-safety concepts.

Our facility incorporates roll-to-roll manufacturing and web-handling systems, vacuum-process equipment and pumps, pneumatic and hydraulic systems, pumps and compressors, thermal-processing and temperature-control equipment, process instrumentation, automated material handling, industrial utilities, and precision motion-control systems.

Experience in semiconductor, solar, battery, web-processing, coating, converting, vacuum-process, or other highly automated manufacturing environments is particularly valuable.

Preferred Background

• Industrial manufacturing automation
• Legacy manufacturing-equipment recommissioning
• Automated production-line startup
• Roll-to-roll or web-processing equipment
• Vacuum-process equipment
• Equipment integration and industrial-network troubleshooting
• Semiconductor, solar, battery, coating, converting, or advanced-materials manufacturing
• Startup or rapidly scaling manufacturing environments

Additional Technical Skills

Experience with Python, C#/.NET, SQL, industrial PCs, Windows administration, data acquisition, version control, AutoCAD, Microsoft Visio, or technical documentation systems is beneficial but not required.

What We Value / Startup Environment

We are building a company, not simply filling a role. The successful candidate will join during a critical stage in Nebula’s development as we recommission equipment, expand front-end and back-end capabilities, and build the engineering and manufacturing systems required for scaled production.

We are looking for someone who:

• Enjoys troubleshooting difficult equipment and controls problems.
• Is comfortable working directly on manufacturing equipment.
• Can work effectively from incomplete, outdated, or legacy documentation.
• Approaches problems systematically and drives them through resolution.
• Can move between software, electrical, mechanical, and process issues.
• Communicates effectively with engineers, technicians, vendors, OEMs, and outside technical experts.
• Thrives in a small, fast-moving environment where priorities evolve quickly.
• Takes ownership, exercises sound technical judgment, and works effectively with a high degree of autonomy.

Compensation

Compensation will be competitive and structured to reflect the role's seniority, including base salary, equity participation, and performance incentives.

Benefits include medical, dental, vision, life insurance, disability coverage, paid parental leave, a 401(k) plan with company matching, and education assistance programs.

The position will receive 14 company-paid holidays and 25 days of paid time off. We believe exceptional people perform best when given ownership, autonomy, and flexibility rather than unnecessary bureaucracy. While building transformative technology requires periods of intense effort, we value sustainable performance, professional growth, and maintaining a healthy balance between work and personal life.

Location

This position is based at Nebula’s manufacturing and engineering facility in Carlsbad, California, and is expected to be primarily on-site. Relocation assistance is available.