Machine Vision and Test Engineer

Nebula; El Segundo (CA); Hybrid; USD 100,000 - 250,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity participation in Nebula

Health, dental, and vision insurance

401(k) with company matching

Bonus for living within 5 miles of our

El Segundo facility

On-site work with rare work-from-home

Job summary

Nebula in El Segundo seeks vision and test engineers to design inspection stages and test cells, own defect taxonomy, limits, gauge studies, and downstream yield reporting.

You will work with industrial imaging, illumination, and automatic test development, with a focus on trustworthy measurement and robust fixturing. Equity is offered for long-term contribution.

Qualifications

• Degree in electrical or computer engineering, physics, optics, or related field (or equivalent experience).
• Hands-on industrial machine vision experience with cameras, lenses, illumination and calibration.
• Experience with automatic test development in production (in-circuit, flying probe, or functional test).
• Fluency in gauge studies, measurement system analysis, limits, guard bands, and yield reporting.
• Ability to distinguish real defects from imaging artifacts based on evidence.

Responsibilities

• Imaging system design: camera and sensor selection, lensing, DOF, illumination, mounting.
• Calibration and measurement: distortion correction, gauge studies, MSA and traceability.
• Layer-by-layer monitoring with early abort and post-placement checks.
• Defect detection and classification: classical algorithms and learned classifiers, taxonomies, false calls.
• Electrical test: continuity, resistance and impedance including embedded resistors and flying probe strategy.
• Functional and hardware-in-the-loop test: stimulus, measurement instrumentation, sequencing and sampling.
• Fixturing and test programs: probe plates, contact reliability, guard bands.
• Yield and disposition: first-pass yield, defect reporting, rework and scrap decisions.

Skills

Industrial machine vision

Measurement system analysis

Gauge studies

Yield reporting

Electrical test knowledge

Education

Electrical/Computer Engineering, Physics, or Optics degree

Tools

Flying probe testers

Fixture design tools

Optical inspection equipment

Job description

What to Expect

Your role is to design the inspection that checks every layer as a board is built and every board once it is finished, and the test stations that prove them before they leave the line.

The vision half is whole imaging systems, cameras through illumination and calibration, and the defect detection built on them. The test half is the electrical, functional and hardware-in-the-loop cells at the end of the line.

You will stand up the first inspection stages and test cells on this line, and own the defect taxonomy, the limits, the gauge studies behind them and the yield reporting everything downstream reads from.

We are looking for vision and test engineers with experience and interest in industrial imaging and illumination, defect detection and classification, automatic test development and fixturing, and the measurement discipline that makes a gauge trustworthy.

Every role works with our AI systems daily. What can be deterministic, must be. You need no AI background; we prefer people without one. We hire for your knowledge and experience in the field first, so you can steer the ship; the tooling is a learning curve we expect you to take on.

We work on-site in El Segundo. This is hard work, but you will be rewarded with equity in a company we believe will become one of the world's most valuable.

What You'll Do

• Imaging system design: camera and sensor selection, lensing, depth of field, illumination and mounting
• Calibration and measurement: distortion correction, gauge studies, measurement system analysis and traceability
• Layer-by-layer monitoring with early abort, optical inspection of deposited geometry, and post-placement checks
• Defect detection and classification: classical algorithms and learned classifiers, taxonomies, escapes against false calls
• Electrical test: continuity, resistance and impedance including embedded resistors, in-circuit and flying probe strategy
• Functional and hardware-in-the-loop test: stimulus and measurement instrumentation, test executives, sequencing and sampling strategy
• Fixturing and test programs: probe plates, contact reliability, programs from design data, guard bands
• Yield and disposition: first-pass yield and defect reporting, failure routing, rework and scrap decisions

What You'll Bring

• A degree in electrical or computer engineering, physics, optics, or a related field, or equivalent experience
• Hands-on industrial machine vision: camera, lens and illumination selection, calibration, and inspection against real parts
• Automatic test development in production: in-circuit, flying probe or functional test, and the fixturing behind it
• Fluent with gauge studies, measurement system analysis, limits and guard bands, and yield reporting
• The judgment to tell a real defect from an imaging artifact, on evidence rather than preference
• Ready to stand up the first inspection stages and test cells on a line
• Bonus: structured light or profilometry, X-ray or thermal imaging, or learned defect classifiers in production

Expected Compensation

$100k to $250k base salary, plus equity

• Equity participation in a high-growth startup
• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance
• 401(k) with company matching
• Bonus for living within 5 miles of our El Segundo facility
• On-site work with rare work-from-home exceptions
• Merit-based organization where contribution drives reward