Materials Engineer

Nebula; El Segundo (CA); Hybrid; USD 100,000 - 350,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity participation

Comprehensive health, dental, and vis​

401(k) with company match

Bonus for living within 5 miles of El 

On-site work with rare work-from-home

Job summary

Nebula in El Segundo is building a materials science group focused on silver nanoparticle dispersions, copper MO precursor solutions, and UV-curable acrylate resins. You will shape the wet lab, partner with local research groups, and scale formulations for real-world use.

We seek scientists with hands-on experience in nanoparticle synthesis, photopolymer science, rheology, and structure–property processing. You won't need AI background, but you will embrace the tools and help steer the ship.

Qualifications

• Degree in materials science, chemistry, polymer science, or related field.
• Hands-on formulation of nanoparticle dispersions or photopolymer resins with stability and rheology testing.
• Fluent with characterization techniques and able to explain results.
• Ability to diagnose formulation failures from data rather than guess.
• Willing to help build a wet lab, including equipment, safety, and supplier relationships.
• Bonus: metal-organic decomposition chemistry, photoinitiator design, laser sintering, or tailoring material to a deposition process

Responsibilities

• Synthesis of silver nanoparticle dispersions and copper precursors.
• Work on UV-curable acrylate resins: monomers, oligomers, photoinitiators, cure kinetics.
• Tune formulations to rheological windows: viscosity, surface tension, particle size.
• Conduct sintering and cure studies: densification, resistivity, crosslink density.
• Characterization: DLS, zeta potential, rheometry, DSC, TGA, FTIR, four-point probe, SEM, XRD.
• Qualification against thermal cycling, humidity and electrical stress
• Establish a wet lab: fume hoods, inert handling, purification equipment, safety, suppliers
• Collaborate with local research orgs for electron microscopy, X-ray methods and thermal analysis

Skills

Nanoparticle dispersions

Colloidal chemistry

Photopolymer formulation

Rheology analysis

Data interpretation

Education

Materials science, chemistry, or polymer science degree

Job description

What to Expect

Your role is to formulate, characterize and scale the functional materials Nebula uses: silver nanoparticle dispersions, copper metal-organic precursor solutions, and UV-curable acrylate resins.

The work runs on two sides: particle synthesis and colloidal chemistry on the metals, photopolymer formulation on the resins, and on both the rheology, characterization and qualification that decide whether a formulation survives service.

You will help establish this materials group, design its wet lab from the first bench, and run the relationships with local research organizations whose instruments we use until we have our own.

We are looking for materials scientists and chemists with experience and interest in nanoparticle synthesis and colloidal dispersions, photopolymer formulation, and the structure-property-processing work that connects a recipe to a measured result.

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

• Synthesis of silver nanoparticle dispersions and copper metal-organic precursor solutions: reduction, capping, purification, stability
• UV-curable acrylate resins: monomers, oligomers, photoinitiators, cure kinetics, glass transition, dielectric constant and loss
• Bringing each formulation into its rheological window: viscosity, surface tension and particle size distribution
• Sintering and cure studies: densification, resistivity, conversion, crosslink density, adhesion and expansion mismatch
• Characterization: DLS and zeta potential, rheometry, DSC, TGA, FTIR, four point probe, SEM, XRD
• Qualification against thermal cycling, humidity and electrical stress
• Standing up a wet lab: fume hoods, inert handling, purification equipment, methods, safety, suppliers
• Collaborations with local research organizations for electron microscopy, X-ray methods and thermal analysis

What You'll Bring

• A degree in materials science, chemistry, polymer science or a related field, or equivalent experience
• Hands-on formulation of nanoparticle dispersions or photopolymer resins, including stability over time and rheology
• Fluent with the characterization above and able to explain a result, not just record it
• The judgment to diagnose a formulation failure from the data instead of guessing at it
• Ready to help build a lab from an empty bench: instruments, methods, safety and suppliers
• Bonus: metal-organic decomposition chemistry, photoinitiator design, laser sintering, or tailoring a material to a deposition process

Expected Compensation

$100k to $350k 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