// Open Role at Nex Playground
Nex Playground is seeking a hands-on Hardware Prototype Engineer for a part-time contract in Hong Kong. You'll work with the Core Technology team to design, build, and refine electronics and enclosures for innovative active-play systems, transforming concepts into reliable prototypes.
Nex is on a mission to help families rediscover the joy of movement. Created by parents for parents, Nex combines technology and play to deliver fun, social, and interactive experiences powered by natural body motion, encouraging kids and adults to move more, play more, and have fun together. Nex Playground, the company’s award-winning active play system, is purpose-built to get families moving year-round, with safety and privacy as core considerations in its intentional design. It is certified kidSAFE+ COPPA compliant and built to support healthy, active play for all ages and abilities.
Nex Playground features a growing library of 50+ experiences, including motion and dance games, fitness and educational experiences, and Nex Originals. Content includes collaborations with partners like Hasbro, Sesame Workshop, and NBCUniversal. Nex has been recognized by Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies, TIME’s Best Inventions, and Parents’ Best Entertainment System for Families, and has earned Red Dot, IDEA, and Core77 international design awards. We encourage you to explore Have Fun and Is Motion Gaming Back?, as they offer a deeper look into our culture, values, and explain how our approach to motion gaming differs from previous generations.
Important Notice: ⚠️ To protect yourself from recruitment scams, please note that Nex communicates through official company emails ending in @nex.inc. If you receive a suspicious email or message, please do not respond and report it immediately to us.
Location: Hong Kong
This is an initial two-month, part-time engagement, with potential for extension subject to performance, business needs, and mutual agreement.
Nex creates active-play experiences that bring people together through movement and games.
Working with our Core Technology team, you’ll build and refine electronics and enclosures, collaborating with software engineers and researchers to turn concepts into reliable, usable prototypes. This is a hands-on prototyping role, not a mass-production hardware program.
You’re a practical builder, comfortable with schematics, soldering, CAD, and testing. You balance speed with engineering discipline, make sensible build-versus-buy trade-offs, and take ownership of the complete prototype.
If you are interested in this position, please share your CV and examples of hardware you’ve built—photos, videos, or brief write-ups are welcome. Describe your contribution, a problem you solved, and how you tested it. Include your availability, proposed schedule, and contractor rate.
Nex is located in San Jose, California, USA and Hong Kong. Learn more about us at https://www.nexplayground.com/about.
We encourage applications even if you don’t meet more than 50% of the requirements — we believe that experience comes in many forms!
Nex is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, gender identity, and sexual orientation), national origin, ancestry, age, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. This policy applies to all individuals at every stage of the employment relationship, including all current and prospective employees, and covers all employment decisions including recruitment, hiring, job assignment, promotion, compensation, benefits, training, discipline and termination.
We are committed to providing a workplace free from discrimination and harassment and to fostering an inclusive environment for all employees.
Demonstrated experience building working electronic prototypes, including circuit design, board bring-up, soldering, rework, and debugging. Hands-on experience with mechanical CAD and rapid enclosure prototyping like 3D printing. Experience integrating microcontrollers, sensors, wireless modules, and battery-powered electronics. Confidence using lab tools (oscilloscopes, multimeters, logic analysers). Ability to work independently, make sensible trade-offs, and deliver within short iteration cycles. Clear communication and documentation skills. Availability to work on-site in Hong Kong on a half-time basis for a two-month engagement.