Senior Forward Deployed Engineer

<p>Icarus was founded on the belief that the Stratosphere is the <a href="https://henryicarus.substack.com/p/the-forgotten-frontier?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&triedRedirect=true"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline; color: #0000ee;">Forgotten Frontier</span></strong></a> and that reclaiming it will define the next era of aerospace and what is possible from the sky. We build solar-powered aircraft that fly at 60,000 ft for weeks at a time, delivering persistent, affordable, and scalable presence from this layer of the atmosphere.</p> <h2 style="color: #0000ee;">Mission</h2> <p>Re-establish and maintain dominance in the Stratosphere.</p> <h2 style="color: #0000ee;">What you’ll do</h2> <ul> <li>Deploy forward with our aircraft and ground systems to test ranges, airfields, and customer environments, and own getting them set up and operational.</li> <li>Provide end-to-end field support: system setup, software and hardware configuration, integration with site infrastructure, and pre-deployment checkout.</li> <li>Troubleshoot hardware, software, and networking issues in real time, in unstructured environments, and drive them to resolution.</li> <li>Own flight test campaigns, demonstrations, and exercises in the field, with high autonomy and minimal support.</li> <li>Train and guide operators and customers on how to run our systems and get the most out of them.</li> <li>Be the link between the field and engineering: capture flight data, ground truth, and operator feedback, run incident reviews, and feed clear, specific recommendations back into the product.</li> <li>Build and grow the forward-deployed function: the people, procedures, runbooks, and standards that keep our aircraft flying for weeks at a time in support of our customers.</li> <li>Work closely with mechanical, GNC, RF, and software teams.</li> </ul> <h2 style="color: #0000ee;">What we’re looking for</h2> <ul> <li>2+ years supporting, deploying, or operating real hardware systems in the field (aerospace, defense, robotics, autonomy, or hardware startups).</li> <li>Strong hands-on troubleshooting across hardware, software, and networking. You're comfortable with tools, cables, configs, and the command line, and you stay calm when something breaks far from home.</li> <li>Practical technical range over deep specialization: comfortable with networking fundamentals and software/hardware setup and configuration. You don't need to be the deepest engineer in any one discipline — you need to make the whole system work in the field, and help others do the same.</li> <li>A track record of operating independently in ambiguous, high-pressure environments, and of bringing structure where there was none.</li> <li>Strong communication skills. You can work with engineers, operators, and customers, and translate between them.</li> <li>Willingness to travel frequently and operate out of test ranges, airfields, and remote locations for extended periods.</li> <li>This is a hands-on hardware and field role, not a desk software job.</li> <li>Military operations experience is a plus, especially in aviation or aviation-adjacent communities with "air sense" (JTAC, JFO, CCT, ATC, aviation operations).</li> </ul> <h2 style="color: #0000ee;">Why Icarus</h2> <ol> <li>Meaningful equity</li> <li>Top market salary and bonuses</li> <li>Health, dental, and vision insurance</li> <li>Factory in El Segundo</li> <li>Real ownership, real hardware, real flight</li> <li>Small team, massive responsibility</li> <li>High signal (engineering) to noise (management) culture</li> <li>Dream desk setup</li> <li>Daily lunch</li> <li>Unlimited celsius</li> </ol> <h2 style="color: #0000ee;">This is not a normal engineering job</h2> <ol> <li>We are pioneers, not corporate managers. Icarus deliberately optimizes for a high signal (engineers) to noise (management) ratio, where engineering, flight, and execution matter more than process, politics, or management overhead.</li> <li>You will work side by side with the CEO and a small team of world-class builders. You will own the aircraft in the field end to end — get it running, get it right, and get it back into the air, faster every time.</li> <li>We expect full extreme ownership. This is a high-trust, no-BS team, and everyone pulls their weight.</li> <li>We are hiring across the stack: mechanical, aerodynamics, RF, GNC, electrical, avionics, power electronics, energy storage, software, and systems.</li> <li>We want builders. No hand-holding. No fluff. No fake projects. No slide decks. No sitting in meetings all day. Just raw execution, real hardware, and real flight.</li> <li>You must thrive under pressure, learn fast, troubleshoot in the field, and push systems to their limits. We move fast. We go to <strong>Mojave at 4 am in the morning</strong>. We expect results and an obsession with quality and speed.</li> <li>You will be a senior presence in the field, taking systems into the real world and driving rapid iteration loops. If you want real ownership, real hardware, and real flight, this is it.</li> </ol> <p>No tourists. No bystanders. Only builders.</p> <h2 style="color: #0000ee;">Hiring process</h2> <ol> <li>Technical interview</li> <li>One-on-one with CEO</li> <li>Meet the team in-person</li> </ol> <h2 style="color: #0000ee;">US salary range</h2> <p>$120,000 - $220,000 USD</p> <p>The salary range for this role is an estimate based on a wide range of compensation factors, inclusive of base salary only. Actual salary may vary based on (but not limited to) work experience, education and/or training, critical skills, and/or business considerations. Highly competitive equity grants are considered part of Icarus' total compensation package.</p> <p>We’re an equal opportunity employer. We welcome all applicants without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status.</p>