Head of Supply Chain

Icarus; El Segundo (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 230,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity opportunity

Health, dental and vision insurance

Factory in El Segundo

Job summary

Icarus is building a world-class supply chain to turn aircraft designs into repeatable production and reliable field operations. You will own procurement, material planning, warehousing, and logistics, leading a hands-on team in a fast-paced aerospace hardware environment.

As a senior leader based in El Segundo, you will scale the supply chain through a production ramp, manage supplier risk, and partner with engineering and quality to ensure on-time delivery and total cost improvements.

Qualifications

• 7+ years in supply chain or procurement in hardware.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end material readiness translating build schedule into purchasing priorities, reviews, inventory policies and supplier commitments.

Skills

Supply chain leadership

Strategic planning

Negotiation

ERP / MRP

Supplier management

Inventory optimization

Cross-functional collaboration

Team building

Tools

ERP systems

Production planning software

Job description

Icarus was founded on the belief that the Stratosphere is the Forgotten Frontier 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. You will help build the supply chain that makes this possible.

Mission

Re-establish and maintain dominance in the Stratosphere.

The role

You will build and lead the supply chain that turns aircraft designs into repeatable production and reliable field operations. You will own procurement, material planning, warehousing, and logistics, working closely with engineering, manufacturing, finance, and flight operations. This is a hands-on leadership role: build the team and systems, then stay close enough to the work to resolve the shortages and supplier problems that matter.

What you’ll own

• End-to-end material readiness. Translate the aircraft build schedule and field demand into purchasing priorities, clear-to-build reviews, inventory policies, and supplier commitments.
• Strategic suppliers. Own critical supplier relationships, negotiations, capacity planning, lead-time reduction, and practical mitigation of sole-source risk.
• Commodity purchasing. Build a team of Buyer/Planners who own both procurement and supply planning across electrical, mechanical, propulsion, composites, and raw materials.
• Warehouse operations. Lead receiving, putaway, kitting, inventory control, and delivery to the production line. Establish clear ownership from the receiving dock to the point of use.
• Systems and data. Make ION and the underlying BOM, item, supplier, lead-time, and inventory data dependable enough to run the business.
• Logistics. Coordinate inbound, outbound, inter-site, and field-support material flows with the logistics lead.
• Quality and execution. Partner with engineering and quality on supplier qualification, acceptance requirements, corrective actions, and changes that affect the supply base.
• People and results. Hire and develop the team, set clear expectations, and improve on-time delivery, inventory accuracy, material availability, and total cost.

What we’re looking for

• 7+ years of supply chain, procurement, material planning, or manufacturing operations experience in a hardware environment.
• Experience leading a team and scaling a supply chain through a production ramp.
• A record of negotiating supplier agreements and resolving difficult capacity, quality, or delivery problems.
• Strong understanding of BOMs, ERP/MRP, inventory control, and the connection between engineering changes and material demand.
• Ability to move between strategic decisions and hands-on execution without losing detail.
• Clear communication, sound commercial judgment, and a habit of making risks visible early.
• Ability to work at our El Segundo factory five days a week.

Bonus

• Built supply chain at an aerospace, defense, robotics, or other hardware startup.
• Experience with ION or a comparable modern manufacturing ERP.
• Worked across electronics, precision mechanical components, batteries, or composite materials.
• Improved warehouse operations across multiple production sites.

Our culture = elite sports team. Winning = having fun

• Hyperfocus
• Extreme Ownership
• Radical Transparency

Why Icarus

• Meaningful equity
• Competitive pay and bonuses
• Health, dental, and vision insurance
• Factory in El Segundo
• Real ownership, real hardware, real flight
• Small team, massive responsibility
• High signal (engineering) to noise (management) culture