Senior Forward Deployed Engineer

Icarus; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 220,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Meaningful equity

Top market salary and bonuses

Health, dental, and vision insurance

Dream desk setup

Daily lunch

Job summary

A pioneering aerospace company in Los Angeles seeks talent to push boundaries in stratospheric flight. As a crucial systems engineer, you will engage in hands-on deployment, debugging, and data collection during field tests, collaborating across disciplines. This role offers exceptional ownership and an opportunity to innovate without conventional boundaries. The ideal candidate thrives under pressure and is passionate about aerospace, with a salary range of $120,000 - $220,000 offered.

Qualifications

• 2+ years working on real systems in the field.
• Strong hands-on debugging skills across hardware and software.
• Ability to operate independently in ambiguous, high-pressure environments.

Responsibilities

• Deploy with systems to real-world test sites.
• Act as the connective tissue between operations and customers.
• Collect data and drive feedback into the product.
• Execute flight tests and demos with high autonomy.

Skills

Hands-on debugging skills

Strong communication skills

Ability to operate independently

Comfort across disciplines

Experience in high-pressure environments

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.

Mission

Re-establish and maintain dominance in the Stratosphere.

What you’ll do

• Deploy forward with aircraft, ground systems, and engineers to real-world test sites and customer environments
• Own on-site integration, troubleshooting, and rapid iteration of flight hardware and software
• Act as the connective tissue between flight operations, engineering, and customers
• Debug avionics, RF, power, software, and mechanical issues in the field under time pressure
• Execute flight tests, demos, and exercises with minimal support and high autonomy
• Collect ground truth, flight data, and operator feedback and drive it back into the product
• Support customer training, mission planning, and operational workflows

What we’re looking for

• 2+ years working on real systems in the field (aerospace, robotics, defense, autonomy, or hardware startups)
• Strong hands-on debugging skills across hardware and software
• Comfort working across disciplines: avionics, RF, embedded software, mechanical systems, and ops
• Ability to operate independently in ambiguous, high-pressure environments
• Strong communication skills with engineers, operators, and customers
• Willingness to travel frequently and operate out of test ranges, airfields, and remote locations

Why Icarus

• Meaningful equity
• Top market salary 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
• Dream desk setup
• Daily lunch
• Unlimited celsius

This is not a normal engineering job

• 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
• You will work side by side with the CEO and a small team of world-class builders. You will own your subsystem end to end. Design it. Build it. Break it. Fix it. Validate it in the desert. Fly it. Then do it again, faster
• We expect full extreme ownership. This is a high-trust, no-BS team, and everyone pulls their weight
• We are hiring across the stack: mechanical, aerodynamics, RF, GNC, electrical, avionics, power electronics, energy storage, software, and systems
• We want builders. No hand-holding. No fluff. No fake projects. No slide decks. No sitting in meetings all day. Just raw engineering, real hardware, and real flight
• You must thrive under pressure, learn fast, troubleshoot in the field, and push hardware to its limits. We move fast. We go to Mojave at 4 am in the morning. We expect results and an obsession with quality and speed
• You will be a core executor of flight systems, taking them from concept to reality and driving rapid iteration loops. You will work across design, integration, testing, and flight. If you want real ownership, real hardware, and real flight milestones, this is it.

Hiring process

• Technical interview
• One-on-one with CEO
• Meet the team in-person

US salary range: $120,000 - $220,000 USD

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.

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.