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.

The Flight Operations Generalist is the person who takes our aircraft from the hangar to the sky and back. You set up the test site, prepare the aircraft, run preflight, operate it in flight, and troubleshoot whatever comes up, all under the direction of our engineers. When Icarus goes to the field, you are the center of the operation.

Mission

Re-establish and maintain dominance in the Stratosphere.

What you’ll do

Set up the site and the aircraft

Stand up the test site: ground control station, comms, power, ground support equipment, and safety setup.
Assemble, configure, and prepare aircraft for flight, including mechanical, electrical, and payload setup.
Run preflight inspections and checklists, and own aircraft readiness.
Configure and verify the ground control station, telemetry links, and mission plan before every flight.
Act as connective tissue between engineers and the products they've built as they fly.

Fly

Operate the aircraft in flight from the ground control station, executing the test plan under the direction of engineers.
Monitor telemetry and aircraft health in real time and respond to anomalies in the moment.
Act as the calm, decisive voice on the sticks when something goes wrong in the air.
Run launch and recovery, including any non-traditional takeoff and landing configurations.

Troubleshoot and turn around

Diagnose and fix mechanical, electrical, and software issues in the field to keep the test campaign moving.
Refurbish and reset the aircraft between flights and prepare it for the next sortie.
Capture flight logs, write up what happened, and feed it back to engineering to drive the next iteration.
Maintain positive control of tools and hardware to keep the aircraft safe.

In the field

Build and improve the standard operating procedures that make our flight operations repeatable and safe.
Solve novel problems without hesitation.

What we’re looking for

3+ years of hands-on UAS, RC, or aircraft operations experience, or equivalent military experience as a UAV operator, maintainer, or crew chief.
Demonstrated ability to set up, preflight, operate, and recover an unmanned aircraft.
Strong hands-on troubleshooting across mechanical, electrical, and software systems.
Comfort with ground control station software.
Familiarity with the Linux command line for debugging and troubleshooting.
Calm, decisive judgment under pressure, especially with an aircraft in the air.
Comfort taking direction from engineers and translating it into safe flight operations.
Willingness to travel to remote test sites and work long, physical days outdoors.
Strong communicator, non-negotiable.
High trust, extreme ownership, no ego.

Bonus

FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate.
Experience with developmental flight test, first-flight events, or build-up test programs.
Background building RC or UAS aircraft (SAE Aero, Design Build Fly, or serious hobbyist).
FAA Airframe and Powerplant license or military aviation maintenance background.
Experience operating in austere or remote field environments.
Aviation-adjacent military specialty with "air sense" (JTAC, CCT, etc).

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 flight ops 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 engineers, not behind a wall from them. You will own the aircraft in the field end to end. Set it up. Preflight it. Fly it. Fix it. Fly it again.