---
title: 'Buyer/Planner, Mechanical & Composites at Icarus'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/buyer-planner-mechanical-composites-icarus-el-segundo-drrwcbfszthp'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-11-11'
---

# Buyer/Planner, Mechanical & Composites at Icarus

- **Company:** Icarus
- **Location:** El Segundo, CA
- **Posted:** 2026-11-06
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-11-11
- **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/icarus/jobs/5475970008

## 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 own buying and supply planning for mechanical, propulsion, composite, and raw-material commodities. Your scope includes machined and build-to-print parts, hardware, motors, servos, actuators, carbon materials, resins, adhesives, foam, and core. You will work with the Head of Supply Chain and the engineering and manufacturing teams to make material availability match the build plan.

## What you’ll own

- Material planning. Convert build schedules, BOMs, and engineering changes into requirements for purchased parts and production materials.
- Technical procurement. Run RFQs, evaluate quotes, place purchase orders, and track suppliers through delivery and acceptance.
- Mechanical suppliers. Coordinate drawings, revisions, outside processes, lead times, and delivery commitments for build-to-print hardware.
- Composite and raw-material control. Bring consumption, replenishment, shelf-life considerations, and inventory records into dependable ION workflows.
- Shortage recovery. Identify material gaps early, establish recovery plans, and communicate realistic dates to the production team.
- Planning data. Maintain item records, preferred suppliers, lead times, reorder points, and order quantities.
- Cost and continuity. Support negotiation, alternate sourcing, and practical cost improvements with engineering and the Head of Supply Chain.
- Receiving and reconciliation. Resolve quantity, quality, documentation, and invoice discrepancies with warehouse, engineering, and finance.

## What we’re looking for

- 3+ years of technical procurement, material planning, or supply chain experience in manufacturing.
- Experience buying mechanical components, build-to-print hardware, composites, or raw materials.
- Ability to interpret drawings, revisions, BOMs, and material specifications with engineering support.
- Hands-on experience with ERP/MRP and spreadsheet-based material analysis.
- Strong follow-through with suppliers and internal customers in a changing build environment.
- Attention to material traceability, accurate transactions, and clear communication of shortages.
- Ability to work at our El Segundo factory five days a week.

Bonus

- Experience with precision machining, electromechanical actuators, carbon composites, adhesives, or controlled-shelf-life materials.
- Worked in aerospace, defense, robotics, or a hardware startup.
- Experience with ION, manufacturing BOM cleanup, or supplier development.

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
- Dream desk setup
- Daily lunch
- Unlimited celsius

Hiring process

- Phone screen
- One-on-one with CEO
- Meet the team in-person

US salary range

$100,000 - $140,000 USD

The salary range for this role reflects base salary only. Actual compensation may vary based on job-related skills, experience, education and/or training, and business considerations. Equity is 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.

## About Icarus

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Icarus builds solar-powered, autonomous stratospheric aircraft (called "birds") that operate above 60,000 feet for weeks at a time, providing persistent intelligence, surveillance, and connectivity.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Seed VC stage)
- **Headquarters**: El Segundo, California, United States (also has a flight test area in the Mojave Desert)
- **Founded**: 2023
- **Founders**: Henry Kwan (founder & CEO)

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Defense & Space Manufacturing / Aerospace
- **Target customers**: Government and defense agencies (ISR, communications), plus commercial sectors such as agriculture, construction, energy, insurance, transportation, and urban planning.
- **Mission/purpose**: "Re-establish and maintain dominance in the Stratosphere."

## Products & Services
- **[APOLLO](https://www.icarus.one/)**: A fully solar-powered, autonomous aircraft that flies at ~60,000 ft for weeks without landing. It offers persistent wide-area coverage (7,500 km²), ultra-low latency (5–10 ms, fiber-like), direct-to-device high-bandwidth connectivity, and real-time high-resolution sensing. Deployed in hours, reusable and upgradeable. Type: Hardware (UAV) + Service (data/connectivity).

## Market Standing
- **Valuation**: Not disclosed
- **Key Metric**: Total Funding raised – $500,000 (as of latest Pre-Seed round in Dec 2025)
- **Notable Investors**: Y Combinator (lead investor in latest round), Pioneer Fund, xTech Accelerator, Transpose Platform, Predictive Venture Partners, and others (11+ investors total)
- **Growth Signals**:
  - Headcount: 48 employees (as of mid-2026) with +17.6% monthly growth.
  - Active Job Postings: 11, with quarterly growth of +266.7%.
  - First aircraft (APOLLO) successfully flew in 2024 — "no hype, just hardware in the sky."
  - Scaling from R&D to manufacturing and deployment, with a factory in El Segundo.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Stratospheric persistence**: Weeks-long endurance without refueling, unlike satellites (intermittent passes) or drones (limited endurance).
- **Ultra-low latency**: 5–10 ms direct-to-device communication, compared to 25–60 ms for LEO satellites.
- **Weather-immune and threat-resistant**: Operates above weather and most threats, providing continuous coverage.
- **Cost-effective**: Fraction of the cost of satellite-based solutions.
- **Rapid deployment**: Can be airborne in hours, no orbital launch constraints.
- **Full vertical integration**: Designs, manufactures, assembles, and tests everything in-house (L.A. headquarters and Mojave test site).

## Strategic Focus
- Scaling the team across engineering, manufacturing, flight operations, and business.
- Transitioning from prototype to operational deployment (APOLLO in active service).
- Building out a mesh network of stratospheric birds for global persistent coverage.
- Maintaining a "high signal-to-noise" ratio: prioritizing engineers over management, extreme ownership, and rapid iteration.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: Described as an "elite sports team" — high-trust, no-BS, radical transparency, idea meritocracy, extreme ownership. You will work directly with the CEO and own subsystems end-to-end.
- **Work environment**: On-site in El Segundo, CA (engineering, manufacturing, and business nerve center), with frequent field testing in the Mojave Desert (early mornings, hands-on).
- **What you'll do**: Design, build, break, fix, validate, and fly real hardware. No slide decks, no fake projects, minimal meetings.
- **Perks & rewards**:
  - Meaningful equity
  - Top-of-market salary and bonuses
  - Health, dental, and vision insurance
  - Daily lunch and unlimited Celsius
  - Dream desk setup
  - Factory in El Segundo
- **Hiring process**: Technical interview → one-on-one with CEO → meet the team in-person.
- **Open roles**: Manufacturing, Engineering (mechanical, electrical, GNC, RF, software, embedded), Flight Operations, Business Operations, and more.

## Sources
1. [icarus.one](https://www.icarus.one/) – Company homepage, product details
2. [icarus.one/about](https://www.icarus.one/about) – About page, founding story, team, locations
3. [greenhouse.io](https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/icarus) – Careers page, job listings, culture description
4. [cbinsights.com](https://www.cbinsights.com/company/icarusone) – Funding info, investors, headquarters
5. [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/icarusindustries) – Employee count, growth, company details, financials

## Other roles at Icarus

- [IT Systems Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/it-systems-engineer-icarus-el-segundo-vnft86nyndnh) — El Segundo, CA
- [Quality Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/quality-engineer-icarus-el-segundo-k897vwqmf330) — El Segundo, CA
- [Purchasing Coordinator](https://feeny.ai/job/purchasing-coordinator-icarus-el-segundo-ccwcvqy2p9r5) — El Segundo, CA
- [Buyer/Planner, Electrical](https://feeny.ai/job/buyer-planner-electrical-icarus-el-segundo-errsfv90dy7t) — El Segundo, CA
- [Head of Supply Chain](https://feeny.ai/job/head-of-supply-chain-icarus-el-segundo-4t61c89c0rd1) — El Segundo, CA
- [Founding Recruiter](https://feeny.ai/job/founding-recruiter-icarus-el-segundo-hx348vwqw4re) — El Segundo, CA
- [Regulatory & Airspace Lead](https://feeny.ai/job/regulatory-airspace-lead-icarus-el-segundo-6d16jqbjea0s) — El Segundo, CA
- [Warehouse Associate](https://feeny.ai/job/warehouse-associate-icarus-el-segundo-86s1m029qabj) — El Segundo, CA
- [Logistics Lead](https://feeny.ai/job/logistics-lead-icarus-el-segundo-skdte9rbzyq9) — El Segundo, CA
- [Network Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/network-engineer-icarus-el-segundo-jrjj80p412s3) — El Segundo, CA