---
title: 'Senior Forward Deployed Engineer at Icarus'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/senior-forward-deployed-engineer-icarus-el-segundo-d7jkesevtnqa'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-09'
---

# Senior Forward Deployed Engineer at Icarus

- **Company:** Icarus
- **Location:** El Segundo, CA
- **Posted:** 2026-06-30
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-09
- **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/icarus/jobs/5287322008

## Job description

Icarus was founded on the belief that the Stratosphere is the [Forgotten Frontier](https://henryicarus.substack.com/p/the-forgotten-frontier?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&triedRedirect=true) 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 our aircraft and ground systems to test ranges, airfields, and customer environments, and own getting them set up and operational.
- Provide end-to-end field support: system setup, software and hardware configuration, integration with site infrastructure, and pre-deployment checkout.
- Troubleshoot hardware, software, and networking issues in real time, in unstructured environments, and drive them to resolution.
- Own flight test campaigns, demonstrations, and exercises in the field, with high autonomy and minimal support.
- Train and guide operators and customers on how to run our systems and get the most out of them.
- 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.
- 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.
- Work closely with mechanical, GNC, RF, and software teams.

## What we’re looking for

- 2+ years supporting, deploying, or operating real hardware systems in the field (aerospace, defense, robotics, autonomy, or hardware startups).
- 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.
- 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.
- A track record of operating independently in ambiguous, high-pressure environments, and of bringing structure where there was none.
- Strong communication skills. You can work with engineers, operators, and customers, and translate between them.
- Willingness to travel frequently and operate out of test ranges, airfields, and remote locations for extended periods.
- This is a hands-on hardware and field role, not a desk software job.
- Military operations experience is a plus, especially in aviation or aviation-adjacent communities with "air sense" (JTAC, JFO, CCT, ATC, aviation operations).

## 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 the aircraft in the field end to end — get it running, get it right, and get it back into the air, faster every time.
- 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 execution, real hardware, and real flight.
- You must thrive under pressure, learn fast, troubleshoot in the field, and push systems to their 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 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.

No tourists. No bystanders. Only builders.

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.

## 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

- [Network Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/network-engineer-icarus-el-segundo-jrjj80p412s3) — El Segundo, CA
- [Senior Test Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-test-engineer-icarus-el-segundo-w0vmx9avct7y) — El Segundo, CA
- [Supply Chain Lead](https://feeny.ai/job/supply-chain-lead-icarus-el-segundo-xwd7x2ddwwzd) — El Segundo, CA
- [Flight Operations Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/flight-operations-engineer-icarus-el-segundo-w5371jwqaxam) — El Segundo, CA
- [Flight Operations Generalist](https://feeny.ai/job/flight-operations-generalist-icarus-el-segundo-sf0zb9thdk33) — El Segundo, CA
- [Flight Test Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/flight-test-engineer-icarus-el-segundo-yjj5bhg1my2v) — El Segundo, CA
- [Mechanical Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/mechanical-engineer-icarus-el-segundo-499rnx0wb7e4) — El Segundo, CA
- [Manufacturing Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/manufacturing-engineer-icarus-el-segundo-0xeqp3n0xbkg) — El Segundo, CA
- [Technician](https://feeny.ai/job/technician-icarus-el-segundo-ajdtdmzcfbcb) — El Segundo, CA
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