# Flight Operations Generalist

**Company:** [Icarus](https://hotfix.jobs/companies/icarus)
**Location:** El Segundo, CA
**Role:** Other
**Salary:** $90k – $160k/yr
**Experience:** 3+ years
**Skills:** Uas Operations, Rc Aircraft, Preflight Inspections, Ground Control Station, Telemetry Monitoring, Linux Command Line, Mechanical Troubleshooting, Electrical Troubleshooting, Software Debugging, Flight Test, Faa Part 107, Airframe And Powerplant
**Posted:** 2026-06-30

> Operate solar-powered high-altitude UAS from hangar to flight and back: set up test sites, perform preflight, pilot from ground control station, monitor telemetry, troubleshoot mechanical/electrical/software issues in the field, and feed data back to engineers. Requires 3+ years hands-on UAS/RC/military UAV experience, strong troubleshooting, Linux familiarity, calm judgment under pressure, and willingness to travel to remote sites.

## Job Description

## 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

**US salary range: $90,000 - $160,000 USD** (base salary only; highly competitive equity grants are part of total compensation)

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