# Flight Operations Engineer

**Company:** [Icarus](https://hotfix.jobs/companies/icarus)
**Location:** El Segundo, CA
**Role:** Other
**Salary:** $120k – $180k/yr
**Experience:** 3+ years
**Skills:** Uas Operations, Flight Test, Aircraft Operations, Ground Control Station, Linux, Autopilot Configuration, Telemetry Analysis, Root Cause Analysis, Scripting, Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Troubleshooting, Electrical Troubleshooting, Software Troubleshooting
**Posted:** 2026-06-30

> Flight Operations Engineer responsible for end-to-end aircraft operations: site setup, preflight, piloting high-altitude solar UAS, real-time monitoring, troubleshooting, data analysis, procedure writing, and iterating on flight performance. Requires 3+ years UAS/flight test experience, strong troubleshooting across mechanical/electrical/software, Linux proficiency, and calm decision-making under pressure.

## Job Description

## What you’ll do

### Set up the site and the aircraft
- Analyze and verify test site conditions to ensure successful conduct of a flight test; sound judgement in aviation safety, preflight analysis of atmospheric conditions, and adherence to regulations.
- Assemble, configure, and prepare aircraft for flight, including mechanical, electrical, and payload setup.
- Run preflight inspections and checklists, and make the call on whether the aircraft is ready.
- Configure and verify the ground control station, telemetry links, and mission plan before every flight.

### Fly
- Prescribe autonomous mission sets and operate the aircraft in flight by modifying software characteristics, ensuring efficient execution of the test plan.
- 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.

### Engineer the operation
- Write and refine test plans, test cards, checklists, and standard operating procedures.
- Configure and tune autopilot, GCS, and aircraft software parameters.
- Analyze flight logs and telemetry, run root cause analysis, and write up quick-look and formal test reports.
- Build tooling and scripts that speed up setup, data review, and field operations.
- Own the technical interface between flight operations and the engineering team.

### 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.
- Drive the next iteration based on what the data and the flight told you.

## What we’re looking for
- Bachelor's degree in aerospace, mechanical, electrical, or software engineering, or equivalent hands-on experience in aviation or aviation-adjacent military occupational fields.
- 3+ years of UAS, flight test, or aircraft operations experience, or equivalent military experience.
- Demonstrated ability to set up, preflight, operate, and recover an unmanned aircraft.
- Strong technical troubleshooting across mechanical, electrical, and software systems.
- Proficiency with ground control station software.
- Strong Linux command line skills for debugging, scripting, and troubleshooting.
- Calm, decisive judgment under pressure, especially with an aircraft in the air.
- 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.
- Aviation-adjacent military specialty with "air sense" (JTAC, CCT, etc).
- Experience operating in austere or remote field environments.

## 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**
$120,000 - $180,000 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.)

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