{"id":806391,"url":"https://alion.io/job/icarus-flight-test-engineer","title":"Flight Test Engineer","company":{"id":678654,"name":"Icarus","domain":"icarus.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/icarus-3","size_band":null,"is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Greenhouse","truth_index":{"grade":"D","score":54,"open_postings":22,"ghost_share":0.773,"stale_share":0,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":null,"computed_at":"2026-10-12T06:55:09Z"}},"role":"Industrial Engineering","role_family":"Industrial Engineering","seniority":null,"employment_type":null,"work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["El Segundo, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":null,"salary_estimate":{"min_usd":87000,"max_usd":207000,"period":"year","method":"role_country_seniority_unknown","sample_n":11930},"experience_years_min":null,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":true,"technologies":[{"name":"Linux","optional":false},{"name":"MATLAB","optional":false},{"name":"Python","optional":false}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-06-30T15:54:32Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-07-31","last_verified_at":"2026-10-12T15:18:56Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":103,"trust":{"level":"ghost","repost_count":0,"flags":["stale","company_stale"],"days_open":103},"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.\nThe Flight Test Engineer makes sure every Icarus flight produces clean, trustworthy engineering data. You build the test cards and criteria, oversee their execution in the field, jump in on parameter changes when the test calls for it, and turn the data into the conclusions that drive the next design. Operations runs the test event. You make sure it tests the right things and that we learn everything we can from it.\nMission\nRe-establish and maintain dominance in the Stratosphere.\nWhat you’ll do\nPlan the test\nDesign flight test campaigns, test cards, and pass/fail criteria from first flight through envelope expansion.\nDefine what we measure: instrumentation, sensors, data acquisition, and telemetry requirements.\nWrite test plans and hazard analyses, and contribute to flight safety documentation.\nTranslate engineering questions into test points that can effectively find an answer.\nOversee the test\nOversee execution of test cards and test criteria during test events, making sure each point is flown and captured correctly.\nMonitor aircraft behavior and data in real time against the test criteria.\nRecommend and make parameter changes when the test calls for it, in coordination with the test director and flight crew.\nCapture the conditions, configuration, and events of every flight with precision.\nTurn data into answers\nOwn the data: build and maintain the pipeline and tooling that turn raw flights into clean, usable engineering data.\nAnalyze flight data and telemetry to characterize aircraft performance, stability, loads, and systems behavior.\nRun root cause analysis on anomalies and failures and drive them to resolution.\nWrite quick-look and formal test reports that engineering trusts and acts on.\nCompare flight results against models and predictions and close the loop with the design teams.\nImprove the test program\nContinuously improve the tools, processes, and standards that make Icarus flight test fast, safe, and repeatable.\nTravel to remote test sites and work in heat, cold, wind, and dust for long days on short notice.\nWhat we’re looking for\nBachelor's or graduate degree in aerospace, mechanical, electrical, or a related engineering discipline.\nExperience in flight test, developmental test and evaluation, or a closely related discipline.\nDemonstrated experience planning and executing flight test, ideally including first-flight or build-up test programs.\nFamiliarity with flight test fundamentals, ideally fixed-wing: test card design, envelope expansion, and test criteria.\nStrong data analysis skills: you can turn large, messy flight data sets into clear engineering conclusions.\nProficiency in MATLAB, Python, or similar for data analysis, signal processing, and scripting.\nStrong Linux command line skills for debugging and troubleshooting.\nWorking knowledge of instrumentation, telemetry, and data acquisition.\nCalm, decisive judgment under pressure, especially when jumping in on parameters with an aircraft in the air.\nWillingness to travel to remote test sites.\nStrong communicator, non-negotiable.\nHigh trust, extreme ownership, no ego.\nBonus\nExperience as a test director or test conductor, running test events and directing the flight crew.\nFAA Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate or experience operating unmanned aircraft.\nBackground building RC or UAS aircraft (SAE Aero, Design Build Fly, or serious hobbyist).\nExperience working within a flight test program at an early-stage company.\nWhy Icarus\nMeaningful equity\nTop market salary and bonuses\nHealth, dental, and vision insurance\nFactory in El Segundo\nReal ownership, real hardware, real flight\nSmall team, massive responsibility\nHigh signal (engineering) to noise (management) culture\nDream desk setup\nDaily lunch\nUnlimited celsius\nThis is not a normal flight test job\nWe 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.\nYou will work side by side with the engineers who designed the aircraft and the operators who fly it. You will own the test cards and the data end to end. Plan it. Watch it fly. Analyze it. Tell us what to change. Then prove it on the next flight.\nWe expect full extreme ownership. This is a high-trust, no-BS team, and everyone pulls their weight, especially in the field.\nWe want engineers in the field, not behind a desk waiting for someone else's data. No theoretical test programs. No flights that do not teach us something. Just real aircraft, real envelopes, and real data.\nYou must thrive under pressure, learn fast, and produce in the field. We move fast. We go to Mojave at 4 am in the morning. We expect results and an obsession with quality and speed.\nYou will be the person who proves our aircraft can do what we say it can. If you want to own the test program that takes an aircraft to 60,000 ft for the first time, this is it.\nNo tourists. No bystanders. Only builders.\nHiring process\nPhone screen\nTechnical interview and flight test problem\nMeet the flight and engineering team in-person\nUS salary range\n$125,000 - $185,000 USD\nThe 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.\nWe’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.","description_format":"text","description_chars":6053,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":null,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"bachelor","optional":false},"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":["Equity","Vision insurance"],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"United States","iso":"US","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":[],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-09-12T09:29:28Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":4,"band":"cold","label":"Long shot","p_open":1,"p_active":0.156,"p_room":0.28,"age_days":103,"expected_fill_days":20,"reasons":["conf:3","stale_co","ghost","win:tail","crowd:"],"computed_at":"2026-10-12T06:55:09Z"},"pay":null,"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/icarus-flight-test-engineer","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/icarus-flight-test-engineer.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-12T15:39:09Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":24634,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-13T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":678654},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=678654"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Ficarus-flight-test-engineer"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Ficarus-flight-test-engineer"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Ficarus-flight-test-engineer"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/icarus-flight-test-engineer\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Ficarus-flight-test-engineer"}]}