Flight Test Engineer

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.

The 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.

Mission

Re-establish and maintain dominance in the Stratosphere.

What you’ll do

Plan the test

• Design flight test campaigns, test cards, and pass/fail criteria from first flight through envelope expansion.

• Define what we measure: instrumentation, sensors, data acquisition, and telemetry requirements.

• Write test plans and hazard analyses, and contribute to flight safety documentation.

• Translate engineering questions into test points that can effectively find an answer.

Oversee the test

• Oversee execution of test cards and test criteria during test events, making sure each point is flown and captured correctly.

• Monitor aircraft behavior and data in real time against the test criteria.

• Recommend and make parameter changes when the test calls for it, in coordination with the test director and flight crew.

• Capture the conditions, configuration, and events of every flight with precision.

Turn data into answers

• Own the data: build and maintain the pipeline and tooling that turn raw flights into clean, usable engineering data.

• Analyze flight data and telemetry to characterize aircraft performance, stability, loads, and systems behavior.

• Run root cause analysis on anomalies and failures and drive them to resolution.

• Write quick-look and formal test reports that engineering trusts and acts on.

• Compare flight results against models and predictions and close the loop with the design teams.

Improve the test program

• Continuously improve the tools, processes, and standards that make Icarus flight test fast, safe, and repeatable.

• Travel to remote test sites and work in heat, cold, wind, and dust for long days on short notice.