Head of Supply Chain

Why the Stratosphere? From first principles, it is the obvious place to build. Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites orbit at 400 kilometers, moving at 17,000 mph and offering only brief snapshots. An autonomous solar-powered bird at 20 kilometers, or 65,000 ft, flies steady above the clouds and weather. In other words, it’s very close to Earth. And persistent by flying in circles. Effectively a Cell Tower in the Sky. The Stratosphere provides the physics of permanence. That persistence is priceless. That is Skylink. Start small. Build upward. The first product of Icarus is a small, affordable solar-powered Stratospheric bird. A platform designed to be light, simple, and built under constraints. Affordability is the foundation. More importantly, it solves a real use case now. A wedge into the market through intelligence and communications. A beachhead that proves the model, attracts customers who need it so badly they’ll use it even before it’s perfect, and opens the path to market disruption at scale. The vision: Skylink The vision goes further than building one plane or even one fleet. The goal is Skylink: a persistent Stratospheric grid delivering continuous intelligence, uninterrupted communications, and global connectivity. A new layer of infrastructure. The next backbone of how we see, sense, and connect the world. Our mission at Icarus is to re-establish and maintain dominance in the Stratosphere. We asked ourselves: what is the fastest and best way to execute this? The answer was not to start with a massive, billion-dollar program. It was to start with affordable birds, scale endurance step by step, and build upward into Skylink. 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. You will help build the supply chain that makes this possible. Mission Re-establish and maintain dominance in the Stratosphere. The role You will build and lead the supply chain that turns aircraft designs into repeatable production and reliable field operations. You will own procurement, material planning, warehousing, and logistics, working closely with engineering, manufacturing, finance, and flight operations. This is a hands-on leadership role: build the team and systems, then stay close enough to the work to resolve the shortages and supplier problems that matter. What you’ll own • End-to-end material readiness. Translate the aircraft build schedule and field demand into purchasing priorities, clear-to-build reviews, inventory policies, and supplier commitments. • Strategic suppliers. Own critical supplier relationships, negotiations, capacity planning, lead-time reduction, and practical mitigation of sole-source risk. • Commodity purchasing. Build a team of Buyer/Planners who own both procurement and supply planning across electrical, mechanical, propulsion, composites, and raw materials. • Warehouse operations. Lead receiving, putaway, kitting, inventory control, and delivery to the production line. Establish clear ownership from the receiving dock to the point of use. • Systems and data. Make ION and the underlying BOM, item, supplier, lead-time, and inventory data dependable enough to run the business. • Logistics. Coordinate inbound, outbound, inter-site, and field-support material flows with the logistics lead. • Quality and execution. Partner with engineering and quality on supplier qualification, acceptance requirements, corrective actions, and changes that affect the supply base. • People and results. Hire and develop the team, set clear expectations, and improve on-time delivery, inventory accuracy, material availability, and total cost. What we’re looking for • 7+ years of supply chain, procurement, material planning, or manufacturing operations experience in a hardware environment. • Experience leading a team and scaling a supply chain through a production ramp. • A record of negotiating supplier agreements and resolving difficult capacity, quality, or delivery problems. • Strong understanding of BOMs, ERP/MRP, inventory control, and the connection between engineering changes and material demand. • Ability to move between strategic decisions and hands-on execution without losing detail. • Clear communication, sound commercial judgment, and a habit of making risks visible early. • Ability to work at our El Segundo factory five days a week. Bonus • Built supply chain at an aerospace, defense, robotics, or other hardware startup. • Experience with ION or a comparable modern manufacturing ERP. • Worked across electronics, precision mechanical components, batteries, or composite materials. • Improved warehouse operations across multiple production sites. Our culture = elite sports team. Winning = having fun • Hyperfocus • Extreme Ownership • Radical Transparency Why Icarus • Meaningful equity • Competitive pay 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 Hiring process • Phone screen with the hiring manager via Microsoft Teams • Onsite presentation and panel Q&A US salary range $180,000 - $240,000 USD The salary range for this role reflects base salary only. Actual compensation may vary based on job-related skills, experience, education and/or training, and business considerations. Equity is 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.