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Salary: USD 150,000 - 185,000 / annual
Icarus builds solar-powered aircraft that operate at 60,000 feet for weeks at a time, delivering persistent, affordable, and scalable presence from the stratosphere. This role is the operational linchpin that takes aircraft from hangar to sky and back.
You will own airspace and range operations end-to-end, serving as the connective tissue between engineering, flight operations, and regulatory authorities. Your responsibilities span four core areas:
**Airspace Discovery & Evaluation**: Scout and evaluate test ranges, restricted areas, MOAs, and launch/recovery sites. Build working relationships with Department of War ranges, range safety offices, FAA facilities, ARTCCs, and airport operators. Map the regulatory pathway for every new location and flight profile.
**Regulatory Authorization**: Own FAA and DoW flight authorizations end-to-end, including Certificates of Waiver or Authorization, Airworthiness Releases, waivers, exemptions, letters of agreement, altitude reservations, and range-specific approvals. Transform engineering material (aircraft performance, C2 link behavior, flight termination, airworthiness data) into complete, defensible application packages. Work directly with FAA, range safety, and military airspace authorities to close gaps and secure approvals.
**Airspace Scheduling & Coordination**: Book range space and airspace aligned with company build and flight schedules, replanning rapidly when schedules shift. Drive NOTAMs, range briefings, and pre-mission coordination. Track every active authorization, its conditions, and expiration dates to ensure flight crew compliance.
**Military Integration & Exercises**: Support exercise planning at high-profile multinational military exercises. Work alongside military planners, airspace control authorities, and allied partners to integrate an unmanned, high-altitude aircraft into crowded military airspace. Spearhead compliance as the aircraft transitions to operational employment in active conflict areas, building processes for theater airspace integration and military flight clearances.
**Documentation & Process Improvement**: Build templates, checklists, and a library of approved packages to accelerate future approvals. Capture lessons from every range, regulator, and exercise and feed them back to engineering and flight operations.
This is not a traditional compliance role. You will work side-by-side with flight crews and engineers in the field, not behind a desk. The culture prioritizes engineering and execution over process and management overhead. You must thrive under pressure, learn fast, and produce results. Expect frequent travel to test ranges and exercise locations, early morning operations (4 am departures to Mojave), and an obsession with quality and speed.
**Requirements**
- 4+ years of hands-on experience in airspace management, UAS flight operations, range operations, or aviation regulatory compliance (or equivalent military experience as air traffic controller, airspace manager, JTAC, Combat Controller, or UAS operator)
- Working knowledge of the National Airspace System, airspace classes, special use and restricted airspace, and FAA authorization of unmanned aircraft beyond Part 107 (COAs, waivers, exemptions)
- Track record of building authorization or approval packages from technical material and securing approvals
- Understanding of military airspace, range scheduling, and exercise planning, including airspace control measures and the air tasking cycle
- Ability to read engineering data and ask clarifying questions of engineers
- Ability to manage multiple ranges, regulators, and timelines against a moving flight schedule
- U.S. person, eligible to obtain and maintain a U.S. Secret security clearance
- Willingness to travel frequently to test ranges and exercise locations
- Strong communication skills (non-negotiable)
- High trust, extreme ownership, no ego
**Bonus Qualifications**
- FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate or manned pilot certificate
- Experience with high-altitude, long-endurance, or balloon flight operations, including altitude reservations and Class A airspace operations
- Planning experience at major multinational exercises (RIMPAC, Talisman Sabre, Balikatan, or similar) or time in an air operations center or airspace control cell
- Deployed experience integrating UAS into theater airspace
- Active Secret or Top Secret clearance
- Prior aerospace startup or hardware experience, building while procedures are still being written
