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Salary: USD 175,000 - 250,000 / annual
Icarus builds solar-powered aircraft that operate at 60,000 feet for weeks at a time, delivering persistent and scalable presence from the stratosphere. This is the first HR hire at a ~50-person defense tech company, joining a People team of one (Founding Recruiter). You will build HR infrastructure from zero, including systems, policies, compliance frameworks, and culture that enable engineers to build and fly.
Key responsibilities:
- HR infrastructure: select and operate HRIS, payroll, and benefits stack; manage open enrollment and broker/PEO relationships
- Compliance: California and federal employment law, multi-state compliance, I-9/E-Verify, wage-and-hour rules (exempt vs. non-exempt, overtime, meal/rest breaks for factory and field teams)
- Defense requirements: partner with security and legal on ITAR/export-control hiring checks, security clearance processes, and government contract labor requirements
- Onboarding and offboarding: build fast, repeatable processes from offer to first flight
- Employee relations: serve as trusted point of contact for concerns, investigations, and sensitive conversations
- Compensation and equity: develop leveling, salary bands, and equity grant framework with CEO and Recruiter
- Performance and growth: design lightweight review cycles and feedback mechanisms that engineers value
- Policy: create lean handbook, leave, PTO, travel, and safety policies that are legally sound and operationally fit
- Scale: partner with Founding Recruiter to grow from ~50 to 200+ people while preserving culture
You will own HR end-to-end, from strategy to execution. This is not a traditional HR role—you are a core operator and builder, not a process administrator. You will work directly with the CEO at startup speed, with full extreme ownership and no HR team behind you. The company emphasizes lightweight systems, hands-on execution (including running payroll yourself), and sound judgment under pressure.
Requirements:
- 6+ years of HR experience, including at least 2 years as first or sole HR leader at a startup
- Deep working knowledge of California employment law and wage-and-hour rules
- Experience supporting hourly manufacturing, technician, or field teams alongside salaried employees
- Experience at a hardware, aerospace, or defense company; familiarity with ITAR, export controls, or security clearance processes
- Sound judgment and discretion handling sensitive employee relations issues and investigations
- Hands-on and operational mindset; willing to run payroll and fix spreadsheets yourself
- Comfortable working directly with CEO and moving at startup speed
- Able to work on-site in El Segundo, 5 days a week
- Must be a U.S. person as defined by ITAR
Bonus qualifications:
- Built HR from scratch before (HRIS, payroll, benefits, handbook, core processes)
- Experience scaling a company from ~50 to 200+ people
- Experience with government contracts, FAR/DFARS labor requirements, or affirmative action plans
