Senior Test Engineer

Icarus

$90K — $140K *
Aerospace & Defense
Less than 5 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering, aerospace, mechanical, or related field.
  • 2+ years experience testing electronics or electromechanical systems, including internships or projects.
  • Ability to read and interpret schematics, layouts, and BOMs.
  • Hands-on experience with test equipment like multimeters and oscilloscopes.
  • Familiarity with PCBA testing and environmental qualification processes.
  • Strong willingness to learn and adapt in a fast-paced environment.
  • Comfort in troubleshooting and working under pressure.

Responsibilities

  • Build, run, and enhance test setups for aircraft hardware.
  • Perform inspections and troubleshoot electronic and mechanical assemblies.
  • Conduct environmental and qualification testing to ensure hardware reliability.
  • Develop hardware-in-the-loop and automated testing setups.
  • Support calibration and maintenance of testing equipment.
  • Capture, analyze, and document test data and results.
  • Assist with integration and field testing of systems.

Benefits

  • Meaningful equity in the company.
  • Health, dental, and vision insurance.
  • Real ownership of projects and hardware.
  • Small team structure with significant responsibility.
  • High engineering focus with minimal management noise.
  • Daily catered lunch and unlimited Celsius drinks.
Full Job Description
What you'll do
  • Build, run, and improve test setups and procedures for our aircraft hardware - avionics, power systems, sensors, and electromechanical assemblies - at the bench and at the system level.
  • Perform incoming inspection and bring-up of electronics (PCBAs and COTS components) and mechanical assemblies, and troubleshoot issues down to root cause.
  • Run environmental and qualification testing - thermal, vibration, and altitude/vacuum - to prove our hardware survives the stratosphere.
  • Develop hardware-in-the-loop and automated test setups that make engineering iteration loops faster.
  • Support calibration of test and development assets and keep test equipment maintained and reliable.
  • Capture and analyze test data, document results, disposition non-conformances, and drive corrective actions and improvements back into the product.
  • Review schematics, layouts, BOMs, drawings, and work instructions, and help create clear test documentation.
  • Support integration, production bring-up, and flight test in the field.
What we're looking for
  • Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering, aerospace, mechanical, or a similar technical field.
  • 2+ years of professional, internship, academic, or project-based experience testing real hardware - electronics, electromechanical systems, or similar (coursework, internships, and serious personal projects count).
  • Ability to read and interpret schematics, layouts, and BOMs (mechanical drawings a plus).
  • Hands-on experience with common test equipment such as multimeters, oscilloscopes, and power supplies, and basic component-level troubleshooting.
  • Familiarity with PCBA/electronics testing and/or environmental, qualification, or integration testing.
  • A strong willingness to learn, ask questions, and grow in a fast-paced engineering environment.
  • Comfort moving fast, owning outcomes, and troubleshooting in the field.
Why Icarus
  1. Meaningful equity
  2. Top market salary and bonuses
  3. Health, dental, and vision insurance
  4. Factory in El Segundo
  5. Real ownership, real hardware, real flight
  6. Small team, massive responsibility
  7. High signal (engineering) to noise (management) culture
  8. Dream desk setup
  9. Daily lunch
  10. Unlimited celsius
This is not a normal engineering job
  1. We 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.
  2. You will work side by side with the CEO and a small team of world-class builders. You will own your work end to end. Test it. Break it. Find the failure. Fix it. Validate it. Then do it again, faster.
  3. We expect full extreme ownership. This is a high-trust, no-BS team, and everyone pulls their weight.
  4. We are hiring across the stack: mechanical, aerodynamics, RF, GNC, electrical, avionics, power electronics, energy storage, software, and systems.
  5. We want builders. No hand-holding. No fluff. No fake projects. No slide decks. No sitting in meetings all day. Just raw engineering, real hardware, and real flight.
  6. You must thrive under pressure, learn fast, troubleshoot in the field, and push hardware to its limits. We move fast. We go to Mojave at 4 am in the morning. We expect results and an obsession with quality and speed.
  7. You will be a core part of getting flight systems from concept to reality, proving they work and driving rapid iteration loops. If you want real ownership, real hardware, and real flight, this is it.

No tourists. No bystanders. Only builders.
Hiring process
  1. Technical interview
  2. One-on-one with CEO
  3. Meet the team in-person
US salary range

$90,000 - $140,000 USD

The 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.

Similar Jobs

More Jobs at Icarus

  • Senior Thermal Engineer
    $150K — $190K *
    El Segundo, CA 90245 (Los Angeles County)
    Aerospace & Defense
    In-Person
  • Senior Test Engineer
    $90K — $140K *
    El Segundo, CA 90245 (Los Angeles County)
    Aerospace & Defense
    In-Person
  • IT Manager
    $100K — $140K *
    El Segundo, CA 90245 (Los Angeles County)
    Aerospace & Defense
    In-Person
  • Supply Chain Lead
    $140K — $230K *
    El Segundo, CA 90245 (Los Angeles County)
    Manufacturing & Automotive
    In-Person
  • Director of Facilities
    $140K — $200K *
    El Segundo, CA 90245 (Los Angeles County)
    Manufacturing & Automotive
    In-Person

More Aerospace & Defense Jobs

Find similar Senior Test Engineer jobs: