Supply Chain Lead

Icarus

$140K — $230K *
Manufacturing & Automotive
5 - 7 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 5-7 years of experience in supply chain, sourcing, or procurement for complex hardware.
  • Track record of taking products from prototype to production successfully.
  • Proven ability to beat lead times and manage a diverse supplier base.
  • Hands-on experience with ERP/MRP systems for material visibility.
  • Strong organizational skills, with an emphasis on execution without bureaucracy.
  • Experience with export control and compliance in defense aerospace.

Responsibilities

  • Own the entire supply chain process from sourcing to logistics.
  • Define and implement supply chain strategies for prototype to production phases.
  • Build and structure the supply chain organization as the team expands.
  • Manage relationships with high-performing suppliers for various flight hardware components.
  • Proactively mitigate long-lead and single-source risks to prevent disruptions.
  • Drive crucial make-vs-buy decisions alongside engineering and manufacturing teams.
  • Establish necessary systems and KPIs for complete material flow visibility.

Benefits

  • A lot of equity in a fast-growing startup environment.
  • Competitive salary and bonus structure.
  • Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance coverage.
  • A supportive factory environment located in El Segundo.
  • Opportunity for significant responsibility and impact in a small team setting.
  • High-trust culture focused on engineering and execution rather than bureaucracy.
  • Flexible work environment with perks like daily lunch and unlimited celsius.
Full Job Description
Supply Chain Lead
  • Icarus is hiring a Supply Chain Lead to build and own the supply chain that keeps a fast-moving aerospace startup building and flying.
  • This is a critical early hire. You will define the strategy, build the function, and make sure the right parts, materials, and flight hardware are always in the building the moment the team needs them.
  • You will own sourcing, procurement, supplier management, inventory, and logistics end to end, and build the organization and systems that let us scale from prototype builds to high-rate production.
  • This is a wartime supply chain role. Long lead times, single-source risk, and supplier delays cannot be allowed to slow down flight.
  • You will operate across the factory floor, engineering, manufacturing, finance, and our supplier base, working directly with the CEO and leadership team.
  • This role has the potential to grow into broader operations and supply chain leadership as we scale.
What you'll do
  • Own the supply chain end to end: sourcing, procurement, supplier management, inventory, materials planning, and logistics.
  • Define and execute the supply chain strategy as Icarus scales across the full lifecycle - from low-rate prototype builds to high-rate production.
  • Build the supply chain organization: structure, roles, hiring, and the operating cadence to run it as the team grows.
  • Build and manage a network of high-performing suppliers for flight hardware across avionics, electronics, structures and composites, solar, energy storage, mechanical, and RF.
  • Attack long-lead and single-source risk before it becomes a flight blocker. Build buffer, qualify second sources, and stay ahead of demand.
  • Drive make-vs-buy and vertical integration decisions together with engineering and manufacturing.
  • Stand up the systems, KPIs, and end-to-end visibility (ERP/MRP, receiving, incoming inspection) that let the company see and control its material flow.
  • Negotiate pricing, terms, and lead times with suppliers, and own PO and vendor management.
  • Own supply chain export-control and compliance posture for a defense aerospace company: country-of-origin and domestic sourcing requirements, counterfeit-part avoidance, and supplier quality.
What we're looking for
  • You are an elite operator. You get parts in the door and you get things done.
  • You are organized, intense, low-ego, and allergic to bureaucracy.
  • You can operate at 60,000 feet and on the factory floor in the same day.
  • You have deep experience in supply chain, sourcing, or procurement for complex hardware, and you have owned a supply base and beaten lead times on hard-to-source parts.
  • You have taken a product from development or prototype into production and scaled the supply chain to match.
  • You are hands-on with ERP/MRP and the systems and KPIs that give a company end-to-end material visibility.
  • You can build not just a supply chain, but a supply chain team and operating cadence, without slowing the company down.
  • You have extremely high ownership. When a part is late, you fix it. When a supplier is a risk, you replace them. When something is moving too slowly, you accelerate it.
  • You do not need hand-holding. You find the problem, create the plan, and drive it to completion.
  • You are comfortable working directly with the CEO and senior technical leaders, and making decisions with incomplete information.
Why Icarus
  1. A lot of 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 (but growing very fast)
  7. High signal (engineering) to noise (management) culture
  8. Dream desk setup
  9. Daily lunch
  10. Unlimited celsius
This is not a normal supply chain job
  1. We are pioneers, not corporate managers.
  2. Icarus deliberately optimizes for high signal to noise. Engineering, manufacturing, flight, and execution matter more than process, politics, or management overhead.
  3. Your job is not to add bureaucracy. Your job is to make sure the company is never blocked on parts and to make the team faster.
  4. You will work side by side with the CEO and a small team of world-class builders. You will build the supply chain behind the aircraft: the suppliers, the systems, the inventory, and the materials backbone that lets us move faster than companies 10x our size.
  5. We expect full extreme ownership. This is a high-trust, no-BS team, and everyone pulls their weight.
  6. We want builders. No hand-holding. No fluff. No fake projects. No sitting in meetings all day. Just real execution, real hardware, and real flight.
  7. You must thrive under pressure, learn fast, solve problems across functions, and push the company to operate at a higher level every week.
  8. We move fast. We go to Mojave at 4 am. We expect results and an obsession with quality and speed.

No tourists. No bystanders. Only builders.
Hiring process
  1. Intro call
  2. Working session with CEO
  3. Meet the team in-person
  4. Reference checks
US salary range

$140,000 - $230,000 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.

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