Senior Solutions Architect II Pre-Sales Middle East And North Africa

TALENTMATE; Dubai; Hybrid; AED 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Paid time off

Wellness program

Home office reimbursement

Phone & Internet stipend

Tuition reimbursement

Equity

Volunteer PTO

Job summary

Planet, a global space and data company, seeks a Senior Pre-Sales Engineer based in the United Arab Emirates. You will demonstrate the value of Planet’s solutions to government and commercial customers across the MENA region and collaborate with internal teams to voice customer needs.

The role involves frequent international travel (up to 50%) and, if near an office, working from the office 3 days per week. Strong GIS/RS background and customer-facing experience are essential.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience with governments and commercial sectors in Earth Observation in the MENA region.
• Bachelor's degree in a related field.
• Ability to travel internationally up to 50%, mainly within MENA, plus Europe/US.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Arabic fluency and professional English proficiency.
• Experience with GIS and Remote Sensing.
• Experience in IMINT, ISR, and related fields.
• Experience with geospatial software (QGIS, ArcGIS, GDAL, etc.).
• Ability to coordinate with international customers & sales teams.
• Strong problem-solving and proactive work style.
• Able to multitask, prioritize, and manage time effectively.
• Proficiency in Python for imagery processing and data pipelines.
• Self-leadership and ability to lead customer engagements.
• Ability to run workshops or training sessions.

Responsibilities

• Use consultative techniques to uncover customer pain points and quantify their importance.
• Build and deliver demonstrations highlighting Planet's platform capabilities.
• Establish trusted relationships with customer technical and management staff.
• Recommend solutions that fit business challenges and deliver measurable value.
• Assist with tender responses (RFI/RFP) with product/solution information.
• Collaborate with sales to plan account development and engage customers.
• Coordinate with Customer Success, Product Management and Business Development to voice customer needs.
• Meet quarterly and annual sales and operational objectives.
• Communicate forecasts and pipeline updates to Sales leadership.
• Present to key executive government stakeholders within the MENA region.
• Mentor team members and lead training to develop skills.

Skills

Communication

Arabic

English

Relationship building

Customer facing

Solution selling

GIS

Remote Sensing

Python

Cross-functional

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

QGIS

ArcGIS

SocetGXP

GDAL

Job description

Job Description

Welcome to Planet. We believe in using space to help life on Earth.

Planet designs, builds, and operates the largest constellation of imaging satellites in history. This constellation delivers an unprecedented dataset of empirical information via a revolutionary cloud-based platform to authoritative figures in commercial, environmental, and humanitarian sectors. We are both a space company and data company all rolled into one.

Customers and users across the globe use Planet's data to develop new technologies, drive revenue, power research, and solve our world’s toughest obstacles.

As we control every component of hardware design, manufacturing, data processing, and software engineering, our office is a truly inspiring mix of experts from a variety of domains.

We have a people-centric approach toward culture and community and we strive to iterate in a way that puts our team members first and prepares our company for growth. Join Planet and be a part of our mission to change the way people see the world.

Planet is a global company with employees working remotely world wide and joining us from offices in San Francisco, Washington DC, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, and The Netherlands.

About The Role

As a Senior Pre-Sales Engineer, you'll demonstrate the value of Planet's solutions to help organizations within the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA) overcome their earth data challenges. You'll also collaborate with internal cross-functional teams, including Customer Success, Product Management, and Business Development, to act as the voice of the customer to enhance Planet's industry offerings. The ideal candidate enjoys helping customers get most out of their work. This role will appeal to candidates who don’t mind frequent international travel up to 50% (primarily around MENA) and are comfortable working in the government and commercial sectors.

This is a full-time, remote position based in the United Arab Emirates. This role requires frequent international travel up to 50%. If located near an office, you are expected to work from that office 3 days per week.

Impact You’ll Own

• Use consultative techniques to uncover customers' pain points and business needs within their current or intended processes and ways of working, plus quantify why these needs are important.
• Build and deliver presentations and solution demonstrations highlighting technical capabilities of Planet’s platform related to addressing the customer’s business needs and pain points, plus the value that these solutions can bring to the customers business.
• Create solid relationships with customers’ technical and management staff as a trusted advisor to their business.
• Act as an advisor to the customer to recommend solutions that fit their business challenges that bring measurable value to their business.
• Assist with the response to tenders, RFI’s and RFP’s proposals with respect to product/solution information.
• Work with your sales team colleagues to determine account development plans and execute a strategy to engage customers and prospects.
• Collaborate with internal cross-functional teams including Customer Success, Product Management, and Business Development to act as the voice of the customer, assist with RFP and RFI preparation and submissions.
• Attain quarterly and annual sales and operational objectives assigned by management.
• Represent perspectives to Sales leadership, in communicating forecasts, pipeline opportunities, deal reviews, data in CRM tools, and customer feedback.
• Ability to present to key executive Government stakeholders within the MENA Region.
• Act as a mentor to team members and lead training to drive their development.

What You Bring

• 10+ years of experience working with governments and commercial industry communities in Earth Observation within the Middle East region
• Bachelor’s degree in a related field
• Ability to travel internationally up to 50%, primarily around the MENA region, but also to Europe and the United States
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Fluency in Arabic and professional working proficiency in English, the language of the company
• Experience working with GIS and Remote Sensing
• Experience in IMINT, ISR, and related fields
• Experience with QGIS, SocetGXP, ArcGIS, GDAL and other common geospatial software packages
• Ability to successfully communicate and coordinate with international customers & sales team
• Excellent problem-solving skills and proactive working style
• Ability to multitask, prioritize and manage time effectively
• Ability to program with Python to process imagery, manipulate vector data, interact with APIs and build data pipelines
• Solid self-leadership and ability to lead customer engagements
• Ability to run workshops or training sessions with users

What Makes You Stand Out

• Experience writing technical proposals for government tenders
• Experience of value based solution selling and/or consulting selling techniques

Application Deadline

11:45p / 23:45 CET on the date stated below. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. This posting may be removed earlier than projected if a suitable pool of applications has been received. For this reason, we recommend applying as soon as you are able to.

Benefits While Working At Planet

These offerings are dependent on employment type and geographical location, based upon applicable law or company policy.

• Paid time off including vacation, holidays and company-wide days off
• Employee Wellness Program
• Home Office Reimbursement
• Monthly Phone and Internet Reimbursement
• Tuition Reimbursement and access to LinkedIn Learning
• Equity
• Volunteering Paid Time Off

This role is eligible to receive commission.

San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance

Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

Why We Care So Much About Belonging

We’re dedicated to helping the whole Planet, and to do that we must strive to represent all of it within each of our offices and on all of our teams. That’s why Planet is guided by an ultimate north star of Belonging—dreaming big as we approach our ongoing work. At Planet, we are looking for well-rounded people from around the world who can contribute to more ways than just what is listed in this job description. We don’t just fill positions, we aspire to fulfill people’s careers, most excited about folks who are motivated by our underlying humanitarian efforts. We are a few orbits around the sun before we get to where we want to be, so we hope you’re excited to come along for the ride.

EEO Statement

Planet is committed to building a community where everyone belongs and we invite people from all backgrounds to apply. Planet is an equal opportunity employer, and committed to providing employment opportunities regardless of race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding, age, sexual orientation, military or veteran status, or any other protected classification, in accordance with applicable federal, state, and local laws. Know Your Rights.

Accommodations

Planet is an inclusive community and we know that everyone has their own needs. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation during the hiring process, please reach out to [e-mail] or contact your recruiter with your request. Your message will be confidential and we will be happy to assist you.

AI in Our Interviewing Process

Planet is committed to providing an exceptional interview experience for all candidates. We currently use Metaview to better focus on candidates and less on trying to capture notes. As such, with the candidate's consent, select interviews may be recorded and include a "Planet AI Notetaker" for transcription and summarization purposes. Should an interview involve use of AI interview technologies, the candidate will receive notification and have the ability to opt out both in advance and/or real-time. Opting out will not affect one's candidacy.

Candidate AI Policy

Planet embraces Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools, and we encourage its responsible use. We understand that candidates may use various resources, including AI tools, to prepare for interviews and assessments. However, during any live interview stage or when actively completing assessments for this position, the use of AI tools—e.g. Large Language Models (LLMs), deep fake technology, etc.—is strictly prohibited unless explicitly prompted by an interviewer or assessment instructions. If you are unsure about acceptable use, please contact your recruiter for clarification. If an AI tool or similar technology is desired as an accommodation, please contact [e-mail] with your request for assistance. Your message will be confidential, and we will be happy to assist you. Violation of this policy may result in disqualification of your application.

Job Details

Role Level: Not Applicable

Work Type: Full-Time

Country: United Arab Emirates

City: Dubai

Company Website: https://www.weareplanet.com/

Job Function: Sales

Company Industry/ Sector: IT Services and IT Consulting