Senior Director of Engineering - Civil Government and Commercial

Planetlabs; Berlin; Hybrid; EUR 123,000 - 154,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Paid time off

Wellness program

Home office reimbursement

Phone and internet reimbursement

Tuition reimbursement and LinkedIn学习

Equity

Volunteering paid time off

Job summary

Planet seeks an experienced Senior Director of Engineering for Civil Government and Commercial. You will lead the engineering strategy and a 70+ member team across global offices to scale flagship solutions and drive AI-enabled product discovery.

You’ll partner with Product, Design, and Science to incubate new offerings built on high-frequency imagery and derived data products. You will oversee the delivery lifecycle, ensure reliability, and maintain high security for government and enterprise

Qualifications

• 10+ years of software engineering experience with 8+ years in leadership.
• Experience leading distributed teams across geographies and time zones.
• Hands-on with AI tools in work and AI adoption leadership.
• Proven track record in 'zero to one' product discovery and launches.
• Background in geospatial platforms, data analytics, or enterprise SaaS.
• Experience delivering tailored solutions and integrating new blocks back into the common solution set.
• A growth mindset and ability to translate business needs into technical roadmaps.
• Strong collaboration with product, design, and cross-functional partners.

Responsibilities

• Lead and scale a global engineering org of 70+ engineers and managers.
• Set performance bars, surface risks early, and make hard priority calls.
• Drive execution and delivery for AMS, Disaster/Wildfire, and derived data products.
• Champion 'zero to one' discovery and prototype new commercial/government solutions.
• Collaborate daily with Product Management, Design, and GTM to align tech strategy with business goals.
• Ensure scalable, reliable, and secure systems for government/enterprise use.
• Align team output with Planet’s mission and enable timely decision making for governments and businesses.

Skills

Engineering leadership

Distributed teams

AI adoption

Product discovery

Geospatial platforms

Stakeholder alignment

Engineering strategy

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:

We are seeking an experienced engineering leader to become our Senior Director of Engineering for Civil Government and Commercial. In this role, you will lead the engineering strategy, execution, and team development for a rapidly growing organization of 70+ engineers spanning multiple global Planet offices. You will oversee the development, scaling, and delivery of our critical existing solutions, including Area Monitoring Service (AMS) for EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) compliance, Disaster and Wildfire solutions, Copernicus Data Space Ecosystem (CDSE), and a portfolio of Derived Data Products. You will also drive our "zero to one" product discovery, partnering closely with Product Management, Design, and Science teams to incubate, architect, and launch new, emerging solutions built on top of Planet’s high-frequency imagery and derived data products. AI is central to how Planet builds solutions, and you will make it a primary way your teams discover, build, and deliver for customers. This position is vital to delivering innovative applications to civil governments and commercial customers worldwide.

This is a full-time, hybrid role which will require you to work from our Berlin, Haarlem, or Ljubljana office 3 days per week.

Impact You’ll Own:

• Lead, mentor, and scale a global engineering organization of 70+ engineers, managers, and directors across multiple geographies and time zones.
• Set a high bar for performance and accountability. Define measurable outcomes for every product and team, surface risks early and directly, and make the hard calls on people and priorities when results fall short.
• Drive the day-to-day engineering execution and delivery for existing flagship products, ensuring reliability and performance for AMS, Disaster and Wildfire solutions, and the derived data portfolio.
• Champion and lead "zero to one" engineering discovery, building the technical foundation and prototypes for new emerging commercial and civil government products.
• Partner on a daily basis with Product Management, Design, and GTM teams to define product direction, prioritize feature development, and align technical strategy with business goals.
• Ensure systems are scalable, reliable, and secure for government and enterprise use, guiding architectural decisions and engineering best practices.
• Align your team's daily output with Planet’s mission of using space to help life on earth, directly enabling governments and businesses to make critical, timely decisions.

What You Bring:

• 10+ years of relevant software engineering work experience, including 8+ years of supervisory or leadership experience managing multiple layers of engineering management.
• Experience leading and scaling distributed engineering teams of 50+ employees across multiple geographic locations and time zones.
• Hands-on engagement with AI tools in your own work, and experience leading engineering teams through AI adoption.
• Track record of "zero to one" product development, including the technical discovery, architecture, and successful launch of new software solutions.
• Background in building and delivering geospatial platforms, data analytics solutions, or enterprise SaaS products.
• Experience delivering tailored solutions to individual customers, meeting or exceeding their expectations and integrating new building blocks back into the solution commons.
• A growth mindset. You experiment, learn quickly, and change course when the evidence says to.
• Ability to collaborate with cross-functional partners to translate complex business and user requirements into actionable technical roadmaps.
• Experience overseeing operational reliability, cloud infrastructure, and software deployment lifecycles for enterprise-grade applications.
• Ability to drive software delivery metrics, maintain high operational availability/SLAs, and foster rigorous engineering practices.
• Ability to recruit, mentor, and retain engineering talent at all levels while fostering an inclusive team culture.
• Clear and effective written and verbal communication skills for engaging with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

What Makes You Stand Out:

• Success building large scale civil government solutions leveraging forward deployed engineering.
• Familiarity with the unique regulatory, compliance, and security requirements of government technology solutions globally.
• Experience building sovereign systems for governments.

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

Compensation:

The expected starting gross salary range for this role is listed below. Individual placement within this range is determined objectively based on gender-neutral criteria such as your skills, qualifications, and professional experience. This position may also be eligible for discretionary bonuses and/or equity.

Germany Salary Range

€123.300—€154.100 EUR

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. If this job intrigues you, but you’re thinking you might not have all the qualifications, please... do apply! 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.