Senior Forward Deployment Engineer, Strategic Customer Engagements U.S.

Planet Labs PBC; Washington (District of Columbia); Hybrid; USD 161,000 - 201,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical

Dental

Vision

HSA with company contribution

Paid Time Off

Paid Parental Leave 16 weeks

Wellness Program

Home Office Reimbursement

Phone and Internet Reimbursement

Tuition Reimbursement

Equity

Commuter Benefits

Volunteering PTO

Job summary

Planet is seeking a Senior Software Engineer to help develop transformative solutions for our defense and security accounts. In this hands-on role, you will design, build, and deploy software across front-end, back-end, data integration, and cloud infra (AWS), partnering with customers to translate challenges into reliable systems.

This is a full-time, hybrid role based in Arlington, VA, requiring 3 days in-office.

Qualifications

• 6+ years of software engineering experience.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field.
• Experience with geospatial software development.
• Proficiency in Python.
• Experience with cloud platforms (AWS or GCP).
• Knowledge of coding standards, reviews, source control and testing.
• Strong communication with diverse stakeholders.
• Ability to work in fast, iterative cycles and adapt to changing requirements.
• Willingness to travel 30-50% to customer sites in the region.
• Active security clearance (TS or TS/SCI) required.

Responsibilities

• Lead full development lifecycle for bespoke customer solutions.
• Build robust full-stack software with data integration and cloud infra.
• Collaborate with customers to translate challenges into requirements.
• Identify reusable patterns to inform platform development.
• Leverage AI tooling for rapid iteration and value delivery.
• Mentor team members and participate in code reviews.
• Deliver commitments on time to support key customer relationships.

Skills

6+ years experience

Python

Communication

Fast iterations

Security clearance

Travel 30-50%

AI tooling

Cloud basics (AWS)

Software engineering best practices

Geospatial concepts

Front-end & back-end

Education

Bachelors in CS or equivalent

Tools

Rasterio

Fiona

Shapely

OpenLayers

GDAL

AWS or GCP

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 a Senior Software Engineer to help develop transformative solutions for our most strategic accounts, starting with our Global Defense and Security customers. In this role, you will work directly with key partners, acting as a senior technical contributor and hands-on builder within a collaborative engineering team. Your mission will be to tackle complex, mission-critical customer challenges by building high-impact software solutions.

You will have a high degree of autonomy to design and build what is needed, turning ambiguous requirements into functional and reliable software. Your work will directly contribute to delivering on critical customer commitments and will help inform future product development. This role is ideal for an individual contributor who thrives in dynamic environments and enjoys taking ownership of complex technical problems from design to delivery.

This is a full-time, hybrid role which will require you to work from our Arlington, VA office 3 days per week.

Impact You'll Own:

• Spearhead the full development lifecycle from discovery and decomposition to designing, building, and deploying bespoke solutions for customer challenges.
• Develop robust, full-stack software, including front-end, back-end, data integration, cloud infrastructure (e.g., AWS), and CI/CD pipelines.
• Collaborate directly with customers to understand operational challenges and translate them into technical requirements.
• Analyze customer solutions to identify reusable patterns that inform broader platform development.
• Leverage the latest AI tooling and an AI-first mindset to drive rapid iteration, deliver value quickly, and adapt to evolving requirements with a bias for action.
• Mentor team members, conducts code reviews, and helps foster a collaborative engineering culture.
• Execute critical commitments on time to directly support key customer relationships and business goals.

What You Bring:

• 6+ years of relevant work experience in software engineering or an equivalent technical role.
• Bachelor's degree in a Computer Science or other relevant field.
• Experience with geospatial software development and concepts (e.g., Rasterio, Fiona, Shapely, OpenLayers, GDAL).
• AWS or GCP experience.
• Proficiency in Python.
• Knowledge of software engineering best practices, including coding standards, code reviews, source control management, and testing methodologies.
• Ability to effectively communicate complex technical concepts to diverse internal and external stakeholders.
• Experience with fast, iterative development cycles and an ability to adapt to shifting requirements.
• Willingness to travel 30-50% to customer sites within the region.
• Must have a current active security clearance (TS or TS/TSI).

What Makes You Stand Out:

• Experience with JavaScript, Java, Go or C#.
• Experience working with defense and security customer domains.

Benefits While Working at Planet:

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

• Comprehensive Medical, Dental, and Vision plans
• Health Savings Account (HSA) with a company contribution
• Generous Paid Time Off in addition to holidays and company-wide days off
• 16 Weeks of Paid Parental Leave
• Wellness Program and Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Home Office Reimbursement
• Monthly Phone and Internet Reimbursement
• Tuition Reimbursement and access to LinkedIn Learning
• Equity
• Commuter Benefits (if local to an office)
• Volunteering Paid Time Off

Compensation:

The US base salary range for this full-time position at the commencement of employment is listed below. Additionally, this role might be eligible for discretionary short-term and long-term incentives (bonus and equity). The final salary range is determined by job related experience, skills and location. The range displays our typical hiring range for new hire salaries in US locations only. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for your preferred location during the hiring process.

US National Salary Range $160,600 — $200,800 USD

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.

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.