Technical Program Manager, Trade Compliance

Planet Labs PBC; Washington (District of Columbia); Hybrid; USD 127,000 - 158,700; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive Medical, Dental, and Vision plans

Generous Paid Time Off

16 weeks of Paid Parental Leave

Tuition Reimbursement

Monthly Phone and Internet Reimbursement

Job summary

Planet Labs PBC is seeking a Technical Program Manager (TPM) for Trade Compliance to drive compliance in product and software development. You'll ensure regulatory requirements are incorporated into workflows and collaborate with product teams to maintain compliance.

This full-time hybrid position requires working from the Washington, DC office three days a week. The ideal candidate has 4 to 6 years of relevant experience and possesses strong analytical and technical skills.

Qualifications

• 4 to 6 years of experience in export controls or regulatory compliance program management.
• Practical knowledge of ITAR and EAR as they apply to software and data analytics.
• Experience with product life cycle management.
• Ability to communicate technical findings and recommendations.

Responsibilities

• Drive trade compliance within product development.
• Collaborate with product teams to meet compliance requirements.
• Manage relationships with compliance vendors.
• Conduct Export Classification Orders of Review.

Skills

Export controls

International trade compliance

Technical vocabulary

Analytical skills

Agile methodologies

Job description

About the Role

We are looking for a Technical Program Manager (TPM) for Trade Compliance to embed directly within our product and software development and data analytics teams. Your mission is to drive compliance to enable product and software delivery in a rapid development environment. You will take complex regulatory requirements and turn them into pragmatic, scalable product features and workflows.

Because our products serve a diverse client base, you will navigate the intersection of ITAR/EAR and OFAC/sanctions requirements and globally applicable equivalents. You will ensure trade compliance requirements are built into our product and software development architecture and deployment workflows to support product team innovation.

This is a full‑time, hybrid role which will require work from our Washington, DC or Denver, CO office 3 days per week.

Impact You'll Own

• Drive and enable trade compliance as a scalable, structured framework rather than ad‑hoc requirements, enabling compliance to be built seamlessly into a rapid development environment.
• Collaborate with product managers and engineers to understand product roadmaps and lifecycles, and drive trade compliance requirements.
• Apply a pragmatic, risk‑based approach to compliance. Evaluate technical trade‑offs and guide product teams on how to meet ITAR/EAR without sacrificing speed‑to‑market.
• Manage the contract and relationship with compliance vendors.
• Conduct and document systematic Export Classification Orders of Review (e.g., ITAR and EAR) for complex data analytics and software solutions.
• Establish and maintain rigorous contemporaneous documentation tracking design intent/decisions and their impact on the export controls associated with the product/solution.
• Design, implement, and audit strict technical access controls to govern product development work among US and non‑US based teams based upon product/software classification.
• Work with product teams to develop Know Your Customer (KYC) and restricted party screening processes and workflows to tie into Planet's restricted party screening solution and ensure compliance with OFAC/sanctions requirements and applicable global equivalents.

What You Bring

• 4 to 6 years of relevant experience in export controls, international trade compliance, or regulatory compliance program management within a high‑tech or aerospace environment.
• Practical knowledge of ITAR and EAR as they apply to software, dual‑use items, encryption, and satellite/geospatial data analytics.
• Technical vocabulary: Ability to understand and converse fluently in product language (APIs, cloud infrastructure, containerization, data pipeline architecture).
• Experience with the product life cycle: concept through development, launch preparation, go‑to‑market, deprecations, and end‑of‑life.
• Analytical, problem‑solving, and creative thinking skills paired with ability to communicate findings and recommendations.
• Equally comfortable explaining analyses and recommendations to business leaders as discussing technical trade‑offs with engineers.
• Ability to balance day‑to‑day tactical work with forward‑looking improvements to scale operational efficiencies.
• Experience working inside dynamic software engineering environments: CI/CD pipelines, cloud infrastructure, and Agile methodologies.

What Makes You Stand Out

• Ability to obtain clearance.
• Experience with remote sensing, earth observation data, or geospatial systems.
• Experience working with remote, worldwide teams.
• Demonstrated success in optimizing processes and tools to scale development cycles.
• Proactive approach to learning and applying emerging regulatory standards to product development.

Benefits While Working at Planet

• 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. The range displays our typical hiring range for new hire salaries in US locations only.

• New York City + California : $136,000 – $170,000 USD
• San Francisco : $144,500 – $180,600 USD
• US National : $127,000 – $158,700 USD

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.

EEO Statement

Planet is an equal opportunity employer and is 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.

Application Deadline

September 17, 2026 at 11:59 pm PT