Engineering Program Manager (San Francisco)

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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 cloudbased platform to authoritative figures in commercial, environmental, and humanitarian sectors. We are both a space company and a 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 worlds 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 peoplecentric 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 worldwide and joining us from offices in SanFrancisco, WashingtonDC, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, and The Netherlands.

The Role

The Engineering Program Manager at Planet will be a fearless organizer and an excellent crossfunctional leader, working with multiple teams both inside Planet and with external partners. A successful candidate will help set strategy, actively drive handson problemsolving efforts, personally dive deep to eliminate technical and logistical roadblocks, and ruthlessly execute on aggressive schedules. You will be responsible for managing and communicating status and issues along the way.

This is a tactical, intheweeds role that demands broad technical strength, handson experience in multiple areas of spacecraft design and manufacturing, and an obsession with meeting milestones.

This is a fulltime, inoffice position based in our SanFrancisco office five days a week.

Impact You Own

• Lead satellite development programs from planning and requirements definition through critical design, build, test, and launch under tight, missioncritical deadlines.
• Ensure efficient execution of all program phases, including MCR, SRR, PDR, CDR, IRR, SRR, and LRR.
• Develop and meticulously maintain project schedules and budgets, tracking performance daily and coursecorrecting in real time.
• Actively manage the execution of technical plans at all levels, both internally and with external suppliers, including project definition and budgeting.
• Collaborate and coordinate with external stakeholders, including suppliers, partners, vendors, and customers, to manage deliverables, technical plans, and program milestones.
• Be the first point of contact for technical fires; actively triage, prioritize, and drive issues to closure.
• Work shouldertoshoulder with multiple engineering teams and crossfunctional stakeholders to drive productivity and progress on concurrent projects.
• Aggressively manage program risks and develop mitigation plans to keep the program on its uncompromising timeline.
• Drive rootcause problemsolving, identify, and eliminate blocking issues.

What You Bring

• Bachelors degree in a technically relevant field: Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or Aerospace.
• 6+ years of relevant experience in Engineering Program Management or Engineering Management.
• A rollupyoursleeves mentality; you are not afraid to live in the lab or on the factory floor to solve problems.
• Experience managing concurrent, fastpaced hardware projects with nonnegotiable deadlines.
• A strong bias for action and enthusiasm, with proven creative and critical thinking capabilities.
• Experience in an engineering project management role for the development of hardware systems in a crossfunctional, crossorganizational context.
• Experience working with and managing external partners, suppliers, vendors, and customers to drive program success.
• Excellent written and verbal communication and facilitation skills, especially in highstakes technical tradeoff discussions.
• Exceptional ability to stay organized and prioritize in a highpressure, ambiguous, and rapidly changing environment.

What Makes You Stand Out

• Experience managing spacecraft hardware and software build and release cycles.
• Experience with scaling systems on satellite manufacturing.
• Experience applying agile hardware development practices and managing rapid prototype cycles.
• Ability to work on assignments that require data evaluation, recommendation development, and decisionmaking.
• Excellent problemsolving, organizational, and analytical skills.
• Deep technical fluency in at least one spacecraft specialization (e.g., optics, operations, avionics, software) allowing you to engage credibly with engineers on complex tradeoffs.
• A track record of successfully delivering complex hardware projects against all odds.

Application Deadline

March10,2026 at 11:59pm PT

EAR/ITAR Requirements

This position requires access to exportcontrolled information, and as such, employment (or hiring of a contractor) is contingent upon the candidates ability to access all applicable exportcontrolled information without additional export licensing being required by the Bureau of Industry and Security and/or the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls.

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 companywide days off
• 16weeks 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 fulltime position at the commencement of employment is $162,600$203,200 USD for SanFrancisco. This role might also be eligible for discretionary shortterm and longterm incentives (bonus and equity). The final salary range is determined by jobrelated experience, skills and location. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for your preferred location during the hiring process.

Why We Care So Much About Belonging

Were 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. Thats why Planet is guided by an ultimate north star of belongingdreaming big as we approach our ongoing work. If this job intrigues you, but youre thinking you might not have all the qualifications, please do apply! At Planet, we are looking for wellrounded people from around the world who can contribute to more ways than just what is listed in this job description. We dont just fill positions, we aspire to fulfill peoples 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 youre 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 equalopportunity 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.

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 accommodations@planet.com or contact your recruiter with your request. Your message will be confidential and we will be happy to assist you.

Privacy Policy

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European Applicants Privacy Notice

By clicking Apply Now at the top of this job posting, I acknowledge that I have read the Candidate Privacy Notice GDPR Planet Labs Europe, and hereby consent to the collection, processing, use, and storage of my personal information as described therein.

AI in Our Interviewing Process

Planet is committed to providing an exceptional interview experience for all candidates. We are currently exploring AI interviewing technologies to better focus on candidates and less on trying to capture notes. With the candidates 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 realtime. Opting out will not affect ones candidacy.

Candidate AI Policy

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