Senior Software Engineer

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:

In addition to our Planetscope constellation, which semi-autonomously creates a near-daily scan of all of Earth’s landmass, we operate satellites that capture high-resolution (SkySat and Pelican) and hyper-spectral (Tanager) data. These are so-called tasked satellites: they take captures in response to specific imaging requests. Our agile and interdisciplinary team builds the systems that make it possible for our customers to order and obtain data from these satellites.

In this role, you will maintain and extend Planet’s Tasking systems, which bridge our customers and many of our internal systems. This means you will be working on systems that externally provide comfortable and reliable interfaces (API & web) for our customers to task and receive our data, and internally act as an integration point between diverse systems (mission control, accounting, imaging processing and quality control). The ideal candidate is positive with a resilient, can-do attitude.

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

Impact You’ll Own:

• Work closely with product managers and designers to create user-centered products. 
• Drive initiatives through their whole life cycle, from exploration and design, over implementation and quality to release and maintenance.
• Continually improve our systems’ architecture, development processes, and system design.

What You Bring:

• Bachelor’s or equivalent undergraduate degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Geographic Information Systems, or similar.
• 10+ years of relevant experience
• Experience in driving technical excellence, including system architecture, technical debt strategy, and reviewing complex implementations, as the technical leader across full-stack systems.
• Experience in core domain technologies (e.g., JavaScript/TypeScript, React, Node.js, or Python, Django) with continuous proficiency in delivering complex, high-quality system features.
• Experience in making, documenting, and communicating architectural decisions across a broad technical domain.
• Ability to cultivate cross-functional synergy by fostering transparency across Product, Design, and Engineering.
• Ability to drive technical discovery under high ambiguity, translating high-level stakeholder needs into actionable requirements and documentation.
• Working proficiency in English, the language of the company.

What Makes You Stand Out:

• Experience in mentoring junior engineers or leading working groups to elevate team capability.
• Ability to manage infrastructure and services deployed on major Cloud Platforms (e.g., GCP, AWS).
• Familiarity with DevOps tooling, including CI/CD pipelines and infrastructure-as-code (e.g., Terraform).
• Familiarity with monitoring and alerting solutions (e.g., Prometheus, Sentry) to ensure service health.
• Advanced skills in designing, developing, and maintaining complex distributed, full-stack systems.

Application Deadline:

March 22, 2026 at 23:59 (11:59pm PT)

Export Control Requirements:

Planet Labs Germany GmbH is authorized to receive U.S. export-controlled information at Planet under an export license issued by the Bureau of Industry and Security. This position requires access to export-controlled information, and as such, employment (or hiring of a contractor) is contingent upon the candidate’s ability to access all applicable export-controlled 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:

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

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 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: By clicking "Apply Now" at the top of this job posting, I acknowledge that I have read the Planet Data Privacy Notice for California Staff Members and Applicants, and hereby consent to the collection, processing, use, and storage of my personal information as described therein.

Privacy Policy (European Applicants): 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. 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 accommodations@planet.com 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.