Staff Software Engineer - Global Defense & Security

Employment Type: Full-time Location Type: Remote (United States) Salary: Not Specified

Position Overview

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, delivering an unprecedented dataset of empirical information via a revolutionary cloud-based platform. We are both a space company and a data company, enabling customers and users across the globe to develop new technologies, drive revenue, power research, and solve our world’s toughest obstacles. Our inspiring office environment is a mix of experts from a variety of domains, with a people-centric approach toward culture and community, iterating 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 San Francisco, Washington DC, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, and The Netherlands.

About the Role

We are seeking a highly experienced Staff Software Engineer to lead the development of transformative solutions for our most strategic accounts, starting with our Global Defense and Security customers. In this role, you will be embedded with key partners, acting as a technical leader and hands-on builder while collaborating closely with a team of engineers. Your mission is to tackle complex, mission-critical customer challenges, translating ambiguity into high-impact software solutions. You will have the autonomy to define, design, and build what is needed, often inventing new capabilities in the field that may later become core product features.

Your contributions will directly enable us to deliver on critical customer commitments while laying the groundwork for future market expansion. By demonstrating immediate, significant value, you will help secure larger, multi-year contracts and transform promising capabilities into impactful products that exceed customer expectations. This role is ideal for an individual contributor who enjoys dynamic environments and likes taking ownership from concept to delivery while guiding and elevating the team around them.

This is a full-time, remote position based in the United States. If located near an office, you are expected to work from that office 3 days per week.

Impact You'll Own

• Own end-to-end problem-solving with your engineering team: from discovery and decomposition to designing, building, and deploying bespoke solutions for customer challenges.
• Architect, design, and develop robust, full-stack software, including front-end, back-end, data integration, cloud infrastructure (e.g., AWS), and CI/CD pipelines.
• Engage directly with customers, conducting technical discovery and translating operational challenges into clear technical requirements and compelling solutions.
• Embrace rapid iteration to deliver value quickly, adapting to evolving requirements with a bias for action.
• Provide technical leadership and mentorship within your team, fostering a collaborative, “player/coach” environment.
• Identify reusable patterns in customer solutions to inform broader platform development.
• Ensure measurable, real-world outcomes that build trust and secure long-term partnerships.
• Support pre-sales efforts by engaging in technical discovery and contributing to solution proposals.
• Deliver critical commitments on time, understanding their direct impact on customer relationships and business objectives.

What You Bring

• 12+ years of relevant work experience in software engineering or in an equivalent technical role.
• Expertise with geospatial software development and concepts (e.g., Rasterio, Fiona, Shapely, OpenLayers, GDAL).
• Expert-le... (Content truncated)