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 headquartered in San Francisco, California, Earth.

About the Role:  

Come and help us to build our customer platform and make an impact on Earth!

Planet monitors the Earth by observing the entire Earth everyday. The market for these insights is new and therefore requires engineering that embraces change as we establish product market fit.  Customer platform engineers are focused on continuously improving the value we deliver to customers, increasing the market for the earth observation industry. 

As a backend engineer, you will be critical in building nimble backend systems and infrastructure to serve Planet’s APIs, web apps, and SDKs. From designing databases and engineering data flows, to orchestrating tasks across our microservices, you will be a key player in ensuring we can quickly meet the ever-changing needs of Planet’s customers.

In this role, you will be challenged to: deliver robust and nimble infrastructure, have a sharp product and business sense, and think big yet deliver value incrementally.

Impact You’ll Own:

• Work as an integral member of a cross-functional team focused on engineering our backend to support customer-focused needs such as:
• User authentication flows using standards such as OAuth and OIDC
• Attribute-based access control authorization systems to provide fine-grained control over customer use
• Build cloud infrastructure to post-process and deliver millions of images per day to customers
• Design and implement customer facing APIs to serve raster and vector geospatial data efficiently and intuitively
• Build infrastructure and systems that will be flexible/nimble so we can evolve our product quickly and with high velocity
• Participate in an on-call rotation to ensure our systems remain up 24/7

Senior applicants will:

• Develop a vision and roadmap to improve our engineering stack
• Help to sequence and de-risk projects to ensure timely delivery of value
• Collaborate with product and other cross-functional stakeholders to co-create an impactful customer experience.

What You Bring:

Experience in:

• Building backend systems using a service-oriented architecture (SOA)
• Developing well-thought out, scalable, maintainable REST APIs
• Utilizing and building on PubSub paradigms
• Continuous Integration (CI) and Continuous Delivery (CD) tooling
• Go and/or Python
• SQL database design and management
• Building infrastructure in a cloud environment 
• Leveraging the capabilities of GCP, AWS, or Azure cloud platforms
• Utilizing the infrastructure-as-code paradigm with tools such as Terraform
• Linux, Git and command line tools
• Working in cross-functional teams that put customer requirements first
• Adaptability and openness to changes and challenges
• A positive, can-do attitude to work

Senior applicants will also have:

• Clear communication skills that resonate with engineers, cross functional stakeholders, and executives
• A track record of designing, building, and evolving software systems at scale
• Passion for improving developer velocity
• A track record of mentorship and growing other engineers

What Makes You Stand Out:

Experience in:

• Kubernetes (k8s)
• Geospatial libraries (GDAL, OGR, etc.)
• Postgres / PostGIS
• API Design
• Oncall experience

Benefits While Working at Planet:

• Be part of a vibrant international company of 45+ nationalities with office locations in different countries
• Sense of belonging in a diverse and inclusive culture
• Experience a fast-paced spacetech environment
• Countless opportunities to connect within and outside of work with regular team events 
• Personal development with annual L&D budget
• Join our regular hack-weeks and meetup events to exchange knowledge
• Employee Resource Groups and the opportunity to be part of a community
• Give back to the community by using one day per quarter for charitable work as part of our 1% Pledge
• Flexible working hours to support work life balance
• Be part of our growth: we offer equity options for our employees
• Daily virtual mindful bodywork sessions to stay healthy
• We offer equipment and wellbeing support during these challenging times
• Contributions to Company Pension scheme
• Enjoy unique offers and discounts for companies/web shops
• Additional Company Holidays

Some Press About Us: 

Our CEO, Will Marshall featured on TED and featured in a Planet Blog

“Planet: Bringing Space Back Down to Earth”

Tiny, privately owned satellites are changing how we view the Earth features in NBC News

“Planet And Rocket Lab Create Mission Patch To Honor Women In Aerospace” —Planet Blog

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 with diversity, equity and inclusion.  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. 

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 interview process, please call Planet's front office at 669-214-9404 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.

#LI-REMOTE#LI-Mz1