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, and The Netherlands.
About the Role:
Planet is looking for exceptional Engineering Managers to lead our Planetary Variable (PV) product engineering teams. These roles sit in the PV engineering organization that is responsible for creating PVs, in other words “meaningful measurements of conditions on the surface of the Earth, derived from satellite observations’’. PVs are data products that are based on our industry-leading remote sensing and machine learning expertise. Our teams develop advanced algorithms that process satellite data from Planet and from public constellations to produce information for businesses, governments and non-profits.
Our two North American based PV teams are Forestry & Woodlands, focussed on mapping forest carbon, and Land Cover, who develop road and building monitoring products including global weekly mapping and change detection. The core algorithms in these systems are typically a combination of computer vision (DL & non-DL) and time series, all cemented in statistical and physical principles.
In this role, you will lead a team of engineers working together on algorithm development and integration into our distributed compute platform. You will guide the team to prototype and scale Planet’s current and future Planetary Variable products. You will strengthen the processes for model training, validation and maintenance, such as creation of ground truth datasets, design of labeling tools, and setting up data monitoring systems. A solid background in applied statistics and scientific computing is desired, as well as experience building data products.
These teams are remote and distributed across North America.
Impact You’ll Own:
- Lead a team of 5+ machine learning engineers
- Hire new engineers according to product strategy, which you will help develop
- Mentor, coach and unblock your team members, helping them succeed and grow their careers
- Set up team processes for task planning, code reviews and on-call rotations
- Establish sound engineering practices to build software and design training & inference pipelines
- Supervise recurring ML operations for production algorithms (monitoring, training, benchmarking, deploying, etc)
- Work closely with product management and other cross functional teams
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What You Bring:
- 4+ years of experience as a software engineer, data scientist or ML engineer in industry
- 2+ years of experience as a manager
- Solid understanding of fundamentals in software engineering, statistics and machine learning
- Experience with distributed cloud computing
- Experience maintaining ML models in production
- Experience with scientific python libraries (e.g. numpy, scipy, TensorFlow, etc)
- Proficiency with Linux, Git, Docker
- Excellent interpersonal skills, both verbal and written, with the ability to explain complex technical issues accurately to technical and non-technical audiences
What Makes You Stand Out:
- Experience working with sensor or geospatial data
- Experience with geospatial python libraries (e.g. pyproj, rasterio, shapely, etc)
- Experience in remote sensing or related fields
- Proven record of team growth and product releases
Benefits While Working at Planet:
- Comprehensive Health Plan
- Wellness program and onsite massages in specific offices
- Flexible Time Off
- Recognition Programs
- Commuter Benefits
- Learning and Tuition Reimbursement
- Parental Leave
- Offsites and Happy Hours
- Volunteering Benefits
Compensation:
The US base salary range for this full-time position at the commencement of employment is $124,000 - $203,000. 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. The range displays our typical hiring range for new hire salaries in US locations only. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for your preferred location during the hiring process.
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#LI-REMOTE
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.
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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.
