Director – People Business Partners

About the Role:  

Planet is undergoing a significant transformation in Europe, including establishing a new satellite manufacturing hub in Berlin and rapidly scaling its EMEA workforce. We are seeking the most senior People Team leader in the region, a Director of People Business Partners, to own the strategic priorities and highest-stakes people decisions.

This role translates Planet's global people strategy for regional execution, surfaces critical local insights, and serves as the essential liaison between EMEA and US People leadership to ensure global programs are adapted for European realities. The ideal candidate will operate with high autonomy and bring senior HR judgment, having built people infrastructure in Europe previously.

This is a full-time, in-office position based in our Haarlem, Berlin or London office 5 days per week. The role reports to the VP, People Business Partners.

Impact You’ll Own:

• Serve as the senior People Team leader in EMEA — owning the regional people strategy, representing the function to business leaders across the region, and ensuring that every aspect of the employee lifecycle operates with the same rigor and intentionality in Europe as it does in the US.
• General oversight for the people team including People Business Partners, Talent Partners and People Operations Partners in EMEA, providing the coaching, prioritization, and strategic context they need to operate at their highest level.
• Drive execution of global People Team initiatives in EMEA — including performance management, pay transparency compliance ahead of EU regulatory deadlines, leadership competency framework rollout, and HRIS migration — adapting each for European legal, cultural, and operational realities.
• Help lead the people strategy for the Berlin manufacturing hub buildout — including organizational design, workforce planning, leadership team development, and the cultural integration of a new manufacturing workforce into Planet’s engineering-driven culture.
• Serve as the primary relay between EMEA Leadership Team and the People leadership team in the United States — ensuring that regional context informs global decisions, surfacing risks and opportunities that are not visible from headquarters, and advocating for EMEA needs in resource allocation and program prioritization.
• Partner with Talent Acquisition to ensure the EMEA recruiting engine is aligned with workforce plans — providing the org design context, compensation guidance, and hiring manager readiness that recruiters need to close candidates effectively in a competitive European talent market.
• Partner with People Operations to ensure seamless operational execution for EMEA employees — including entity compliance, payroll coordination, benefits administration, and onboarding workflows that meet German and broader European requirements.
• Own the most complex and sensitive employee relations matters in EMEA — including performance management, restructuring, and terminations, utilizing deep knowledge of European labor law and the judgment to navigate situations where business drivers and legal compliance may not align.
• Build the organizational and cultural connective tissue that makes Planet’s EMEA workforce feel like a genuine part of the company — not a satellite office. This means designing cross-site collaboration practices, advocating for equitable access to development and advancement opportunities, and ensuring that the Berlin team develops its own identity while remaining tightly connected to Planet’s mission and values.

What You Bring:

• 12+ years of progressive HR/People experience, with at least 5 years in a senior People Business Partner or HR leadership role supporting European operations at a scaling technology or manufacturing company.
• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field.
• Deep expertise in European employment compliance including works council engagement.
• Experience standing up or significantly scaling a European operation — including entity establishment, localized employment practices, and integrating a new-geography workforce into a US-headquartered company culture.
• Ability to operate as the senior People leader in a region, making high-stakes decisions with autonomy and communicating outcomes to headquarters leadership with clarity and confidence. Experience managing and developing People Business Partners — coaching them on stakeholder influence, organizational diagnosis, and the transition from reactive problem-solving to proactive strategic partnership.
• Solid organizational design and workforce planning capabilities — you can look at a growing EMEA operation and translate the business plan into an org structure, role architecture, and hiring sequence that makes sense.
• Ability to navigate ambiguity and make decisions with incomplete information — particularly in cross-cultural, multi-jurisdiction environments where the “right” answer requires balancing legal requirements, cultural context, business priorities, and employee experience.
• Experience driving performance management, compensation, and talent review processes in European markets — including familiarity with EU pay transparency regulations and how to prepare managers for compensation conversations in a compliance-driven environment.
• A leadership style that embodies proactive execution and ownership — you establish clarity, define decision rights, prioritize ruthlessly, and push initiatives to conclusion rather than waiting for direction from headquarters.

What Makes You Stand Out:

• Experience in aerospace, satellite, defense, or precision manufacturing environments where compliance complexity (export control, ITAR, security clearances) adds a layer of operational rigor to every people decision.
• Track record of building a People function — including knowledge of the European talent market, local employer landscape, and the practical realities of scaling a team in the city.
• Experience deploying AI-enabled tools or processes within an HR function — not just awareness, but hands-on involvement in evaluating, implementing, and driving adoption of technology that changes how HR work gets done.
• Background that includes organizational development, change management, or management consulting — demonstrating the ability to diagnose organizational health, design interventions, and facilitate executive alignment on talent strategy.
• Experience supporting a company through a significant growth stage in its European operations — such as first entity establishment, first works council formation, major facility launch, or rapid headcount scaling from under 50 to 200+ employees in a single geography.

Application Deadline:

August 17, 2026 by 11:59p / 23:59 CET (Central European Time)

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