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Planet Labs

Sells satellite imagery and geospatial analytics

Senior Camera Systems Engineer

AvionicsConfirmed live in the last 24 hours
Full-timeSan Francisco, CA, USA

About the Job

Requirements

  • A bachelor's or master's degree in Systems Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Optical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Physics, or a closely related field.
  • 10+ years of engineering experience, including at least 5+ years dedicated to systems engineering or technical leadership for complex digital cameras or electro-optical imaging systems.
  • A track record of managing requirements traceability and flowdown across electrical, mechanical, and optical boundaries.
  • Experience managing external vendors, foundries, or contract manufacturers for high-performance camera components or custom sensors.
  • Deep understanding of CMOS image sensor architecture, radiometry, and camera performance budgets, including tracking noise, stray light, and modulation transfer function across the camera module.

Responsibilities

  • Translate top-level remote sensing performance requirements into clear, verifiable specifications for the camera subsystem, including the image sensor, proximity electronics, lens/optical interfaces, and thermal management.
  • Serve as the primary technical point of contact for external image sensor foundries and camera component vendors; drive statement of work definitions, technical milestones, and preliminary and critical design reviews.
  • Lead camera-level trade studies balancing image quality attributes, including signal-to-noise ratio, dynamic range, modulation transfer function, and radiometry, against spacecraft constraints such as power consumption, thermal dissipation, and mass.
  • Define and maintain interface control documents mapping boundaries between the camera module, high-speed data serialization, image signal processing pipeline, and host payload or spacecraft bus.
  • Own the end-to-end verification matrix for the camera; design and oversee environmental qualification plans for vacuum, thermal, and vibration conditions, and electro-optical calibration routines.

Desired Qualifications

  • Experience developing camera hardware or imaging instruments for the low Earth orbit environment, including knowledge of radiation mitigation, outgassing, and vacuum-compatible design.
  • Experience applying aerospace standards, including NASA, ESA, or high-reliability commercial equivalents, to camera qualification, environmental testing, and hardware acceptance.
  • Familiarity with hardware-level image processing, such as dark current correction and defective pixel masking, high-speed serialization protocols, and ground-station image calibration.

About the Company

Planet Labs

Sells satellite imagery and geospatial analytics

Planet Labs sells satellite imagery, geospatial data and analysis software to businesses, researchers and public agencies. Its Earth observation services help customers monitor changes in land use, infrastructure and natural resources, while tasking lets users request imagery of specific places. Customers access data through subscriptions, web tools and APIs, and can combine imagery with analytic feeds in their own workflows. The company also offers dedicated satellite capacity and constellation services, extending its business beyond image licensing to tailored observation systems. Founded in 2010, Planet Labs is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

Company size
1,001-5,000
Company stage
IPO
Headquarters
San Francisco, CA
Founded
2010

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