Senior Forward Deployed Engineer (AI)

Location: United States, remote. If located near a Planet office, work from that office 3 days per week. Travel 30–50% to customer sites within the region.

Salary: US National range of $160,600–$200,800 annually. Additional short-term and long-term incentives may be available.

Company

Planet designs, builds, and operates a large constellation of imaging satellites and delivers satellite data through a cloud-based platform for commercial, environmental, humanitarian, and defense customers.

What you will do

• Develop bespoke software solutions for strategic Global Defense and Security customers across the full development lifecycle.
• Design and build full-stack applications covering front-end, back-end, data integration, AWS or other cloud infrastructure, and CI/CD pipelines.
• Work directly with customers to understand operational challenges and translate them into technical requirements.
• Identify reusable solution patterns that can inform broader platform development.
• Use AI tooling and an AI-first approach to iterate quickly and adapt to changing requirements.
• Mentor engineers, participate in code reviews, and deliver critical customer commitments.

Requirements

• 6+ years of relevant software engineering or equivalent technical experience.
• Experience with geospatial software development and concepts, including tools such as Rasterio, Fiona, Shapely, OpenLayers, or GDAL.
• Proficiency in Python and experience with AWS or GCP.
• Strong knowledge of software engineering practices, including coding standards, source control, testing, and code reviews.
• Strong customer engagement and communication skills, with the ability to explain complex technical concepts to diverse audiences.
• Current active TS or TS/TSI security clearance required.

Nice to have

• Experience with JavaScript, Java, Go, or C#.

Culture & Benefits

• Remote work with office-based collaboration available for employees near a Planet office.
• Medical, dental, and vision plans, plus an HSA with company contribution.
• Paid time off, holidays, company-wide days off, and 16 weeks of paid parental leave.
• Home office, phone, and internet reimbursements.
• Tuition reimbursement, LinkedIn Learning access, equity, wellness support, and commuter benefits where applicable.

Hiring process

• Interviews may use AI-assisted transcription and summarization with candidate consent; candidates may opt out.
• AI tools are prohibited during live interviews and active assessments unless explicitly permitted.