Senior Director, Product Management - Defense and Intelligence
About The Position
Planet is seeking a Senior Director of Product Management to lead its Defense and Intelligence (D&I) product portfolio, its fastest-growing business segment. The role defines product strategy, builds the roadmap, and drives execution for dual-use products including Global Monitoring Service (GMS), Marine Domain Awareness (MDA) platforms, automated change detection feeds, and agentic workflows. The product leader will manage a dedicated team of product managers and partner with D&I Engineering leadership and company executives to turn satellite imagery and API services into scalable, mission-critical software solutions that meet national security requirements while leveraging Planet’s commercial platform. The work supports government, allied mission partners, and enterprise customers making critical, time-sensitive decisions. The role oversees the D&I portfolio’s full product lifecycle, synthesizes requirements from global defense customers, and defines pricing and packaging for intelligence solutions. It translates market vision and defense mission requirements into actionable roadmaps for GMS and MDA products, while recruiting, mentoring, and managing product managers. The role works closely with D&I Engineering, UX researchers, account executives, product marketing managers, and external government stakeholders to align product strategy with engineering execution and system design. It is a full-time hybrid position requiring work from the San Francisco, California, or Arlington, Virginia office three days per week.
Requirements
- Typically 10 or more years of relevant work experience and 8 or more years of supervisory or leadership experience in defense, intelligence, geospatial, or aerospace sectors.
- Demonstrated track record of scaling end-to-end dual-use or defense software applications from concept to launch, such as domain awareness, automated change detection, or spatial monitoring platforms.
- Comprehensive knowledge of Defense and Intelligence mission frameworks, workflows, and user needs, particularly broad area monitoring and Marine Domain Awareness.
- Experience collaborating directly with executive engineering leadership to translate market vision and defense mission requirements into scalable engineering roadmaps.
- Familiarity with product development in environments governed by International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and Export Administration Regulations (EAR).
- Effective written and verbal communication skills for articulating product strategy, requirements, and roadmaps to executives, commercial partners, and external mission partners.
- Active high-level government security clearance or eligibility to obtain top-secret clearance upon hire.
- Ability to access applicable export-controlled information without additional export licensing.
Nice To Haves
- Direct product experience defining requirements for integrating advanced machine learning models, analytics, or agentic workflows into a commercial or defense product stack.
- Professional experience serving in the intelligence community, military, or a related government agency.
- Experience defining product requirements for secure government environments, air-gapped systems, or sovereign cloud deployments such as AWS GovCloud/C2S.
- Experience with multi-sensor data fusion workflows, including optical satellite imagery and Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR).
Responsibilities
- Lead the Defense and Intelligence product portfolio, including GMS, MDA platforms, automated change detection feeds, and agentic workflows.
- Define product strategy, build roadmaps, and drive product execution for dual-use products.
- Oversee the full product lifecycle and synthesize market requirements from global defense customers.
- Define pricing and packaging for intelligence solutions.
- Translate market vision and defense mission requirements into actionable product roadmaps.
- Recruit, mentor, and manage a team of product managers.
- Partner with D&I Engineering leadership to align product strategy with engineering execution sprints and system designs.
- Collaborate with UX researchers, account executives, product marketing managers, and external government stakeholders.
- Build tools for monitoring geopolitical events, ensuring marine security, and protecting critical infrastructure.
Benefits
- Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision plans
- Health Savings Account (HSA) with a company contribution
- Generous paid time off, holidays, and company-wide days off
- 16 weeks of paid parental leave
- Wellness Program and Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
- Home office reimbursement
- Monthly phone and internet reimbursement
- Tuition reimbursement and access to LinkedIn Learning
- Equity
- Commuter benefits for employees local to an office
- Paid volunteering time off
- Potential eligibility for discretionary short-term and long-term incentives (bonus and equity)
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
Education Level
No Education Listed
