Senior Forward Deployment Engineer, Strategic Customer Engagements U.S.
About The Position
Planet is seeking a senior software engineer to develop transformative software solutions for strategic customers, beginning with Global Defense and Security customers. The role is a hands-on senior technical contributor on a collaborative engineering team, working directly with key partners to solve complex, mission-critical challenges. It requires autonomy to turn ambiguous requirements into functional, reliable software and ownership of complex technical problems from design through delivery. The work supports customer commitments and informs future product development. This is a full-time, hybrid position requiring work from Planet’s Arlington, Virginia office three days per week and travel 30–50% to customer sites within the region. The position requires a current active TS or TS/TSI security clearance and access to export-controlled information without additional export licensing.
Requirements
- At least 6 years of relevant experience in software engineering or an equivalent technical role.
- Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or another relevant field.
- Experience with geospatial software development and concepts, such as Rasterio, Fiona, Shapely, OpenLayers, or GDAL.
- Experience with AWS or GCP.
- Proficiency in Python.
- Knowledge of software engineering best practices, including coding standards, code reviews, source control management, and testing methodologies.
- Ability to communicate complex technical concepts effectively to diverse internal and external stakeholders.
- Experience with fast, iterative development cycles and ability to adapt to changing requirements.
- Willingness to travel 30–50% to customer sites within the region.
- Current active security clearance (TS or TS/TSI).
- Ability to access applicable export-controlled information without requiring additional export licensing.
Nice To Haves
- Experience with JavaScript, Java, Go, or C#.
- Experience working with defense and security customer domains.
Responsibilities
- Lead the full development lifecycle, from discovery and decomposition through designing, building, and deploying bespoke customer solutions.
- Develop full-stack software across front-end, back-end, data integration, cloud infrastructure such as AWS, and CI/CD pipelines.
- Work directly with customers to understand operational challenges and translate them into technical requirements.
- Analyze customer solutions and identify reusable patterns that can inform broader platform development.
- Use AI tooling and an AI-first approach to iterate rapidly, deliver value, and adapt to changing requirements.
- Mentor team members, conduct code reviews, and foster a collaborative engineering culture.
- Deliver critical commitments on time to support customer relationships and business goals.
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.
- Possible discretionary short-term and long-term incentives, including bonus and equity.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
