Senior Manager, Talent Acquisition

Planet•San Francisco, CA

5d•Hybrid

About The Position

Planet is entering its most ambitious growth phase — scaling our team globally to deliver on the next generation of Earth observation technology, expand manufacturing operations, and bring new intelligence products to market. Talent Acquisition is at the center of that growth, and this role exists to ensure we have the strategy, structure, and capacity to deliver. As Senior Manager, Talent Acquisition, you will serve as the functional leader of the TA team. You will own the operating model that determines how recruiting resources are allocated against business demand — building and maintaining the capacity planning framework, and directing the external partner ecosystem that extends our reach into specialized and global talent markets. You will lead the transition from a reactive, generalist recruiting model to a proactive, domain-aligned pod structure where talent partners develop deep expertise in the business areas they support. This is not a role that sits above the work — you will carry a light strategic requisition load focused on senior-level and cross-functional searches that benefit from experienced attention. But your primary impact is system-level: ensuring every talent partner on the team is positioned to deliver at maximum effectiveness against a clearly defined hiring plan. You will directly manage a team of Talent Partners and Sourcers across multiple business-aligned pods, set quarterly delivery targets, and coach your team on hiring manager partnership, pipeline strategy, and candidate experience. A Manager of TA focused on delivery execution will report to you, giving you a leadership layer that allows you to balance people management with strategic planning. This role reports to the Senior Director of Talent Acquisition and Talent Management, and partners closely with Finance, People Business Partners, and business leadership to translate workforce plans into executable recruiting strategies. You will be a key voice in headcount planning conversations, bringing data-driven perspectives on what is achievable, where risks exist, and how to deploy resources for maximum impact. This is a full-time, hybrid role which will require you to work from our San Francisco office 3 days per week.

Requirements

6+ years of progressive talent acquisition experience.
4+ years in a leadership role managing a team of talent partners or talent partners at a scaling technology company.
Experience building and operating a capacity planning or workforce planning model that connects talent partner headcount and delivery capacity to business hiring targets.
Experience designing or operating a pod-based, domain-aligned, or business unit-embedded recruiting model — not just generalist delivery-on-demand.
Solid analytical skills with the ability to build dashboards, interpret pipeline data, and translate recruiting metrics into strategic recommendations for leadership.
Experience managing external recruiting partners (agencies, RPOs, contract talent partners) and knowing when and how to activate them effectively without over-reliance.
Ability to recruit and close senior-level candidates directly, particularly in competitive technical markets.
Excellent communication skills — you can present a staffing strategy to a VP of Finance, coach a talent partner through a difficult close, and partner with a hiring manager on role scoping in the same day.

Nice To Haves

Experience in aerospace, defense, hardware engineering, or deep-tech industries where talent pools are small, specialized, and highly competitive.
Familiarity with global hiring — particularly in EMEA or APJ — including works councils, local compliance requirements, and international compensation structures.
Experience deploying AI-powered recruiting tools (sourcing automation, interview intelligence, analytics platforms) and integrating them into team workflows to improve efficiency and quality.
Background that includes management consulting, FP&A, or program management — demonstrating comfort with financial modeling and structured problem-solving beyond traditional recruiting.
Experience supporting a company through a significant scaling inflection point, such as doubling headcount within a fiscal year or standing up recruiting operations in a new geography.

Responsibilities

Lead the Talent Acquisition function, setting the strategic direction for how Planet attracts, evaluates, and hires talent across all business units and geographies.
Build and maintain a quarterly capacity model that maps talent partner delivery against business hiring demand, identifying gaps and surplus before they affect outcomes.
Implement and activate a pod-based recruiting model where Talent Partners are aligned to specific business domains, building the hiring manager relationships and technical knowledge needed to consistently source and close top talent.
Directly manage Talent Partners and Sourcers, setting delivery expectations, running pipeline reviews, and coaching on sourcing strategy, candidate engagement, and offer negotiation.
Own the external partner ecosystem — activating and managing relationships with staffing agencies, search firms, contract recruiting partners, and RPO vendors to extend capacity into specialized markets and geographies where internal reach is limited.
Develop and maintain TA analytics and reporting — including pipeline health, time-to-fill trends, source-of-hire effectiveness, SLA adherence, and quarterly capacity forecasts — to give leadership clear visibility into hiring performance and risk.
Partner with the workforce planning function to translate business headcount demand into TA resource requirements, ensuring the team is right-sized as demand evolves quarter to quarter.
Drive continuous improvement in recruiting operations by identifying process bottlenecks, advocating for tooling investments, and partnering with Talent Operations to streamline the candidate and hiring manager experience.
Carry a small portfolio of strategic requisitions — typically Director-level and above or highly complex cross-functional searches — modeling the candidate experience and hiring standards you expect from the broader team.