Talent Acquisition Partner, Space Systems (Contract)

Planet•San Francisco, CA

3d•$128,400 - $160,500•Onsite

About The Position

Planet's Space Systems organization designs, builds, and launches the largest fleet of Earth-imaging satellites in history. This team spans satellite manufacturing and integration, RF and antenna engineering, thermal and power systems, deployable structures, and avionics — and it represents Planet's highest-volume and most technically specialized hiring demand. We are scaling production for next-generation constellations and expanding manufacturing operations, which means Space Systems hiring runs at peak intensity through the middle of our fiscal year. We are looking for an experienced contract Talent Acquisition Partner to provide coverage for a senior recruiter's planned leave of absence during this critical period. This is a full-time, approximately six-month engagement with an expected start in mid-June to allow onboarding overlap before the leave begins in July. You will step into an active portfolio of requisitions across hardware engineering and manufacturing, inherit existing candidate pipelines, and maintain delivery continuity for hiring managers who are accustomed to a high level of recruiting partnership. This is not a ramp-up role. You will be expected to operate independently within the first few weeks — running intake meetings, managing pipeline, negotiating offers, and partnering directly with Space Systems hiring managers. You will work alongside a Talent Acquisition Partner who is permanently aligned to the pod for the hardest-to-fill technical roles. You will report to the Senior Manager, Talent Acquisition for the duration of the contract. This role is based in San Francisco, where Planet's headquarters and primary satellite manufacturing facility are located. This role will require you to work from our SF HQ 3 days per week.

Requirements

6+ years of full-cycle recruiting experience, with substantial time spent hiring for hardware engineering, manufacturing, or technical disciplines in aerospace, defense, or adjacent industries.
Bachelor’s Degree in a relevant field.
Ability to step into an active requisition portfolio and deliver results quickly — you have done contract or interim recruiting work before and know how to build hiring manager trust on an accelerated timeline.
Deep familiarity with aerospace, satellite, or hardware engineering talent markets — you already know which companies, programs, and talent pools produce the candidates these hiring managers need.
Experience managing a high-volume requisition load (10+ concurrent searches) with minimal supervision, maintaining quality pipeline activity and consistent stakeholder communication.
Solid technical fluency across hardware engineering disciplines — you can credibly discuss RF design, power systems, thermal analysis, and mechanical engineering at a level that earns hiring manager confidence.
Proficiency with Greenhouse or a comparable enterprise ATS, including pipeline management, reporting, and structured interview workflows.
Excellent offer negotiation skills — you can manage competing offers, navigate compensation conversations, and close candidates in a competitive market without over-relying on escalation.
Solid organizational discipline — you will be managing inherited pipelines with existing candidate relationships, and nothing can fall through the cracks during the transition.

Nice To Haves

Direct experience recruiting for satellite, spacecraft, or launch vehicle programs — you can walk onto a manufacturing floor, understand what you are looking at, and translate that context into a compelling candidate pitch.
Previous contract or interim recruiting engagements where you successfully covered a leave of absence or backfilled a senior recruiter — you have a playbook for fast onboarding and clean handoffs.
Familiarity with ITAR and export control compliance as it relates to recruiting, including how citizenship and clearance requirements constrain candidate pools for specific roles.
An existing network in the San Francisco Bay Area aerospace and hardware engineering talent community that you can activate immediately.
Experience recruiting for both salaried engineering roles and hourly manufacturing or technician positions — comfortable spanning the full spectrum of Space Systems hiring.

Responsibilities

Provide full-cycle recruiting coverage for the Space Systems pod during a senior team member's planned leave of absence, ensuring zero disruption to hiring delivery.
Inherit and manage an active portfolio of requisitions spanning hardware engineering, manufacturing operations, satellite integration and test, and specialized technical disciplines — picking up existing pipelines and advancing candidates through the process without losing momentum.
Partner directly with Space Systems hiring managers to maintain the caliber of recruiting partnership they expect — running intake meetings, providing market intelligence, managing expectations on timeline and candidate availability, and closing offers.
Manage 10–15 concurrent requisitions across a range of engineering specialties including mechanical, electrical, RF, thermal, power, FPGA, and manufacturing operations roles.
Collaborate with the Talent Acquisition Partner in the pod to balance workload, share pipeline intelligence, and ensure no requisitions fall through the cracks during the transition.
Maintain accurate and up-to-date pipeline data in Greenhouse, ensuring a clean handback when the senior team member returns from leave.
Deliver a thorough transition at the end of the engagement — documenting pipeline status, hiring manager context, and candidate relationships so that nothing is lost when the permanent recruiter resumes.