Talent Sourcer

Planet•San Francisco, CA

3d•Remote

About The Position

Planet's mission to image the world every day depends on attracting the most capable engineers, operators, and commercial leaders in our industry — and that work begins long before a candidate ever applies. As a senior individual contributor on Planet's Talent Acquisition team, the Talent Sourcer will own pipeline development for our most complex North American searches, partnering with Talent Acquisition Partners across Space Systems, Software Engineering, Commercial, and Corporate functions to identify, engage, and convert the passive talent who will help shape what Planet builds next. This role is for a deeply experienced sourcer who can operate with full autonomy on the hardest searches we run — including senior engineering, executive, and niche technical hires — and who treats sourcing as a craft. You will report to the Senior Manager, Talent Acquisition, and work closely with hiring leaders across Planet to translate ambiguous needs into actionable pipeline.

Requirements

6+ years of dedicated sourcing experience, including at least three years sourcing for technical engineering disciplines (hardware, systems, embedded, ML, software, or equivalent).
Demonstrated ownership of complex senior-level and executive searches end-to-end — from market mapping through candidate engagement, calibration, and conversion.
Mastery of LinkedIn Recruiter, Boolean search construction, GitHub, X-ray sourcing, and modern sourcing platforms (e.g., Gem, hireEZ, SeekOut), with practiced fluency in an applicant tracking system such as Greenhouse.
Track record of building market mapping deliverables that hiring leaders rely on as a primary input to search strategy.
Experience sourcing across multiple function types — engineering, commercial, and corporate — with the ability to context-switch and recalibrate quickly across roles.
Quantitative grasp of sourcing performance: response rates, conversion rates, pipeline velocity, and the diagnostic instinct to know when a search needs a different angle.
Confidence in partnering directly with senior hiring managers and executives, including delivering thoughtful pushback when the market doesn't match the brief.
Self-directed operating style — comfortable owning ambiguous, high-stakes searches with limited inbound demand and prioritizing across multiple pods and partners.
Demonstrated ability to craft outreach messaging that resonates with senior technical and commercial audiences.

Nice To Haves

Prior sourcing experience in space, aerospace, satellite, defense, geospatial, or adjacent deep-tech industries.
Experience supporting executive-level (Director-and-above) searches across both technical and commercial functions.
Familiarity with AI-assisted sourcing tools, automation workflows, or candidate intelligence platforms beyond standard ATS use.
Background working with security-cleared talent or U.S. government / federal-adjacent hiring environments.
Experience contributing to sourcing team standards, playbooks, training materials, or onboarding curriculum.

Responsibilities

Build and own end-to-end candidate pipelines for Planet's hardest-to-fill North American roles, with a primary focus on Space Systems engineering and Commercial / G&A leadership searches.
Partner directly with Talent Acquisition Partners across all NAM pods to identify quarterly priorities and direct your sourcing effort to where it creates the most leverage for the business.
Develop deep market intelligence on the satellite, aerospace, earth-observation, and adjacent deep-tech talent landscapes — and translate that intelligence into actionable target lists, competitor mapping, and outreach strategy.
Run sophisticated passive candidate engagement end-to-end: research, outreach, screening, calibration, and warm handoff to the partnering Talent Acquisition Partner.
Lead market mapping and search strategy conversations directly with senior hiring managers and executives, including delivering candid pushback when market signals indicate a calibration misalignment.
Cultivate long-term talent communities and referral networks for Planet's recurring high-priority skill sets, building a sourcing engine that compounds over time.
Contribute to the team's sourcing playbook, tooling, and AI-enabled workflows — raising the standard for how sourcing is practiced across Planet.
Operate with full autonomy on strategic and executive searches, escalating only where org-level alignment is required.