Welcome to Planet. We believe in using space to help life on Earth.

Planet designs, builds, and operates the largest constellation of imaging satellites in history. This constellation delivers an unprecedented dataset of empirical information via a revolutionary cloud-based platform to authoritative figures in commercial, environmental, and humanitarian sectors. We are both a space company and data company all rolled into one.

Customers and users across the globe use Planet's data to develop new technologies, drive revenue, power research, and solve our world’s toughest obstacles.

As we control every component of hardware design, manufacturing, data processing, and software engineering, our office is a truly inspiring mix of experts from a variety of domains.

We have a people-centric approach toward culture and community and we strive to iterate in a way that puts our team members first and prepares our company for growth. Join Planet and be a part of our mission to change the way people see the world.

Planet is headquartered in San Francisco, California, Earth.

About the Role:  

The Validation and Verification Test Engineering Team is responsible for developing, executing and maintaining the tests and infrastructure for our satellite verification and validation efforts. As the leader of the V&V Test Engineering team, you will collaborate with design engineers and system engineers to develop test objectives objectives and test plans, be responsible for developing and maintaining the testbed hardware and software infrastructure, and be responsible for developing and executing the tests. You will run components, subsystems and full systems through their paces on the bench, in thermal chambers, and through various operational modes to ensure our systems will work once in space. This will involve working with a broad variety of disciplines, including our design, qualification, flight software, systems engineering and manufacturing teams.

Impact You’ll Own:

• Develop test plans in collaboration with system and design engineers
• Build team of engineers to develop V&V infrastructure
• Define and develop the hardware/software architecture of System Validation Test infrastructure
• Develop the testbed hardware, including custom interface electronics and cabling
• Develop and execute validation tests of subsystems and full satellite system for the following purposes
• Initial system validation through various operational modes and thermal cycling conditions
• Validation regression tests due to iterations on flight hardware, flight software and test infrastructure
• Continuous improvement of test software and hardware to ensure high reliability and uptime of validation test systems
• Implement metrics to track and improve satellite system maturity as well as test infrastructure maturity
• Troubleshoot system integration issues

What You Bring: 

• Proven history of thinking through complex, interdisciplinary design problems as well as debugging to identify and correct root causes
• 5+ years of system-level test development experience
• Demonstrated leadership experience
• Demonstrated ability to design and document complex interconnected hardware systems
• 5+ years of test programming experience, with willingness to code in Python
• Strong Linux fundamentals
• Experience with DVCS such as git or mercurial

What Makes You Stand Out:

• Experience with previous aerospace projects or cubesats
• Experience in the mobile, networking, medical, robotics, IoT, or similar embedded device industries
• Experience with some of our key technical areas, such as cameras or other image sensors, high-speed radio communication, high data rate storage systems

Benefits While Working at Planet:

• Comprehensive Health Plan
• Wellness program and onsite massages in specific offices
• Flexible Time Off
• Recognition Programs
• Commuter Benefits
• Learning and Tuition Reimbursement
• Parental Leave
• Offsites and Happy Hours
• Volunteering Benefits

Some Press About Us: 

Our CEO, Will Marshall featured on TED and featured in a Planet Blog

“Planet: Bringing Space Back Down to Earth”

Tiny, privately owned satellites are changing how we view the Earth features in NBC News

“Planet And Rocket Lab Create Mission Patch To Honor Women In Aerospace” —Planet Blog

Why we care so much about Belonging. 

We’re dedicated to helping the whole Planet, and to do that we must strive to represent all of it within each of our offices and on all of our teams. That’s why Planet is guided by an ultimate  north star of Belonging, dreaming big as we approach our ongoing work with diversity, equity and inclusion.  If this job intrigues you, but you’re thinking you might not have all the qualifications, please... do apply!  At Planet, we are looking for well-rounded people from around the world who can contribute to more ways than just what is listed in this job description.  We don’t just fill positions, we aspire to fulfill people’s careers, most excited about folks who are motivated by our underlying humanitarian efforts.  We are a few orbits around the sun before we get to where we want to be, so we hope you’re excited to come along for the ride. 

#LI-MI1