Software Engineer, Planet

• Experience building interconnected software systems that interface with many different hardware components
• Software project planning skills - demonstrated ability to identify requirements and dependencies, organize the project into units of work, prioritize tasks, and communicate the implementation plan
• Proficiency with python, ruby, java, C++, or similar
• Proficiency using GNU/Linux
• Experience writing unit tests, continuous integration pipelines, and documentation
• 3+ years of professional software development experience

Desirable

• Planet’s Manufacturing team is scaling in many ways, including building a new factory in Berlin, building many different kinds of spacecraft, and adding more members to the team
• Every spacecraft must be extensively tested to ensure proper space operations, and our hardware test framework is an integral part of our enabling infrastructure
• Its primary features are to provide an interface for test engineers to quickly write tests, and allow our technicians to easily run them in the factory
• However, as our team and operations scale, so must the test framework
• This role is a software engineering role with a heavy focus on testing operations
• You will report to the Software Infrastructure Team but work alongside Planet’s Test Engineers, developing tests and participating in test campaigns for our spacecraft
• You will discover weaknesses and deficiencies in the test framework, create plans for developing new features and improvements, then implement those plans
• Some key problem areas are usability and developer productivity, framework stability and robustness, multiple hardware support, data collection and analytics, and CI/CD processes
• This is a dynamic role and will require you to wear many hats as you debug hardware problems and simultaneously dive into the software internals of the test framework’s infrastructure
• Identify needed improvements to the hardware test framework by participating in test campaigns, developing hardware tests, and working alongside test engineers and technicians
• Provide input to software requirements, specifications, and implementation plans, then communicate these plans to the engineering teams
• Implement software infrastructure improvements, bugfixes, and new features
• Participate in code reviews, brainstorming, root cause analysis, and other collaborative team discussions

• Application Deadline: August 27, 2026