Engineering Program Manager, Planet

• Bachelor’s in a technically relevant field Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or Aerospace
• 6+ years of relevant experience in Engineering Program Management or Engineering Management
• A "roll-up-your-sleeves" mentality; you are not afraid to live in the lab or on the factory floor to solve problems
• Experience managing concurrent, fast-paced hardware projects with non-negotiable deadlines
• A strong bias for action and enthusiasm, with proven creative and critical thinking capabilities
• Experience in an engineering project management role for the development of hardware systems in a cross-functional, cross-organizational context
• Experience working with and managing external partners, suppliers, vendors, and customers to drive program success
• Excellent written and verbal communication and facilitation skills, especially in high-stakes technical trade-off discussions
• Exceptional ability to stay organized and prioritize in a high-pressure, ambiguous, and rapidly changing environment

Desirable

• The Engineering Program Manager at Planet will be a fearless organizer and an excellent cross-functional leader, working with multiple teams both inside Planet and with external partners
• A successful candidate will help set strategy, actively drive hands-on problem-solving efforts, personally dive deep to eliminate technical and logistical roadblocks, and ruthlessly execute on aggressive schedules
• You will be responsible for managing and communicating status and issues along the way
• This is a tactical, "in-the-weeds" role that demands broad technical strength, hands-on experience in multiple areas of spacecraft design and manufacturing, and an obsession with meeting milestones
• Lead satellite development programs from planning and requirements definition through critical design, build, test, and launch under tight, mission-critical deadlines
• Ensure efficient execution of all program phases, including MCR, SRR, PDR, CDR, IRR, SRR, and LRR
• Develop and meticulously maintain project schedules and budgets, tracking performance daily and course-correcting in real-time
• Actively manage the execution of technical plans at all levels, both internally and with external suppliers, including project definition, budgeting
• Collaborate and coordinate with external stakeholders, including suppliers, partners, vendors, and customers, to manage deliverables, technical plans, and program milestones
• Be the first point of contact for technical fires; actively triage, prioritize, and drive issues to closure
• Work shoulder-to-shoulder with multiple engineering teams and cross-functional stakeholders to drive productivity and progress on concurrent projects
• Aggressively manage program risks and develop mitigation plans to keep the program on its uncompromising timeline
• Drive root cause problem-solving, identify, and eliminate blocking issues

• Application Deadline: March 10, 2026 at 11:59pm PT