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Salary: USD 144,500 - 180,600 / annual
Planet designs, builds, and operates the largest constellation of imaging satellites in history, delivering empirical data via a cloud-based platform to commercial, environmental, and humanitarian sectors. As a Tech Lead for System Validation, you will be a critical member of the Space Operations team, responsible for the utility and scaling of multi-mission system validation (Sysval) testbeds.
You will sit at the intersection of satellite operations and software engineering, driving the infrastructure that keeps the fleet performing reliably. Your responsibilities include owning the end-to-end testbed buildup, maintenance, and tooling to meet rigorous engineering needs. You will identify the largest impactors to testbed uptime and define priorities and roadmap for testbed improvements and automation. You will establish resourcing needs and deliver through a network of mission- and discipline-specific points of contact rather than through direct reports.
Key impact areas:
- Define and execute the roadmap for buildout and maintenance of all systems validation testbeds
- Drive stakeholder engagement, prioritization of feature requests, and resourcing needed to execute
- Design and develop tooling to ensure testbed users can effectively test software and firmware updates
- Manage testbed hardware and software configuration
- Maximize uptime of the multi-mission testbed by triaging and resolving anomalies with support of subject matter experts
Your work directly ensures that new software and firmware updates are validated safely before reaching active satellites in orbit. This is a full-time, in-office position based in San Francisco, 5 days per week.
REQUIREMENTS:
- Bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, or related technical field
- 4–6 years of relevant testbed or network engineering experience
- Experience with Bash, Python, or other scripting or object-oriented languages
- Experience with Linux or UNIX servers, IP Networks, Docker
- Excellent written and verbal communication and facilitation skills
- Excellent problem-solving, organizational, and analytical skills with ability to make data-driven decisions
- Customer-centric mindset
- Ability to work independently with minimal supervision
DESIRABLE:
- Experience with scaling systems on satellite manufacturing and/or testing
- Experience in project management with cross-functional teams
- Experience preparing training material or directly training teams on new responsibilities
NOTE: This position requires access to export-controlled information and is contingent upon the candidate's ability to access applicable export-controlled information without additional export licensing.
