About the Role:As a Service Delivery Manager at Planet you will be a member of the Planet Ground Stations Operations Team focused on the delivery and operational excellence of a geographically diverse Ground Station network. The network is composed of a mix of physical antennas, network and compute resources, cloud infrastructure and industrial controllers working in unison to autonomously track and communicate with Planet's multiple satellite constellations.
Planet's satellites generate a substantial dataset and moving that data from our spacecraft across the Ground Station network daily poses ever changing design goals for our Operations Team. The Ground Station team works closely with Spacecraft Operators and Mission Control engineers to autonomously control the spacecraft and bring the data back to Earth.
This is a full-time, hybrid role which will require you to work from our San Francisco office 3 days per week.
Impact You'll Own:- Oversee the end-to-end delivery and implementation of complex ground systems and technology solutions for global customers.
- Lead the strategic deployment and operational readiness of Planet's commercial ground station network.
- Drive construction and infrastructure project management in close coordination with external hosting providers.
- Manage the entire contract lifecycle in collaboration with Legal and cross-functional stakeholders.
- Partner with leadership and technical leads to build, forecast, and manage the annual operations budget.
- Provide consistent updates on project milestones and operational status to technical leads, finance partners, and executive directorship.
- Facilitate recurring sprint planning sessions and communicate alignment between technical velocity and organizational objectives.
What You Bring:- 6+ years of relevant work experience
- Bachelor's degree in a relevant discipline
- Previous Technical Program Management or Construction Management experience
- Excellence in organizational management and high-volume task prioritization
- Basic programming skills - scripting and data analysis
- Willingness to travel up to 25% of the time
- Ability to work with little or no supervision
- Innate Curiosity
What Makes You Stand Out:- Experience with Bash, Python or other scripting or object-oriented languages
- Experience with Linux or UNIX servers, IP Networks or previous Aerospace experience
Application Deadline:November 25, 2026 by 11:59p / 23:59 CET (Central European Time)
EAR/ITAR Requirements:This position requires access to export-controlled information, and as such, employment (or hiring of a contractor) is contingent upon the candidate's ability to access all applicable export-controlled information without additional export licensing being required by the Bureau of Industry and Security and/or the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls.
Benefits While Working at Planet:These offerings are dependent on employment type and geographical location, based upon applicable law or company policy.
- Comprehensive Medical, Dental, and Vision plans
- Health Savings Account (HSA) with a company contribution
- Generous Paid Time Off in addition to holidays and company-wide days off
- 16 Weeks of Paid Parental Leave
- Wellness Program and Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
- Home Office Reimbursement
- Monthly Phone and Internet Reimbursement
- Tuition Reimbursement and access to LinkedIn Learning
- Equity
- Commuter Benefits (if local to an office)
- Volunteering Paid Time Off
Compensation:The US base salary range for this full-time position at the commencement of employment is listed below. Additionally, this role might be eligible for discretionary short-term and long-term incentives (bonus and equity). The final salary range is determined by job related experience, skills and location. The range displays our typical hiring range for new hire salaries in US locations only. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for your preferred location during the hiring process.
San Francisco Salary Range
$144,500-$180,600 USD
California (Other) Salary Range
$136,000-$170,000 USD
San Francisco Fair Chance OrdinancePursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.
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. 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.