Sr. AI/Edge Compute Engineer

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 a global company with employees working remotely world wide and joining us from offices in San Francisco, Washington DC, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, and The Netherlands.

About the Role:

Planet is working on the next generation small satellite bus that will host a high resolution optical imaging payload (Pelican) and a hyperspectral payload (Carbon Mapper). We are seeking an Sr. AI/Edge Compute engineer to help develop onboard compute and analytics effort on the next generation satellites. . You will work with various teams to finalize the system requirements, develop functional specifications, and down-select the processors. You will work independently and with others on the development of onboard processing and machine learning algorithms for various Earth Observation applications.. You will collaborate with electrical engineers, camera engineers, firmware engineers, data pipeline, and analytics engineers to build and iterate on the solution.

This is a full-time, hybrid role which will require you to work from our San Francisco HQ 3 days per week.

Impact You'll Own:

• Develop onboard computer vision and machine learning models that enable real time segmentation, feature detection, and object recognition.


• Develop pre-processing of raw imagery onboard the satellite to make them useable by the machine learning algorithms


• Collaborate with other space systems and software engineering teams to implement deep-learning-based object detection systems on pre-processed imagery for identifying, characterizing, and classifying objects


• Explore and develop new methods for improving detection performance and improving the runtime of inference targeting the NVIDIA Jetson platform.


• Work with internal customers to develop onboard processing and machine learning pipelines for various use cases and classification tasks


• Help to architect and develop the data pipeline and platform supporting onboard processing


• Hardware/software co-development of edge computing solutions for Planet’s next generation spacecraft


• Own and drive performance metrics (e.g. latency, memory, bandwidth, power)

What You Bring:

• 10+ years developing algorithms and solving problems pertaining to image processing, computer vision, object detection, machine learning


• Experience in software development, especially for computationally constrained environments


• Extensive experience programming in Python and/or C++ with computer vision libraries


• Understanding of version control (eg git) and CI tools


• Proficient in GPU-based computing frameworks (OpenCL/CUDA/TensorFlow), including working with NVIDIA's TensorRT


• Understanding of embedded and high efficiency software architectures


• Experience designing low latency, highly performant code


• Experience in hardware and software co-design

What Makes You Stand Out:

• Experience with machine learning on earth observation data sets


• Experience with deployment environments for embedded devices, CI, and the cloud in machine learning scenarios


• Background in Visual Large Language Models, Foundation Models, zero/few shot learning, and open vocabulary detectors


• Low-level programming experience in CUDA/OpenCL


• Excellent communication and analytical skills


• Ability to work well both autonomously and collaboratively

Application Deadline:

November 11, 2025 by 11:59 PM PT

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

$182,900 - $228,600 USD

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.

EEO statement:
Planet is committed to building a community where everyone belongs and we invite people from all backgrounds to apply. Planet is an equal opportunity employer, and committed to providing employment opportunities regardless of race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding, age, sexual orientation, military or veteran status, or any other protected classification, in accordance with applicable federal, state, and local laws. Know Your Rights.

Accommodations:
Planet is an inclusive community and we know that everyone has their own needs. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation during the hiring process, please reach out to [email protected] or contact your recruiter with your request. Your message will be confidential and we will be happy to assist you.

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