Satellite Data Processing Engineer

About the role

<div class="content-intro"><p><strong>Welcome to Planet. We believe in using space to help life on Earth.</strong></p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p></div><p><strong>About the Role:&nbsp;</strong></p> <p>Image Quality Support (IQS) makes sure Planet's imagery meets that bar. We sit between imaging operations, satellite operations, software engineering, and the business — close enough to engineering to build our own tools, close enough to customers to know what "quality" means to them.</p> <p>We're looking for a Satellite Data Processing Engineer to help assess and automate imagery quality across Planet's satellite fleet. You'll split your time between hands-on visual QA and writing the software that scales it — a hybrid of remote-sensing know-how and software engineering, building up both with guidance from senior teammates.</p> <p>This is a full-time, hybrid role which will require you to work from our Berlin office 3 days per week.</p> <p><strong>Impact You’ll Own:</strong></p> <ul> <li>Assess satellite imagery, manually and via automated tooling, against contractual and technical quality standards.</li> <li>Help build and maintain the internal tools that power quality assessment — from QGIS-based QA tooling to backend scripts and data pipelines.</li> <li>Support investigations into customer-reported quality disputes, gathering technical evidence for the team's decisions.</li> <li>Contribute to the team's automated quality-assessment systems, helping shift routine checks from manual review into automation.</li> <li>Write clear reports and tickets that other engineering teams can act on.</li> </ul> <p><strong>What You Bring:</strong></p> <ul> <li>2+ years of relevant experience.</li> <li>Bachelor’s degree in geoinformatics, geomatics, remote sensing, or a closely related field.</li> <li>A working understanding of optical remote sensing fundamentals.</li> <li>Solid Python skills: comfortable with version control, code review, and writing more than one-off scripts.</li> <li>Exposure to QGIS or Python geospatial libraries (e.g. GDAL, rasterio, shapely).</li> <li>Basic SQL / database familiarity.</li> <li>Clear written communication: you can explain a technical finding to a non-specialist.</li> </ul> <p><strong>What Makes You Stand Out:</strong></p> <ul> <li>Linux comfort.</li> <li>Experience with CI/CD pipelines (e.g. GitLab CI).</li> <li>Any exposure to desktop GUI development (e.g. PySide6/Qt) or building small internal tools end-to-end.</li> </ul> <p><strong>Application Deadline:</strong></p> <p>11:45p / 23:45 CET on the date stated below. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. This posting may be removed earlier than projected if a suitable pool of applications has been received. For this reason, we recommend applying as soon as you are able to.</p> <p><strong>Export Control Requirements:</strong></p> <p><

Skills