Technical Program Manager, Trade Compliance

About this role

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:

We are looking for a Technical Program Manager (TPM) for Trade Compliance to embed directly within our product and software development and data analytics teams. Your mission is to drive compliance to enable product and software delivery in a rapid development environment. You will take complex regulatory requirements and turn them into pragmatic, scalable product features and workflows.

Because our cutting-edge products serve a diverse client base ranging from commercial and Civil Government customers to the military and intelligence community, you will navigate the complex intersection of ITAR/EAR and OFAC/sanctions requirements as well as globally applicable equivalents. You will ensure trade compliance requirements are built into our product and software development architecture and deployment workflows to support product team innovation.

This is a full-time, hybrid role which will require you to work from our Washington, DC or Denver, CO office 3 days per week.

Impact You'll Own:

• Drive and enable trade compliance as a scalable, structured framework rather than ad-hoc requirements, enabling compliance to be built seamlessly into a rapid development environment.

• Collaborate with product managers and engineers to understand product roadmaps and product lifecycle, and drive trade compliance requirements.

• Apply a pragmatic, risk-based approach to compliance. Evaluate technical trade-offs and guide product teams on how to meet ITAR/EAR without sacrificing speed-to-market.

• Manage the contract and relationship with compliance vendors.

• Conduct and document systematic Export Classification Orders of Review (e.g., ITAR and EAR) for complex data analytics and software solutions.

• Establish and maintain rigorous contemporaneous documentation tracking design intent/decisions and their impact on the export controls associated with the product/solution.

• To ensure ITAR/EAR compliance, design, implement, and audit strict technical access controls to govern product development work amongst US and non-US based software development teams based upon product/software classification.

• Work with product teams to develop Know Your Customer (KYC) and restricted party screening processes and workflows to tie into Planet’s restricted party screening solution and ensure compliance with OFAC/sanctions requirements (and applicable global equivalents).

What You Bring:

• 4 to 6 years of relevant experience in export controls, international trade compliance, or regulatory compliance program management within a high-tech or aerospace environment.

• Practical knowledge of ITAR (International Traffic in Arms Regulations) and EAR (Export Administration Regulations), specifically as they apply to software, dual-use items, encryption, and satellite/geospatial data analytics.

• Technical Vocabulary: Ability to understand and converse fluently in "product language" (e.g., APIs, cloud infrastructure, containerization, and data pipeline architecture) to effectively translate across product/engineering roadmaps and compliance.

• Experience with the product life cycle: concept through development, launch preparation, go-to-market, deprecations, and end-of-life.

• Analytical, problem-solving, and creative thinking skills paired with the ability to communicate findings and recommendations.

• Equally comfortable explaining your analyses and recommendations to business leaders as you are discussing technical trade-offs with engineers.

• Ability to balance the tactical day-to-day with forward-looking improvements to scale operational efficiencies.

• Experience working inside dynamic software engineering environments: CI/CD pipelines, cloud infrastructure, and Agile methodologies.

What Makes You Stand Out:

• Ability to obtain clearance.

• Experience with remote sensing, earth observation data, or geospatial systems.

• Experience working with remote, worldwide teams.

• Demonstrated success in optimizing processes and tools to scale development cycles.

• Proactive approach to learning and applying emerging regulatory standards to product development.

Application Deadline:

September 17, 2026 at 11:59pm 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

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