Director, Pre-Sales Global D&I

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.

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

The Director of Pre-Sales, Global Defence & Intelligence (D&I) will be responsible for leading Pre-Sales Solution Architects worldwide. This leader will deliver excellence in technical sales, account strategy, relationship building, and solution architecting tailored specifically to national security, Defence & Intelligence institutions.

The ideal candidate is an accomplished people manager, a geospatial expert with strong commercial acumen, and possesses over 10 years of experience in Defence & Intelligence. This is a full-time, remote position based in the UK or Germany. If located near an office, you are expected to work from that office 3 days per week.

Impact You'll Own

• Create the conditions for high performance; recruit, coach, and develop a global team of specialized D&I Pre-Sales Solution Architects.
• Support global D&I sales teams and partner ecosystems by providing world-class technical sales capability to win new defense programs and expand existing accounts.
• Apply deep expertise in remote sensing, imagery analytics, and complex data architecture to design solutions supporting Military Operations, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) workflows.
• Lead high-impact customer engagements, workshops, pilots, and technical demonstrations tailored to defense commanders, intelligence analysts, and procurement officers.
• Collaborate closely with Global Professional Services, Program Management and Customer Success to conduct rigorous technical assessments.
• Feed insights, security requirements, and intelligence use cases directly back to Product and Marketing to shape the product roadmap.
• Serve as a core member of the Global Pre-Sales & Services leadership team.

What You Bring

• 8+ years of relevant work experience and 6+ years of supervisory or leadership experience managing and scaling technical sales (Pre-Sales / Solution Architecture) teams.
• 8+ years of professional experience in a Defence & Intelligence environment.
• Active Security Clearance (or eligibility to hold suitable clearance).
• Solid grasp of military planning, intelligence workflows, and how commercial Earth Observation (EO) data integrates into defense decision-making.
• Experience navigating complex government sales cycles, RFP/RFI processes, and defense contracting frameworks.
• Fluency in geospatial system architectures, cloud environments/secure deployments, API integrations, and complex data pipelines.
• Ability to engage senior defense executives, military leaders, and procurement authorities.
• Excellent communication, organizational, and leadership skills.

What Makes You Stand Out

• Military / Veteran Experience.
• Experience with Sales Qualification frameworks and methodologies e.g., Challenger Sales, MEDDPICC.
• Understanding of AI-Driven Geospatial Innovation.
• Experience co-selling and architecting solutions alongside major defense prime contractors, system integrators, and international allies.

Benefits While Working at Planet

• Paid time off including vacation, holidays and company-wide days off.
• Employee Wellness Program.
• Home Office Reimbursement.
• Monthly Phone and Internet Reimbursement.
• Tuition Reimbursement and access to LinkedIn Learning.
• Equity.
• Volunteering Paid Time Off.

Germany Salary Range €91,070 — €113,820 EUR.