Director of Pre-Sales, Global Defence & Intelligence (D&I)
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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 worldwide 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 mission of Pre-Sales is to provide trusted technical advice, enabling global defence customers to leverage Earth Observation data and geospatial intelligence to support critical military operations, decision-making, and strategic outcomes.
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. You possess a deep understanding of government defense customers, complex procurement frameworks, and military command structures.
This is a visible, strategic, and highly influential global role, partnering closely with internal D&I Sales teams, Space Systems, Product Engineering, and trusted defense partner ecosystems to secure complex, large-scale government contracts.
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, ensuring flawless execution from validation to operational delivery.
- 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, shaping overarching department strategy and driving execution.
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 for engaging all levels of Military Command).
- 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, translating technical complexity into strategic value.
- Excellent communication, organizational, and leadership skills with a track record of building resilient, high-trust teams.
What Makes You Stand Out:
- Military / Veteran Experience: Former active Armed Forces Reserve or veteran intelligence professional.
- Experience working with Sales Qualification frameworks and methodologies, e.g., Challenger Sales, MEDDPICC.
- Understanding of AI-Driven Geospatial Innovation: Conversant in modern AI/ML capabilities (e.g., automated feature extraction, change detection, foundation models) and skilled at leveraging AI to demonstrate high-value intelligence outcomes to defense customers—moving beyond raw imagery to automated, actionable insights.
- Experience co-selling and architecting solutions alongside major defense prime contractors, system integrators, and international allies.
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Planet Labs
View Company ProfilePlanet Labs (often referred to simply as Planet) is a highly disruptive aerospace and geospatial data enterprise fundamentally revolutionizing how we monitor our rapidly changing world. Founded in 2010 by a team of former NASA scientists and headquartered in San Francisco, California, the company designs, builds, and operates the largest constellation of Earth-observing satellites in human history. Under the hood, their agile aerospace architecture leverages hundreds of compact, high-performance satellites (including SuperDoves, SkySats, and the next-generation Pelican and Tanager constellations) to capture a daily, high-resolution photographic index of the entire global landmass. Their primary target audience spans massive agricultural conglomerates, global defense and intelligence agencies, civil governments, and financial institutions that desperately need near real-time, multidimensional insights to track climate risks, monitor critical border infrastructure, and detect supply chain anomalies. What sets Planet apart in the capital-intensive space tech industry is its unprecedented frequency and scale—shifting the paradigm from static, outdated satellite mapping to a dynamic, AI-powered "Planet Insights Platform" that empowers decision-makers to track and act on global changes at the exact speed they occur.
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