Visiting Staff Scientist at Planet in San Francisco, CA

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 seeking a distinguished Visiting Staff Scientist to join our AI Research (AIR) team for a one-year sabbatical residency. In this role, you will play a pivotal part in our mission to create a “Queryable Earth” by leading the development of Planet’s proprietary geospatial foundation models (GFMs). While Planet has historically leveraged external models like Google’s RSFM and RemoteCLIP, we are now focused on building in-house models specifically trained on our unique imagery. You will lead research into creating temporally dense embeddings that go beyond static annual summaries, capturing the dynamic and ephemeral nature of our planet—from rapid flooding to disaster impacts. You will collaborate with a multi-disciplinary team of "Planeteers" across space operations, data pipelines, and analytics to co-develop AI/ML solutions that leverage the high spatial resolution and near-daily revisit of PlanetScope data. Impact You’ll Own: Develop Planet’s Proprietary GFM: Lead the research and development of a foundation model specifically trained on Planet imagery, incorporating the time-axis to create high-cadence time-series embeddings. Benchmark Geospatial Architectures: Systematically evaluate and compare existing GFMs (e.g., TerraMind, Prithvi, Clay) against PlanetScope data to assess performance, computational cost, and transferability. Capture Dynamic Earth Events: Design embeddings and workflows optimized for detecting short-lived, high-impact events such as floods, rapid surface-water expansion, and fire. Multi-Sensor Integration: Explore the synergy between PlanetScope, Sentinel-1 SAR, and other commercial SAR data to ensure robust time-series analysis even under cloud cover. Human-in-the-Loop Innovation: Use embeddings to design active learning workflows that prioritize labeling and reduce the annotation burden for time-sensitive mapping tasks. Academic & Technical Leadership: Publish findings in top-tier journals and present at conferences (e.g., IGARSS, CVPR), highlighting PlanetScope’s unique value in the foundation model ecosystem. Mentor & Collaborate: Oversee the technical direction of a dedicated postdoc and collaborate with Planet’s research scientists to transition prototypes into operational products. What You Bring: Distinguished Academic Background: PhD and current Faculty/Professor status in Geospatial Analytics, Computer Science, Remote Sensing, or a related field. Deep Domain Expertise: 12+ years of experience in remote sensing and satellite image analysis, with a proven track record in building AI-based models for environmental change (e.g., flood-extent, water dynamics). Multimodal AI Fluency: Extensive experience with foundation models, contrastive learning (CLIP-like models), and multi-model vision-language models (MMVLMs). Advanced Geospatial Toolkit: Proficiency in multi-sensor integration (Landsat, Sentinel-2, PlanetScope, Sentinel-1) and high-resolution mapping at varying scales (3m, 10m, 30m). Technical Proficiency: Expert-level Python skills and experience with the scientific stack (xarray, Dask, NumPy, Rasterio, GeoPandas) and deep learning frameworks. Scale-Minded Research: Experience building automated pipelines for preprocessing and labeling planetary-scale datasets. Collaborative Spirit: A history of leading research labs and a desire to work in a fast-paced, industrial R&D environment. What Makes You Stand Out: Specialized Environmental Research: Extensive experience specifically in flood damage quantification and methane-related water dynamics. Proven Funding & Publication Record: History of leading NASA-funded or similar high-impact geospatial research projects. Architectural Knowledge: Direct experience fine-tuning or modifying specific GFM architectures like TerraMind or Prithvi. Hybrid Experience: A mix of deep academic rigor and the ability to prototype rapid-change monitoring tools for operational readiness. Application Deadline: August 11, 2026 by 11:59p / 23:59 CET (Central European Time) 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 $231,500—$289,400 USD San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records. 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 accommodations@planet.com or contact your recruiter with your request. Your message will be confidential and we will be happy to assist you. Privacy Policy: By clicking "Apply Now" at the top of this job posting, I acknowledge that I have read the Planet Data Privacy Notice for California Staff Members and Applicants, and hereby consent to the collection, processing, use, and storage of my personal information as described therein. Privacy Policy (European Applicants): By clicking "Apply Now" at the top of this job posting, I acknowledge that I have read the Candidate Privacy Notice GDPR Planet Labs Europe, and hereby consent to the collection, processing, use, and storage of my personal information as described therein. AI in Our Interviewing Process: Planet is committed to providing an exceptional interview experience for all candidates. We are currently exploring AI interviewing technologies to better focus on candidates and less on trying to capture notes. As such, with the candidate's consent, select interviews may be recorded and include a Planet AI Notetaker for transcription and summarization purposes. Should an interview involve use of AI interview technologies, the candidate will receive notification and have the ability to opt out both in advance and/or real-time. Opting out will not affect one's candidacy. Candidate AI Policy: Planet embraces Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools, and we encourage its responsible use. We understand that candidates may use various resources, including AI tools, to prepare for interviews and assessments. However, during any live interview stage or when actively completing assessments for this position, the use of AI tools—e.g. Large Language Models (LLMs), deep fake technology, etc.—is strictly prohibited unless explicitly prompted by an interviewer or assessment instructions. If you are unsure about acceptable use, please contact your recruiter for clarification. If an AI tool or similar technology is desired as an accommodation, please contact accommodations@planet.com with your request for assistance. Your message will be confidential, and we will be happy to assist you. Violation of this policy may result in disqualification of your application.