Director of Government Affairs

About the Role:

We are seeking a Director for Government Affairs based in Germany who can directly and fully engage in the German policy, budget, and legislative environments. The position will support both national security and civil government interactions and opportunities. The Director of Government Affairs executes Planet’s government affairs strategy across German federal institutions and selected European stakeholders. The role is responsible for shaping engagement, surfacing political risk and opportunity, and ensuring coherent positioning across Planet. Strategic positions, escalation decisions, and external commitments are defined in coordination with Planet leadership and relevant program owners. This role does not carry independent commercial or program accountability.

The position will interact directly with Members of the Bundestag, the Chancellor’s office, Federal Ministers, and policy shapers at the national level in Germany. The position will attend conferences and symposia and engage in relevant meetings with stakeholders and government officials. The right person for Planet knows how to navigate the complex relationships of the German Federal Government, including the Bundestag and relevant Federal ministries (including the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Research, Technology, and Space); has professional experience working with these institutions and detailed knowledge of their processes; and, knows how Planet’s unique capabilities - our agile approach to space technology and our online delivery of a first-of-its-kind data set - meet the requirements and needs of Germany for both national security and civil society.

The role will also support Planet’s efforts to monitor and influence policy and budget environments for the EU, European Commission, ESA, and other relevant European entities. The position will influence the European conversation primarily through partnerships with the German EU delegation and interest groups.

This position requires close coordination with both internal and external constituencies, and the ability to communicate and collaborate effectively with Planet’s customers, potential government funders, NGOs, technical partners and team members around the world, in a highly-dynamic, high-growth commercial company. Planet’s services are novel, and thus we are looking for someone to simultaneously educate stakeholders on the broader context of the commercial aerospace opportunities while also specifically understanding short-term opportunities for Planet.

This is a full-time, hybrid role which will require you to work from our Berlin office 3 days per week.

Impact You’ll Own:

• Demonstrate thought leadership in the German policy community—both in the national security and civil society space
• Support engagements with the EU, ESA, and European Commission (primarily through the German national delegation) to shape policy and funding opportunities
• Communicate Planet’s unique value proposition to the German audience in terms of greatest relevance to that audience, with the ability to design and synthesize new kinds of analysis rather than copy existing approaches
• Communicate and collaborate with Planet’s government affairs, business development, and sales teams to devel