Director, People Business Partners EMEA

About the role

Planet is undergoing a significant transformation in Europe, including establishing a new satellite manufacturing hub in Berlin and rapidly scaling its EMEA workforce. We are seeking the most senior People Team leader in the region, a Director of People Business Partners, to own the strategic priorities and highest-stakes people decisions. This role translates Planet's global people strategy for regional execution, surfaces critical local insights, and serves as the essential liaison between EMEA and US People leadership to ensure global programs are adapted for European realities. The ideal candidate will operate with high autonomy and bring senior HR judgment, having built people infrastructure in Europe previously. This is a full-time, in-office position based in our Haarlem, Berlin or London office 5 days per week. The role reports to the VP, People Business Partners. Impact You'll Own: Serve as the senior People Team leader in EMEA - owning the regional people strategy, representing the function to business leaders across the region, and ensuring that every aspect of the employee lifecycle operates with the same rigor and intentionality in Europe as it does in the US. General oversight for the people team including People Business Partners, Talent Partners and People Operations Partners in EMEA, providing the coaching, prioritization, and strategic context they need to operate at their highest level. Drive execution of global People Team initiatives in EMEA - including performance management, pay transparency compliance ahead of EU regulatory deadlines, leadership competency framework rollout, and HRIS migration - adapting each for European legal, cultural, and operational realities. Help lead the people strategy for the Berlin manufacturing hub buildout - including organizational design, workforce planning, leadership team development, and the cultural integration of a new manufacturing workforce into Planet's engineering-driven culture. Serve as the primary relay between EMEA Leadership Team and the People leadership team in the United States - ensuring that regional context informs global decisions, surfacing risks and opportunities that are not visible from headquarters, and advocating for EMEA needs in resource allocation and program prioritization. Partner with Talent Acquisition to ensure the EMEA recruiting engine is aligned with workforce plans - providing the org design context, compensation guidance, and hiring manager readiness that recruiters need to close candidates effectively in a competitive European talent market. Partner with People Operations to ensure seamless operational execution for EMEA employees - including entity compliance, payroll coordination, benefits administration, and onboarding workflows that meet German and broader European requirements. Own the most complex and sensitive employee relations matters in EMEA - including performance management, restructuring, and terminations, utilizing deep knowledge of European labor law and the judgment to navigate situations where business drivers and legal compliance may not align. Build the organizational and cultural connective tissue that makes Planet's EMEA workforce feel like a genuine part of the company - not a satellite office. This means designing cross-site collaboration practices, advocating for equitable access to development and advancement opportunities, and ensuring that the Berlin team develops its own identity while remaining tightly connected to Planet's mission and values. What You Bring: 12+ years of progressive HR/People experience, with at least 5 years in a senior People Business Partner or HR leadership role supporting European operations at a scaling technology or manufacturing company. Bachelor

Benefits

Additional Information

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.

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