Director of Sales, Middle East

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:

The Director of Sales, Middle East will be responsible for leading our regional sales organization, driving Planet’s Go-To-Market (GTM) strategy, and accelerating revenue growth across national security, defense, and government sectors. In this highly strategic role, you will lead high-performing teams, build executive relationships across defense ministries and key contractors, and position Planet's Earth observation platform as an essential capability for mission-critical operations. Ideal candidates are ambitious commercial leaders with deep defense domain expertise, exceptional strategic vision, and a passion for driving transformational business outcomes.

The ideal candidate is an accomplished sales leader with deep defense domain expertise and a track record of managing high-performing teams in the region. You will bring an established executive network across Defense Ministries, Intelligence Agencies, and key Prime Contractors/System Integrators. Combining strategic commercial acumen with an understanding of national security priorities, you will position Planet as a trusted capability provider for mission-critical operations.

This is a full-time, remote position based in the United Arab Emirates. If located near an office, you are expected to work from that office 3 days per week

Impact You’ll Own:

• Drive Strategic Revenue Growth: Own and execute a result-oriented Go-To-Market (GTM) strategy to build, negotiate, and close high-value, complex deals across sovereign defense and government sectors, consistently hitting or exceeding regional quota targets.
• Forecast Governance & Predictability: Maintain rigorous pipeline hygiene (Salesforce.com) and deliver accurate, data-driven revenue forecasts to executive leadership through disciplined deal inspection and pipeline management.
• Capture Strategy & Value Messaging: Engineer tailored capture strategies and high-impact executive narratives that align with agency-level priorities, resonate with key decision-makers, and win competitive procurements.
• Manage, Coach & Empower: Build, mentor, and scale a high-performing sales team, establishing a culture of accountability, operational excellence, and continuous professional development.
• Methodology Alignment: Train and inspect direct reports on core sales methodologies and capture frameworks (e.g., MEDDPICC, Shipley), coaching them on deal qualification, stakeholder mapping, and win strategies.
• Talent Bench & Scaling: Proactively recruit, onboard, and retain elite commercial and defense-domain talent to build a solid talent bench as the regional footprint expands.
• Cross-Functional Matrix Alignment: Orchestrate seamless collaboration across internal matrix teams—including Government Affairs, Product, Engineering, and Field Marketing—to align corporate capabilities with regional market opportunities.
• Technical & Post-Sales Win Alignment: Partner closely with Pre-Sales/Solutions Engineering to secure technical wins, and collaborate with Post-Sales teams to ensure flawless customer onboarding, retention, and long-term expansion.
• Deal Cadence & Executive Escalation: Communicate deal velocity transparently across internal business units, mobilizing executive sponsorship and cross-functional support when needed to de-risk complex pursuits.

What You Bring:

• 8+ years of experience with a track record of driving revenue growth, building high-performing teams, and consistently exceeding multi-million-dollar individual & team quotas.
• 6+ years of progressive leadership and management experience.
• Ability to recruit, mentor, and retain top-tier talent, instilling a high accountability culture and coaching direct reports through complex, multi-year deal cycles.
• Deep experience establishing …