Lead Software Engineer

Lead Software Engineer

We are seeking a highly motivated Lead Software Engineer to join the new Project Graph team at Adobe. Project Graph is a new creative system that lets you combine first and third-party AI models, Adobe tools, and custom interactive components inside a visual, designer-friendly node graph editor. Connect a library of tactile, interactive components that bring creative control of AI back to your fingertips. Transform ideas into powerful workflows and modular tools that run anywhere, from the web to Adobe apps like Photoshop. And if you'd rather focus on creating than building, you can tap into a growing ecosystem of community-built tools without ever opening the editor.

In this position, you will play a key role in designing and delivering developer-focused features of the Project Graph platform.

What You'll Do

• Technical Ownership: Design, implement, and maintain foundational platform capabilities, with a focus on native web technologies and Web Components. Build systems that are framework-agnostic and designed for long-term evolution.
• Platform Thinking: Drive architecture that treats the browser as a powerful runtime, not just a rendering layer. Leverage deep knowledge of browser internals (rendering, events, networking, performance) to build robust, extensible systems.
• Innovation & Impact: Collaborate with engineering leadership to shape and rapidly deliver on a technical vision to address the complex needs of the Graph platform.
• Engineering Excellence: Champion strong fundamentals: simplicity, performance, reliability, and maintainability. Set a high bar for code quality, testing, and operational rigor.
• Design and Operate at Scale: Lead in the architecture and operation of large-scale, globally distributed client application. Ensure high availability and low latency in enterprise environments.
• Mentorship & Collaboration: Set the standard of the team through architectural design leadership, thoughtful code reviews, and hands-on mentorship. Act as a force multiplier for engineering effectiveness.
• Customer Focus: Work closely with product managers and customer-facing teams to understand user needs and translate them into robust technical solutions.

What You Need To Succeed

• Education: BS or MS in Computer Science or a related field.
• Experience: 10+ years of experience building, testing and operating complex web applications, with a track record of owning deep technical areas and delivering platform-level systems. Experience with node-based or visual programming systems is a plus.
• Technical Expertise:
• Deep expertise in at least one core area of browser technology (e.g., rendering, performance, networking, Web Components, or JavaScript runtime behavior)
• Strong proficiency with Web Components (Custom Elements, Shadow DOM)
• Experience building framework-independent or low-level platform abstractions
• Familiarity with Lit, FAST, or similar libraries is welcome—but not a substitute for strong fundamentals
• Experience building developer tooling or extensibility systems is a strong plus
• Problem Solving: Ability to decompose complex systems into clear abstractions and deliver solutions that are elegant, scalable, and maintainable.
• Communication: Excellent written and verbal communication skills. Ability to clearly articulate technical concepts and collaborate effectively with technical and non-technical partners.
• Customer Empathy: A strong sense of ownership and a passion for building products that delight users.
• Ownership & Craft: A self-directed engineer with strong dedication to responsibility, high standards for craft, and a bias toward impact. Passionate about building systems that empower other developers.

About Adobe

Adobe empowers everyone to create through innovative platforms and tools that unleash creativity, productivity and personalized customer experiences. Adobe's industry-leading offerings including Adobe Acrobat Studio, Adobe Express, Adobe Firefly, Creative Cloud, Adobe Experience Platform, Adobe Experience Manager, and GenStudio enable people and businesses to turn ideas into impact, powered by AI and driven by human ingenuity.

Our 30,000+ employees worldwide are creating the future and raising the bar as we drive the next decade of growth. We're on a mission to hire the very best and believe in creating a company culture where all employees are empowered to make an impact. At Adobe, we believe that great ideas can come from anywhere in the organization. The next big idea could be yours.

Let's Adobe together

At Adobe, we believe in creating a company culture where all employees are empowered to make an impact. Learn more about Adobe life, including our values and culture, focus on people, purpose and community, Adobe for All, comprehensive benefits programs, the stories we tell, the customers we serve, and how you can help us advance our mission of empowering everyone to create.

Adobe is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based on gender, race or color, ethnicity or national origin, age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic. Learn more.

Adobe aims to make our Careers website and recruiting process accessible to any and all users. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation to navigate our website or complete the application process, email View email address on click.appcast.io or call View phone number on click.appcast.io.

AI Use Guidelines for Interviews: Our interviews are designed to reflect your own skills and thinking. The use of AI or recording tools during live interviews is not permitted unless explicitly invited by the interviewer or approved in advance as part of a reasonable accommodation. If these tools are used inappropriately or in a way that misrepresents your work, your application may not move forward in the process.

At Adobe, we empower employees to innovate with AI — and we look for candidates eager to do the same. As part of the hiring experience, we provide clear guidance on where AI is encouraged during the process and where it's restricted during live interviews. See how we think about AI in the hiring experience.

Expected Pay Range:

Our compensation reflects the cost of labor across several U.S. geographic markets, and we pay differently based on those defined markets. The U.S. pay range for this position is $159,200 -- $301,600 annually. Pay within this range varies by work location and may also depend on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for the job location during the hiring process.

In California, the pay range for this position is $208,300 - $301,600

At Adobe, for sales roles starting salaries are expressed as total target compensation (TTC = base + commission), and short-term incentives are in the form of sales commission plans. Non-sales roles starting salaries are expressed as base salary and short-term incentives are in the form of the Annual Incentive Plan (AIP).

In addition, certain roles may be eligible for long-term incentives in the form of a new hire equity award.

State-Specific Notices:

California :

Fair Chance Ordinances

Adobe will consider qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records for employment in accordance with state and local laws and "fair chance" ordinances.

Colorado:

Application Window Notice

If this role is open to hiring in Colorado (as listed on the job posting), the application window will remain open until at least the date and time stated above in Pacific Time, in compliance with Colorado pay transparency regulations. If this role does not have Colorado listed as a hiring location, no specific application window applies, and the posting may close at any time based on hiring needs.

Massachusetts:

Massachusetts Legal Notice

It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.