Sr Design Engineer, Spectrum Desktop

Adobe; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 178,000 - 258,000; Full time

Job summary

Adobe is seeking a Senior Design Engineer to advance Drover and the Spectrum design system across desktop UI. You will own architecture decisions, shape APIs, and collaborate with designers, engineers, and product teams to deliver fast, polished native experiences.

In this high-ownership role, you will tackle layout, animation, theming, and performance challenges, advocating quality, correctness, and maintainability while embracing AI-assisted tooling where appropriate.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of software engineering experience with deep production C++ expertise.
• Strong systems-design experience, including framework or platform architecture.
• Depth in at least one UI framework area (layout, animation, rendering, theming, or performance).
• Experience building cross‑platform software for Windows and macOS.
• Track record of solving complex technical problems while keeping software fast and maintainable.
• Design sensibility, strong communication, and ability to align design and engineering teams.
• Experience with Objective-C, JavaScript/TypeScript, Python is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Partner with designers, engineers, and product teams.
• Modernize Drover’s UI foundations for fast, polished, native experiences.
• Shape framework capabilities, APIs, and abstractions to help product teams ship UI faster and more consistently.
• Prototype, validate, and ship new UI capabilities through close collaboration.
• Build automation, validation, and performance systems that make quality measurable at scale.
• Participate in design and code reviews, helping set the standard for UI craft.
• Use AI-assisted tools thoughtfully while maintaining high standards for correctness, performance, and quality.

Skills

C++

System design

UI framework development

Cross-platform (Windows/macOS)

Communication & collaboration

Objective-C

JavaScript/TypeScript

Python

Tools

Objective-C

JavaScript/TypeScript

Python

Job description

The opportunity

Drover is the framework behind many of Adobe's flagship desktop applications. It is the foundation that powers the user interface of some of the most widely used software Adobe ships, from Photoshop to Illustrator to Premiere Pro to After Effects and more.

We're looking for a Senior Design Engineer to work on Drover. This is a high-ownership systems role focused on modernizing how Adobe's desktop products are built, and how they look and feel. You will influence the technical implementation and ongoing support of Adobe’s design system, Spectrum, defining how designs come to life across our desktop UI.

This is a unique opportunity to innovate. Bringing a modern design system to a high-performance native framework raises genuinely interesting problems, and we want someone to go deep on them: layout and adaptive sizing, animation and motion, compositing and rendering, theming, and the performance work that makes all of it feel amazing. If you care about the craft of building beautiful, fast, native user experiences we'd love to meet you.

What you’ll do

• Partner with designers, engineers, and product teams
• Modernize Drover’s UI foundations for fast, polished, native experiences
• Shape framework capabilities, APIs, and abstractions that help product teams ship UI faster and more consistently
• Prototype, validate, and ship new UI capabilities through close collaboration
• Build automation, validation, and performance systems that make quality measurable at scale
• Participate in design and code reviews, helping set the standard for UI craft
• Use AI-assisted tools thoughtfully while maintaining high standards for correctness, performance, and quality

What you need to succeed

• 5+ years of software engineering experience, with deep production C++ expertise
• Strong systems-design experience, including framework or platform architecture
• Depth in at least one UI framework area, such as layout, animation, rendering, theming, or performance
• Experience building cross-platform software for Windows and macOS
• A track record of solving complex technical problems while keeping software fast, reliable, and maintainable
• Design sensibility, strong communication skills, and experience developing alignment across design and engineering teams
• Experience with Objective-C, JavaScript/TypeScript, Python are a plus!

About Adobe Design

Adobe Design is the multidisciplinary, global organization behind Adobe experiences. Our full-stack team includes design researchers, design engineers, experience designers, brand designers, content strategists, and program managers dedicated to delivering exceptional experiences for Adobe users.

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 [e-mail] or call [phone].

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 positionis $139,000 -- $257,550 annually. Paywithin this range varies by work locationand 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 $177,900 - $257,550

In Washington, the pay range for this position is $161,700 - $234,150

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.