Sr. Director, Engineering - Digital Video & Audio (DVA)

Adobe; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 276,000 - 429,000; Full time

Job summary

Adobe's Digital Video & Audio (DVA) leads Premiere Pro, After Effects, and the platform, guiding AI-powered creative experiences for professionals worldwide. The Senior Director of Engineering defines the technical vision, builds high-performing, global teams, and drives delivery across desktop and cloud surfaces.

You will collaborate with Product, Design, Research, Firefly AI, and Creative Cloud to modernize architectures and accelerate AI adoption while maintaining strong operational rigor.

Qualifications

• Profound leadership of large software teams delivering cross-platform products.
• Strong track record integrating AI & ML into customer experiences.
• Deep knowledge of scalable architectures, reliability, and performance.
• Experience driving platform modernization and AI adoption in mature organizations.
• Excellent communication and executive collaboration skills.

Responsibilities

• Define and drive the engineering strategy for DVA across Premiere Pro, After Effects, and the platform.
• Lead the next generation of AI-native and agent-based creative experiences.
• Integrate generative AI, intelligent agents, and multimodal workflows in collaboration with Adobe AI Research and Firefly teams.
• Lead engineering execution and advance extensibility, developer experiences, and AI-powered workflows across devices.
• Drive the tech strategy for Adobe's DVA portfolio, accelerating AI-powered experiences across Premiere Pro, After Effects, and the platform.
• Modernize core video and rendering tech, cloud services, collaboration capabilities, extensibility frameworks, and shared platform infrastructure.
• Build and develop a high-performing global engineering org focused on performance, scalability, reliability, and ops rigor.
• Foster accountability, technical excellence, innovation, and execution while aligning strategy with Adobe-wide priorities.

Skills

Engineering leadership

AI integration

Cloud platforms

Distributed systems

Education

Bachelor's or higher in CS/Engineering

Tools

C++

Python

Java

Job description

The Opportunity

Adobe's Digital Video & Audio (DVA) business powers the world's leading creative tools for professional video editing, motion graphics, visual effects, and content creation. Premiere Pro and After Effects are industry-defining applications used by filmmakers, broadcasters, social creators, enterprises, and creative professionals worldwide! The future of creative storytelling will be hybrid, bringing together traditional craft and AI-powered creation in ways that expand what's possible. Whether an artist starts with an ARRI camera, a script, or a prompt, Adobe is building the world's leading creative platform to support every stage of the journey. From intelligent editing and generative video to cloud-native workflows and connected creative experiences, Digital Video & Audio is helping creators imagine, craft, and deliver compelling stories wherever inspiration begins. As Senior Director of Engineering, you will lead engineering strategy and execution across Premiere Pro, After Effects, and the platform, helping shape the future of professional video creation. You will partner closely across Product, Design, Research, and Platform Engineering to accelerate innovation, modernize core technologies, and deliver intelligent experiences that delight millions of creators around the world. This is a highly visible leadership role supporting one of Adobe's most strategic product portfolios. Success requires building high-performing teams, influencing across a complex matrixed organization, and driving technical and organizational excellence at scale. You will partner closely with leaders across Product Management, Design, Applied Research, Firefly AI, Creative Cloud, and Engineering to define and deliver the future of Adobe's video, motion graphics, and creative technology platform. We are looking for an experienced engineering leader with strong technical judgment, operational rigor, and a track record of delivering creative products through major technology shifts. The ideal candidate has modernized mature architectures, scaled organizations, and integrated AI into customer experiences at global scale.

What You’ll Do

• Define and drive the engineering strategy for DVA across.
• Lead the next generation of AI-native and agent-based creative experiences.
• Integrate generative AI, intelligent agents, and multimodal workflows into creator experiences in partnership with Adobe AI Research and Firefly teams.
• Lead engineering execution and advance extensibility frameworks, developer experiences, and AI-powered workflows while delivering seamless experiences across devices and creative surfaces.
• Drive the technology strategy for Adobe's Digital Video & Audio portfolio, accelerating AI-powered experiences across Premiere Pro, After Effects, and the platform.
• Modernize core video and rendering technologies, cloud services, collaboration capabilities, extensibility frameworks, and shared platform infrastructure while balancing architectural transformation with continuous product delivery.
• Build and develop a high performing global engineering organization responsible for performance, scalability, reliability, and operational rigor.
• Foster accountability, technical excellence, innovation, and strong execution while partnering across Adobe to align strategy, priorities, and platform direction.
• Represent Adobe externally through executive engagement, technical leadership, and a clear vision for shaping the next era of creativity.

What You'll Need to Succeed

• Demonstrated ownership of business outcomes that delivered double-digit growth.
• Experience expanding product value and adoption among new and emerging creators, with a strong focus on activation, retention, and business impact.
• 15+ years of software engineering experience building and shipping products with a worldwide reach.
• Experience leading large distributed engineering organizations responsible for complex, business-critical platforms including large-scale desktop applications and cross-platform experiences used by millions of creators.
• Proven experience integrating AI and machine learning technologies to enhance customer experiences, including generative AI, large language models, agent-based workflows, orchestration frameworks, inference systems, and multimodal experiences.
• Demonstrated success in modernizing platforms and leading large-scale AI adoption initiatives across mature engineering organizations and codebases.
• Experience improving engineering productivity through AI-assisted development and modern delivery practices.
• Strong technical depth across native applications, cloud-connected platforms, distributed systems, web, mobile, AI infrastructure, and developer ecosystems.
• Deep understanding of scalability, reliability, performance optimization, platform architecture, and operational excellence.
• Experience supporting globally distributed products and services used at large scale.
• Passion for creativity tools and a strong understanding of creator workflows, imaging technologies, graphics systems, extensibility, security, compliance, and enterprise requirements.
• Proven ability to build and develop leadership teams across directors, managers, architects, and engineers.
• Experience driving alignment across executive collaborators and partnering with organizations such as Premiere, Illustrator, and Firefly to deliver connected creative workflows.
• Exceptional communication, organizational leadership, and influence skills.
• Ability to inspire teams, shape strategy, and lead significant organizational change.

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].

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 $209,300 - $429,350 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 $276,200 - $429,350.

In Washington, the pay range for this position is $246,700 - $383,650.

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.

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 applicable characteristics protected by law. Learn more. Adobe aims to make Adobe.com 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].