Staff Software Engineer (Level 5)

The Opportunity
We are seeking a highly motivated Senior Software Engineer to help drive the evolution
of Adobe Journey Optimizer (AJO). In this backend role, you will play a key part in designing
and delivering the next generation of features that empower our customers to create exceptional experiences across billions of interactions a day! As part of the real-time journey orchestration team, you’ll build high throughput, enterprise-grade solutions with a strong focus on performance, reliability, and innovation.

Journey Optimizer is an application built on Adobe Experience Platform that enables real-time orchestration and delivery of personalized digital experiences across any channel. It empowers brands to engage customers in the moments that matter by combining unified customer profiles, intelligent decisioning, and dynamic content to deliver contextually relevant experiences at scale.

What You'll Do

• Technical Ownership: Design, implement, and maintain core components of AJO, with a focus on backend systems.
• Innovation & Impact: Collaborate with engineering leadership to shape and rapidly deliver on a technical vision for efficiently addressing the complex needs of our enterprise customers with easy-to-maintain solutions. Create differentiated value through effective application of AI.
• Engineering Excellence: Champion software engineering standards, including code quality, testing, and continuous integration/deployment.
• Design and Operate at Scale: Lead in the architecture and operation of large-scale, globally distributed systems. Ensure high availability and low latency in enterprise environments.
• Mentorship & Collaboration: Mentor junior engineers, lead design reviews, and foster a culture of technical excellence and continuous learning across the team.
• 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 software systems, focused on the backend. Experience with AI/ML systems and enterprise software development is a strong plus.
• Technical Expertise: Deep understanding of modern software development practices, distributed systems, and cloud-native architectures. Proficiency in Java, with expert knowledge of streaming architectures (e.g., Kafka), relational and NoSQL databases, caching frameworks, microservices, networking, security, and containerized environments (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes).

• Problem Solving: Strong analytical skills and a data-driven attitude. Ability to break down complex problems and deliver elegant, maintainable solutions.

• Operational Mentality: Demonstrated skill and enthusiasm for rigorous quality

• practices, observability, and incident response in production environments. Sense of urgency in maintaining operational excellence.
• Leadership Background: Experience and interest in technical leadership and project management.
• 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.
• Industry Exposure: Experience building enterprise B2B or B2C products in the
• marketing automation, analytics, experimentation, decisioning, or personalization space is a plus.

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 [email protected] or call +1 408-536-3015.

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

There is no deadline to apply to this job posting because Adobe accepts applications for this role on an ongoing basis. The posting will remain open based on hiring needs and position availability.

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.

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