Manager, Applied Science

Our CompanyChanging the world through digital experiences is what Adobe’s all about. We give everyone—from emerging artists to global brands—everything they need to design and deliver exceptional digital experiences! We’re passionate about empowering people to create beautiful and powerful images, videos, and apps, and transform how companies interact with customers across every screen. We’re on a mission to hire the very best and are committed to creating exceptional employee experiences where everyone is respected and has access to equal opportunity. We realize that new ideas can come from everywhere in the organization, and we know the next big idea could be yours!

The Opportunity

Adobe Firefly Applied Science & Machine Learning (ASML) is looking for a Manager, Applied Science – Generative AI Foundations to lead a team building core systems that support training and development of foundation models for generative AI, spanning image, video, and multimodal generation.

This role is designed for a technical lead manager who combines strong software engineering and systems experience with applied ML understanding and people leadership. You will lead a team responsible for foundational training frameworks, tooling, and codebases that enable large-scale experimentation, reliable execution, and rapid iteration across multiple generative AI efforts at Adobe.

The focus of this role is on foundational capabilities and engineering systems that support many models and teams, rather than ownership of a single model or research area. You will work closely with applied researchers, ML engineers, and product partners to turn evolving research and product needs into scalable, maintainable, and production-ready systems.

Success in this role requires strong engineering judgment, comfort with ambiguity, and the ability to guide both system design and applied ML workflows, while scaling impact through effective team leadership and execution.

What You’ll Do

• Lead and grow a team of applied scientists and engineers working on core generative AI training systems
• Own and evolve key parts of the training and experimentation codebase, focusing on reliability, scalability, and developer productivity
• Partner closely with applied research and engineering teams to support the full lifecycle from experimentation to production
• Drive technical design and architecture decisions for large-scale training systems, pipelines, and supporting infrastructure
• Remain hands-on enough to review designs, guide implementation choices, and unblock complex technical issues
• Establish best practices for system robustness, testing, observability, and reproducibility
• Drive execution against milestones while adapting to changing research and product priorities
• Build a strong team culture focused on ownership, collaboration, and continuous improvement

What You Need to Succeed

• Master’s or PhD in Computer Science, Engineering, AI/ML, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience
• At least 2+ years of experience leading or managing technical teams in large-scale systems engineering or AI/ML domains
• Strong hands-on software engineering experience building and operating large-scale distributed systems, or experience working on model training systems and ML infrastructure
• Experience working with complex codebases, production services, or internal platforms used by multiple teams
• Ability to operate as a technical leader, making sound design tradeoffs and unblocking complex engineering problems
• Strong communication skills and the ability to collaborate across research, engineering, and product organizations
• Comfort working in fast-moving, ambiguous environments typical of generative AI development

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 $149,300 -- $324,450 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 $224,100 - $324,450

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 anEqual 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.

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