Principal Engineer AI/ML

JOB LEVEL

M60/P60

EMPLOYEE ROLE

Individual Contributor

The Opportunity

We are seeking a highly experienced and innovative Principal Engineer to join the GenStudio Engineering team. This role is ideal for a technical leader who thrives in a fast-paced environment and is passionate about building scalable, high-impact software solutions. You will drive architectural decisions, mentor engineers, and influence the technical direction of GenStudio.

What You’ll Do

• Design, build, test, and maintain AI/ML-based systems and applications that serve as the backbone of scalable, production-ready technology stacks.
• Frame product features as ML tasks (e.g., classification, recommendation, context engineering).
• Analyze trade-offs across cost, latency, and accuracy while ensuring compliance with UX, privacy, legal, and security constraints.
• Assess data distribution (variance, sampling, drift) and manage data labeling workflows involving LLMs, SMEs, or user-generated activity.
• Organize datasets for training, validation, and testing, and engineer high-quality features using normalization, smoothing, and weighting techniques.
• Implement and adapt techniques from academic research and industry papers; evaluate algorithmic trade-offs considering data requirements, latency, and runtime.
• Handle cold-start scenarios and mitigate overfitting/underfitting challenges.
• Define offline benchmarks and metrics; design and analyze A/B tests to validate online performance.
• Architect scalable ML systems (e.g., multi-agent, recommender, active learning, multi-stage model training, enterprise search) for both offline and online workflows.
• Optimize model development and deployment in GPU/TPU environments using PyTorch.
• Work cross-functionally with data, research, and product teams to translate models into production-ready services.

What You’ll Need to Succeed

• 14+ years of experience in software engineering, with a strong track record of technical leadership.
• Bachelor's or Master’s degree in Computer Science or a related field (or equivalent experience).
• Proven expertise in Machine Learning and Deep Learning, including model design, optimization, and fine-tuning.
• Strong understanding of transfer learning principles and their application in production settings.
• Proficiency in Python (especially for data workflows) and experience with ML/DL frameworks such as PyTorch, TensorFlow/Keras, CUDA, Hugging Face, and JAX.
• Experience designing and deploying scalable AI/ML systems optimized for GPU/TPU environments.
• Solid grasp of data engineering concepts—including dataset management, feature engineering, and handling data drift.
• Ability to balance theoretical ML knowledge with practical, high-performance implementation.
• Strong understanding of how to transform models into reliable, production-grade services.

Preferred Attributes

• Recognized as a thought leader within and beyond the organization.
• Experience mentoring senior engineers and shaping engineering culture.
• Demonstrated ability to drive innovation and evangelize new technologies.
• Experience with building GenAI-first applications.
• Contributions to industry forums, conferences, or open-source communities.

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 $206,400 -- $379,100 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 $261,800 - $379,100

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.

Internal Opportunities

Creativity, curiosity, and constant learning are celebrated aspects of your career growth journey. We’re glad that you’re pursuing a new opportunity at Adobe!

Put your best foot forward:

1. Update your Resume/CV and Workday profile – don’t forget to include your uniquely ‘Adobe’ experiences and volunteer work.

2. Visit the Internal Mobility page on Inside Adobe to learn more about the process and set up a job alert for roles you’re interested in.

3. Check out these tips to help you prep for interviews.

4. If you are applying for a role outside of your current country, ensure you review the International Resources for Relocating Employees on Inside Adobe, including the impacts to your Benefits, AIP, Equity & Payroll.

Once you apply for a role via Workday, the Talent Team will reach out to you within 2 weeks. If you move into the official interview process with the hiring team, make sure you inform your manager so they can champion your career growth.

At Adobe, you will be immersed in an exceptional work environment that is recognized around the world. You will also be surrounded by colleagues who are committed to helping each other grow through our unique Check-In approach where ongoing feedback flows freely. If you’re looking to make an impact, Adobe's the place for you. Discover what our employees are saying about their career experiences on the Adobe Life blog and explore the meaningful benefits we offer.

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 accommodations@adobe.com 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.