The opportunity
Liquid Mode reimagined how people read documents on mobile. Acrobat AI Assistant, named one of TIME's Best Inventions of 2024, lets users have a real-time conversation with a PDF. And in 2026, we introduced a feature enabling the generation of polished presentations and personal podcast-style audio summaries directly from documents. These all came from this team — and there's a lot more where that came from.
We're searching for someone who is genuinely motivated by that sentence. They have experience in the 0-to-1 space, whether at an AI-first startup, an incubator, or anywhere the brief was simply to "figure this out," and they want to do it again at Adobe's scale.
As a Senior Design Manager, you'll lead a team passionate about developing new AI-powered experiences for business professionals. You will work from early concepts through to shipped products. You will explore new AI-powered modalities like voice and others just starting to develop. You will invent capabilities that change how business professionals work, communicate, and complete tasks.
You'll work directly alongside AI researchers and machine learning engineers right from the beginning, crafting what's possible before the requirements even exist. And you'll play an active role in crafting what it means to lead an AI-native team committed to building stellar user experiences. You will help establish new models for how Design, Research,
Product and Engineering collaborate in an AI-first world.
What you'll do
You'll bring a player-coach attitude and an entrepreneurial spirit — setting direction for your team while staying close enough to the work to prototype and explore when it counts. Day to day, that looks like:
- Lead and do. Guide a focused team of product designers — setting direction, removing obstacles, and improving the craft and quality.
- Navigate ambiguity. Help your team find clarity in early-stage, loosely defined problem spaces — turning open-ended briefs into actionable design directions.
- Pioneer AI-first ways of working. Actively experiment with and help define how your squad integrates AI tools into research, ideation, prototyping, and critique workflows. Share what you learn across the broader design organization.
- Collaborate at the frontier. Partner directly with AI research scientists and ML engineers to shape new experiences from the earliest moments of possibility.
- Move fast without sacrificing craft. Set a high bar for quality while building the habits that let your team ship quickly and iterate in the open.
- Communicate design thinking clearly. Represent your team's work across all levels of the organization, from working sessions to senior leadership reviews.
- Develop your people. Build a team environment grounded in honest feedback, continuous learning, and real ownership.
What you'll need to succeed
Must-haves:
- Several years of experience managing and mentoring product designers, with a strong track record of developing people and delivering quality work
- Demonstrated experience in early-stage, exploratory product spaces — 0-to-1 work is core to this role, not a nice-to-have
- A resourceful, entrepreneurial approach: you figure things out, you unblock yourself and your team, and you don't wait for perfect conditions
- Comfort building prototypes yourself and a willingness to stay hands-on with the work
- Strong communication with the ability to tell a clear story to engineers, PMs, and executives alike
- Experience partnering closely with cross-functional teams through the full product lifecycle — from discovery to delivery
- Hands-on familiarity with AI tools in your own design practice and a genuine curiosity about where the technology is going
Nice-to-haves:
- Background at an AI-first startup or within an incubator or innovation lab at a larger company
- Experience designing for or leading teams working on Android or mobile-first products
- Exposure to designing AI-assisted or agentic workflows
Preferred Accessibility Design Skills:
- Experience designing accessible and inclusive interfaces for people with disabilities.
- Understanding of applying WCAG conformance criteria in design, specifically testing comps, wireframes, and prototypes for accessibility standards.
- Accessibility certifications CPACC, WAS, CPWA, or ADS from the IAAP preferred.
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 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.
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 $141,700 -- $272,500 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 $188,200 - $272,500
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.