Director of Engineering, Real Time Experience (RTX)

Adobe•San Jose, CA

20d

About The Position

Adobe’s Digital Video & Audio (DVA) business builds Premiere Pro, After Effects, and Media Encoder. The Real Time Experience (RTX) team owns the rendering engine, GPU abstraction layer, compositor, video player, importer and exporter host, and Effects and Transitions SDK used by these products. Adobe is hiring a Director of Engineering to lead RTX’s modernization efforts and align teams involved in rendering as Topaz and LTX integrations arrive. The Director sets the technical vision for rendering technology behind DVA’s desktop products, with a near-term focus on Premiere Pro performance and stability. This includes delivering a GPU-first rendering pipeline, leading the transition to a modern graphics and compute API, and defining how AI features and partner technologies fit into the render pipeline. The role also works to unify rendering, effects, and transitions across desktop, web, and mobile; modernize legacy components with media and format teams; and lead engineering efforts to unify and document SDKs and improve third-party plugin quality. The Director grows and leads a team of managers, architects, and senior engineers, protects the quality bar, and coaches leaders as the organization changes. The position requires strong technical judgment and the ability to turn a rendering technology vision into an adequately funded and staffed plan while influencing internal and external partners.

Requirements

12 or more years of software engineering experience, with deep architectural judgment in GPU-accelerated, real-time rendering, graphics, or media systems.
5 or more years leading engineering teams, with people leadership at senior engineering manager level or above, including developing managers and growing careers.
Experience building or leading performance-critical software such as rendering engines, playback and compositing systems, game engines, or broadcast tools.
Strong knowledge of GPU architecture and compute, and modern graphics APIs including Metal, DirectX 12, Vulkan, and WebGPU.
A track record in large, mature C/C++ desktop codebases and experience modernizing them while continuing to ship.
A clear point of view on the future of rendering technology and the ability to turn it into a funded, staffed plan.
Strong influence across Product, Engineering, QE, and external partners.

Nice To Haves

Understanding of video codecs, formats, and import/export pipelines, and how they affect playback and effects.
Experience in games, VFX, AR/VR, real-time 3D, or live broadcast production.
Experience adding AI or ML inference to rendering or media pipelines.
Experience unifying rendering across desktop, web, and mobile.
Experience building developer ecosystems, SDKs, or plugin programs.

Responsibilities

Set the technical vision for rendering technology behind DVA’s desktop products, with a near-term focus on Premiere Pro performance and stability.
Make architectural decisions and establish clear investment plans for engineering and quality engineering.
Deliver the GPU-first rendering pipeline to improve playback, scrubbing, and dropped frames.
Choose and lead the move to a modern graphics and compute API, such as DirectX 12, Vulkan, or Dawn/WebGPU.
Define how AI features and partner technologies such as Topaz and LTX fit into the render pipeline while maintaining quality and user experience.
Unify rendering, effects, and transitions across desktop, web, and mobile.
Build partnerships with technology leaders and shape the roadmap around their platform plans.
Work with media and format teams to modernize legacy components and align partner teams on shared priorities.
Lead the engineering side of a Developer Relations effort to unify and document SDKs and improve third-party plugin quality.
Grow a team of managers, architects, and senior engineers, protect the quality bar, and coach leaders as the organization changes.