Staff Design Program Manager

Adobe•San Jose, CA

About The Position

Our Company Changing 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. Our goal is to hire the very best and we are committed to crafting outstanding 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 We are looking for a Staff Design Program Manager to join our team and provide immediate impact to the Customer Experience Orchestration design team within the broader Adobe Design team. In this role, you will lead complex, cross-functional initiatives that scale design execution and impact across teams and products. You will shape how design partners with product, engineering, and business leadership to deliver world-class experiences at scale. This role is strategic and action-focused — combining operational excellence, influence without authority, and deep organizational insight. Success performing these duties requires the ability to establish relationships and build rapport across teams, as well as to negotiate and influence cross-functional teams and leadership effectively. A successful Staff Design Program Manager demonstrates deep application/platform and design knowledge in combination with business and project management domain expertise to drive successful programs.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree and/or an advanced degree or equivalent experience in a related field.
10+ years of applicable background in a build and technology environment.
Demonstrated delivery of large-scale programs and projects within a large internal design team.
Strong conflict resolution and negotiation skills with a proven capacity to lead in an environment of ambiguity with a diverse range of partners.
Talent for developing relationships, building rapport, and influencing cross-functional teams and leadership.
A passion to have an influential role with the product and engineering team as a driver for design process and product strategy, communicating design ideas persuasively and concisely to all functions of the organization, including executives.
Strong verbal, presentation, and written communication skills.
A love for fun while getting things done!

Nice To Haves

Working knowledge of Adobe Workfront, Jira, and AI Tools (Cursor, Claude and Replit) is highly desired.

Responsibilities

End-to-End Program Leadership: Lead multi-team, cross-functional design programs from discovery through delivery. Define program goals, key achievements, success metrics, and risk plans. Coordinate dependencies across design, product, engineering, research, and other functions.
Strategy, Planning & Prioritization: Partner with design and business leadership to align design deliverables to organizational goals. Drive prioritization frameworks to focus effort on highest-impact opportunities. Balance long-term critical initiatives with near-term delivery needs.
Operational Excellence & Enablement: Build and refine processes that improve velocity, predictability, and clarity. Standardize guidelines for planning, tracking, and reporting for build org work. Identify and remove cross-org blockers.
Collaborator Partnering & Influence: Act as a central connective tissue between design, product management, engineering, and business teams. Influence decisions without direct authority through clear communication and relationship building. Translate complex strategy into actionable plans.
Metrics, Reporting & Continuous Improvement: Define, track, and report key performance indicators for design programs. Conduct retrospectives and incorporate takeaways into future programs. Surface insights and trends that inform planning and investment decisions.
Mentorship & Leadership: Coach program managers and peers on program execution practices. Advocate for operational excellence and evolving ways of working. Represent the design org in cross-functional leadership discussions.