Senior Staff Data Engineer Jobs in San Jose, CA

The Opportunity
Firefly is Adobe's family of creative generative AI products — and it's growing fast. Our data team sits at the center of that growth, powering the analytics, modeling, and product decisions that build what Firefly becomes. We're hiring a Senior Data Engineer to improve our data foundation. This person not only builds pipelines but also plans them carefully. They take action on needs they see without waiting for instructions.
This role will have immediate and visible impact in multiple high-stakes areas. You will support Finance, Credit Metering, AI-powered self-serve analytics, and Firefly's model engineering and NLP teams. As a core data engineering resource on a growing team, you will help maintain operational stability and speed up critical initiatives.

What You'll Do

• Architect, build, and own scalable data pipelines and ETL/ELT workflows across multiple sources into a central data warehouse - with end-to-end accountability for data mapping, business logic, quality, and lineage

Build and maintain infrastructure for timely clustering, translation pipelines, and NLP analysis supporting modeling, data science, and analytics teams

Build robust reporting pipelines for product and business-critical systems including generative credit usage data, feedback systems, RLHF research data, and partner reporting

Build foundational datasets and systems that support advanced self-serve analytics powered by AI

Define and promote coding standards, architecture patterns, and engineering guidelines across the team

Build data infrastructure that supports AI-powered insights and reduces dependency on ad hoc requests

Partner with data analysts, data scientists, ML engineers, and product teams to anticipate evolving data needs and influence the technical roadmap
What You'll Need to Succeed

BS or MS or PhD in an analytical field: statistics, applied mathematics, computer science, engineering, economics, physics, or equivalent practical experience

5+ years of hands-on data engineering experience with a track record of owning complex, production-grade data systems

Strong proficiency in SQL and Python; deep hands-on experience with Databricks, Spark SQL, dbt , Airflow, and cloud platforms (AWS and/or Azure)

Demonstrated experience crafting scalable data architectures — not just implementing them, but making the trade-off decisions and owning the outcomes

Strong instincts for data quality: building reliability and observability by default, not as an afterthought

Ability to take ambiguous business needs and translate them into well-scoped, independently implemented data solutions

Strong communication skills with the ability to explain technical architecture decisions to non-technical partners.
Nice to Have

Experience with NLP pipelines, timely data processing, or ML feature engineering

Experience building or supporting AI-powered analytics tools or self-serve data products

Background in A/B testing infrastructure and experimentation data pipelines

Exposure to data governance frameworks, data security, and compliance requirements

Experience crafting dashboards in Tableau or PowerBI etc

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 $133,100 -- $236,400 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 $163,200 - $236,400

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.