Photoshop Developer, GPU/Imaging

Adobe · San Francisco · San Jose · Seattle · New York

onsitefull-time3-6 years

posted 11 Aug

About Adobe At Adobe, we give people the tools to bring their ideas to life. We help creators turn imagination into content that moves the world — and we help businesses turn data into insight and insight into action. We build a culture where people grow as leaders, wherever they sit in the org chart. If you want to do meaningful work inside an open, diverse, and collaborative team, we'd love to meet you. The opportunity Photoshop is 35 years old. Its rendering engine is not. We're rebuilding the core that draws every pixel in Photoshop — replacing decades of accumulated architecture with a modern, GPU-first engine called NGE (NextGen Engine). This is a full rebuild, not an incremental extension, and it unlocks things that weren't possible before: live, non-destructive on-canvas filters, natural media brushing, and image quality built for professional video, film, and VFX work. You'd be joining the team building this engine and bringing it into Photoshop Desktop — a multi-year effort spanning filters, adjustments, layer effects, blend modes, and every existing tool in Photoshop. It's the kind of ground-up rebuild most engineers only get to work on once in a career. What you'll do Design, build, and optimize GPU-based imaging and rendering features using modern C++, WebGPU, and WGSL Write and tune GPU shaders and compute kernels for real-time image processing Profile and optimize performance across the rendering pipeline — GPU occupancy, memory latency, submit batching, and frame time across a range of hardware, from integrated to discrete GPUs Help extend the engine's compositing and color pipeline (blending, color spaces, precision) Write automated tests for the rendering and imaging code you build Use AI tools thoughtfully to speed up development, debugging, and testing Make architectural calls when specs are open-ended or still forming Write clear, self-documenting code that your teammates can easily read and extend Contribute to engineering docs and design reviews, and take part in regular code reviews About you You: Enjoy working close to the hardware — squeezing performance out of GPUs and low-level rendering code Like contributing to something bigger than your own individual output Can make steady progress even when a problem is ambiguous or not fully prioritized yet Bring strong analytical and debugging skills, especially for tricky performance or correctness issues Care about precision and craftsmanship, down to the pixel and the frame Communicate clearly and can distill complex technical tradeoffs for different audiences Stay steady and adaptable when plans shift or setbacks come up Treat challenges as opportunities to learn something new Enjoy solving problems in ways that are both elegant and durable Experience & education We're hiring across levels for this role, from early-career through senior, so requirements scale with level: A bachelor's or master's degree in Computer Science, or equivalent experience in the field Solid grounding in graphics and GPU programming fundamentals — pipelines, shaders, memory and performance tradeoffs Familiarity with GPU hardware architecture across vendors (e.g., integrated vs. discrete GPUs) Experience with one or more graphics APIs, such as Metal, DirectX, Vulkan, or WebGPU Experience building applications in modern C++ (years of experience scale with the level you're hired at) Comfort writing asynchronous, production-quality code A plus, not a requirement: experience with image-processing pipelines, WebAssembly, or large-scale codebases like Photoshop's If you're earlier in your career and don't check every box, we'd still like to hear from you — this role is built to grow engineers into this work, not just hire people who've already done it. Equal opportunity Adobe is an equal opportunity employer. We value diversity and do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, o