Sr Director of Design, Firefly

Adobe Design is looking for an AI native, product-minded design leader to join our Adobe Design team to lead design for Firefly. This role will define the future of AI-powered creativity for creatives and creators. Firefly operates in one of the most dynamic and competitive spaces in technology. New generative AI capabilities reach market daily. Our differentiation comes from being commercially safe, agnostic of models and deeply integrated, workflow-level experiences that make AI genuinely useful inside the tools that creatives and creators rely on.  This is not a role for someone who leads from behind the team. We are looking for a builder who leads builders - a hands-on strategic leader who combines product intuition, design craft, competitive fluency, and growth accountability to move Firefly’s experience forward with speed and conviction. You will own experience outcomes, not just design outputs. This is a unique opportunity for someone who thrives in a fast-paced, 0-to-1 product environment and is energized by the challenge of shipping AI-native products at scale - pushing the boundaries of what’s possible while delivering measurable business impact.

You are an experienced leader with a track record of building and shipping AI-native consumer grade products, preferably catering to creative markets. Your lead product thinking from the design seat. You bring a strong point of view to every room you enter, grounded in deep understanding of user behavior, competitive dynamics, and understand business mechanics. You know how to translate business goals into design strategy and design strategy into shipped products. You know how to influence business goals that you don’t own.  You are a steadying force in ambiguity. When market dynamics shifts and priorities evolve, you can contextualize this for the organization so your team stays focused and energized. You earn trust across functions through the quality of your judgment, showing prototypes of ideas that work, and follow-through on commitments. You are driven by action and results. You take full ownership of your responsibilities and embody an entrepreneurial spirit that learns from failure and moves forward. In this role, you will: Own Product Experience Outcomes Define and drive design strategy for Firefly tightly coupled to MAU growth, retention, and competitive differentiation - not as abstract vision, but as prioritized, actionable design initiatives with measurable goals. Bring a clear, defensible point of view on which problems to solve, how to differentiate at the workflow level (Home, Boards, Mobile, Studio), and how design decisions map to business levers. Drive fast, data-informed decision-making with clear experimentation loops. Balance intuition-led patterns with a test-and-learn approach grounded in user data, competitive analysis, and growth metrics. Elevate Craft and Velocity Simultaneously Personally lead regular design reviews that raise the quality bar across Firefly surfaces. Own workflow cohesion and proactively address UI debt. Even better institute organizational practices that allow us to get ahead of creating UI debt.  Increase execution speed by making decisions in the room, unblocking teams quickly, and creating clear pathways forward rather than surfacing blockers without solutions. Guide non-designer builders (PMs, engineers experimenting with AI-generated UI) to shape their explorations into coherent, high-quality user experiences. Drive Cross-Functional Alignment Through Influence Show up as a decisive, strategic thought partner with Product Management, Engineering, Data Science, and Research leaders. Lead alignment conversations—don’t delegate them or defer to resourcing discussions. Work with other design leaders who are responsible for Firefly’s agentic experiences and others who are contributing to the Firefly charter through dotted line relationships.  Build tighter cross-functional rhythms that