Principal Software Engineer, (Adobe - AEM Lead)

About the Position

We are a Growth Invention company built to help the world’s most ambitious brands grow faster. Operating at the intersection of technology and marketing, we create what is next by pioneering ideas, acting fast, and moving further because standing still just is not in our DNA.

We are looking for a Principal Software Engineer to serve as the Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) Tech Lead on website and platform projects. You are the technical anchor for the delivery team, taking projects from inception through launch with minimal oversight: turning architecture and product goals into a coherent implementation, documenting scope, requirements, estimates, timelines, and risks, owning day-to-day technical communication, helping engineers make good decisions, and keeping quality high when the work gets complicated. This role reports into our Software Engineering practice in the US.

You will be hands-on and client-facing. You will lead technical workshops, design and build important pieces, review code, shape technical tasks and estimates, and work directly with a CMS (AEM) Architect, Product Owner, QA, DevOps, UX, Content, and client engineers. You will create the conditions for a team to deliver steadily, without becoming a bottleneck every decision has to pass through.

This role suits an engineer who enjoys both the code and the people around the code. You can go deep on a Sling Model or an OSGi configuration, then come back up and explain the decision in a way a product owner can use.

Responsibilities

• Anchor delivery: Take ownership of the technical workstream from inception through launch, breaking architecture and product goals into an implementation plan, technical stories, sequencing, dependencies, estimates, risks, and clear definitions of done. Surface scope gaps, ambiguity, and documentation debt before they become delivery problems.
• Build the important parts: Contribute production-quality website components and blocks, HTML5, JavaScript, CSS, Java, and AEM code, especially where the work involves complex components, services, workflows, integrations, responsive behavior, or performance-sensitive behavior.
• Keep the codebase healthy: Establish coding standards and patterns for website components and blocks, Universal Editor models, HTML5, JavaScript, CSS, responsive web design, Sling Models, OSGi services, servlets, schedulers, workflows, error handling, logging, testing, and configuration.
• Lead and mentor: Review pull requests, pair with engineers, explain the why behind patterns, and give useful feedback that raises the whole team's capability. Lead smaller delivery teams when needed, mentor P2 engineers, and build a culture of collaboration and knowledge sharing.
• Protect quality early: Partner with QA and DevOps on automated testing, build gates, security, accessibility, performance, observability, and deployment readiness.
• Make integration behavior explicit: Help define API contracts, payloads, retries, timeouts, authentication, failure handling, and ownership across AEM and external systems.
• Unblock delivery: Investigate defects, environment issues, build failures, and performance problems. Bring the right people together and make the next decision clear.
• Partner with the CMS (AEM) Architect: Turn architecture decisions into codebase conventions, flag when a proposed approach creates unnecessary risk, cost, or operational load, and help resolve technical tradeoffs quickly.
• Consult with the client: Lead technical workshops, presentations, demos, and day-to-day communication. Explain implementation choices at the right altitude for engineers, product partners, and executives, and help client engineers understand how to extend and operate the solution.
• Support release readiness: Help the team move safely through development, UAT, hardening, launch, and hypercare. A release is not finished when it compiles; it is finished when it can be supported.
• Improve how we deliver: Leverage GenAI tools, capture reusable patterns, share lessons through craft sessions and documentation, improve estimates and templates, and make the next project easier to start well.

Requirements

• 7+ years of professional software engineering experience, with proven success leading technical delivery for engineering teams.
• Demonstrated experience delivering production websites or digital platforms, including hands-on experience designing, developing, and supporting AEM-based solutions.
• Strong consulting, communication, and leadership capabilities, with a track record of articulating technical tradeoffs clearly to engineers, product partners, and client stakeholders.
• Full-stack technical depth-combining practical Java experience with strong HTML5, JavaScript, and CSS fundamentals-to make sound technical decisions and guide component architecture without needing to be the deepest specialist in every underlying tool.
• Hands-on experience leveraging GenAI productivity tools (such as Gemini CLI, Claude Code, or Codex) within your development workflow, alongside the drive to push their boundaries to accelerate team delivery.
• A practical understanding of core LLM concepts and the judgment to identify where AI solutions create real value.
• Full-stack leadership experience across CMS website projects, providing the technical breadth required to guide engineers and unblock delivery while partnering with the CMS Architect for deep specialist architecture ownership.
• Experience designing, integrating, and maintaining external APIs, microservices, data sources, and distributed systems-ensuring secure authentication, retries, resilient error handling, and optimal frontend rendering performance.
• A strong commitment to engineering standards across testing, accessibility, security, performance, observability, and CI/CD pipelines.
• Solid understanding of responsive web design, mobile-first delivery, cross-browser compatibility, Core Web Vitals, Accessibility standards, and SEO-aware frontend architecture.
• Proven ability to quickly navigate unfamiliar codebases, diagnose root causes, and introduce targeted improvements without unnecessary rewrites.
• Clear communication, composure during incidents, and the pragmatic judgment to prioritize investigation over guessing when addressing complex technical challenges.

Nice to Have

• Deep technical experience with AEM internals (e.g., Sling, OSGi, JCR/Oak, HTL, Clientlibs, Sling Models, servlets, workflows, schedulers, and component patterns) and ecosystem tools like AEM as a Cloud Service, Cloud Manager, Dispatcher, Edge Delivery Services, Universal Editor, AEM Assets, Content/Experience Fragments, MSM, or headless delivery.
• Experience with Adobe Skills for AEM, dispatcher, etc.
• Experience with Adobe Commerce, Adobe App Builder, API Mesh, Workfront, or Analytics integrations.
• Experience mentoring engineers, leading distributed or cross-functional teams, or acting as a technical lead across multiple teams.
• Adobe certification or equivalent production experience.

We Offer

• Healthcare, Dental, and Vision coverage
• 401k plan, plus matching
• PTO
• Paid Company Holidays
• Parental Leave

About the Company

We are a collaborative, open-door, best-idea-wins environment that fosters personal and company growth and has fun doing it. DEPT® is an equal opportunity employer (EOE). We’re committed to an inclusive and barrier-free recruitment and selection process and workplace, regardless of anyone’s identity, background, beliefs, lifestyle, or disabilities. We participate in E-Verify and are a B Corp-certified company passionate about purpose-driven work.

DEPT® is a Growth Invention company built to help the world’s most ambitious brands grow faster. Operating at the intersection of technology and marketing, our 4,000+ specialists deliver growth invention across Brand & Media, Experience, Commerce, CRM, and Technology & Data. We’re 50|50 tech and marketing, partner-led, and first to move. Clients include Google, Lufthansa, Coach, eBay, and OpenAI.

Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion

At DEPT®, we take pride in creating an inclusive workplace where everyone has an equal opportunity to thrive. We actively seek to recruit, develop, nurture, and retain talented individuals from diverse backgrounds, with varying skills and perspectives. Not sure you meet all qualifications? Apply, and let us decide! Research shows that women and members of underrepresented groups tend not to apply for jobs when they think they may not meet every requirement, when in fact they do. We believe in giving everyone a fair chance to shine. We also encourage you to reach out to us and discuss any reasonable adjustments we can make to support you throughout the recruitment process and your time with us.

Salary

The anticipated salary range for this position is listed below. Salary is based on a range of factors that include relevant experience, expertise, physical location, and organizational impact. This is based on a 40-hour workweek and leveling. Keep in mind, we’re flexible.

US Remote Range

$10,860 - $170,000 USD