Principal Software Engineer, (Adobe - AEM)

WHY DEPT?

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 drawn to people who stay curious, move with intent, and never stop inventing. Our culture runs on three values: better together, relentlessly curious, and get sh*t done. It is how we work, how we grow, and how we make things that matter.

At DEPT®, you will find the freedom to explore, the space to collaborate, and the trust to make a real impact for our clients, for each other, and for the world we are helping to build.

The role

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. 

What you'll do

• 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.

What you bring

• 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.

Helpful and 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.

How we will know you're succeeding

• The team knows what to build next and why.
• Code reviews improve the system instead of becoming a late-stage approval queue.
• Defects are found earlier, releases are less dramatic, and production issues are diagnosed with evidence.
• Engineers grow in confidence and ownership rather than waiting for the Tech Lead to solve everything.
• The implementation reflects the agreed architecture while still adapting sensibly to what discovery and delivery reveal.
• Clients experience a team that is technically credible, direct, and easy to work with.

WE OFFER

• A flexible, hybrid working policy
• An excellent salary based on experience and equal pay policies
• Mental health support, and company sick pay scheme.
• 15 days paid holiday annually (plus Public Holidays).
• Refreshments are provided in the office all week, as well as drinks at 4 pm on a Friday.
• Enhanced family friendly policies to support new parents.
• Social and Cultural Events, plenty of opportunities to connect with colleagues through organised activities and celebrations.
• Inspirational Talks, bringing the outside in with regular guest speakers and events.
• Learning and Development, supporting your growth with continuous opportunities to learn and advance.
• Buddy Programme: You will be paired with a ‘Buddy’ to help you through your first weeks’ at DEPT®.
• A reputation for doing good. DEPT® has been a Certified B Corp® since 2021 and named ‘Agency of the Year’ at both The Lovies and The Webby Awards.
• Awesome clients. Whether big or small, local or global — at DEPT® you’ll get the opportunity to work with clients of all sizes and across all industries. And we celebrate all of our successes together!
• The opportunity for possibility. We want to enable you to do what you do best and help you develop your skills further with training, development and certifications.

WE SUPPORT YOU BEING YOU: 

DEPT® is an equal opportunity employer (EOE). We believe our work is its best when our people feel safe and free to be themselves. 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. So tell us about any accommodations you need. It’s totally confidential and only used to make sure you feel fully supported at every step. 

DEPT® participates in E-Verify, meaning your Form I-9 information will be sent to the federal government to confirm you are authorized to work in the U.S. 

We are a B Corp-certified company passionate about purpose-driven work.  Our hope is that you can feel good about the contributions DEPT® is making to the world and we always have an open door for your ideas in making the world a better place. 

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.

Learn more about DEPT®

 

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.

Want to know more about our dedication to diversity, equity, and inclusion? Check out our efforts here.

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