Photoshop Developer, GPU/Imaging

About the role

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.

Responsibilities

• 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

• 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

• 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.

Pay

The U.S. pay range for this position is $139,000 – $257,550 annually. Pay within this range varies by work location and may also depend on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience.

In California, the pay range for this position is $177,900 – $257,550

In New York, the pay range for this position is $177,900 – $257,550

In Washington, the pay range for this position is $161,700 – $234,150