Senior Director Legal Counsel Creative Cloud

Changing the world through digital experiences is what Adobe's all about. We give everyone, from emerging artists to global brands, everything they need to design and deliver exceptional digital experiences. We're passionate about empowering everyone to craft beautiful and powerful images, videos, and apps, and transform how companies interact with customers across every screen.

We're on a mission to hire the very best and are committed to building exceptional employee experiences where everyone is respected and has access to equal opportunity. We realize that new ideas can come from everywhere in the organization, and we know the next big idea could be yours!

Adobe is seeking a Senior Director, Legal to serve as the lead attorney for the Creative Cloud (CC) business unit on a global scale. Creative Cloud encompasses over 20 desktop and mobile apps, including Photoshop, Lightroom, Illustrator, Premiere Pro, and After Effects - along with integrated services such as Adobe Fonts, and cloud storage.

This is a high-impact leadership role at the intersection of law and business strategy. The right candidate is, first and foremost, a business affairs attorney - someone who leads with a deep understanding of business objectives and combines that with expert legal judgment to help the business achieve its goals while right-sizing risk. This means developing a thorough command of CC's product lines, customer segments, go-to-market strategies, platforms, and competitive position, and translating that knowledge into clear, practical legal guidance.

This role reports to the VP and Deputy General Counsel of Creativity & Productivity (C&P), who reports to the Chief Legal Officer, and works closely with colleagues across the Legal & Government Relations (LGR) organization and throughout Adobe.

Team Leadership & Development

• Lead, grow, and inspire a team of highly talented attorneys and legal specialists supporting CC product compliance globally.

• Empower team members to make sound, independent risk decisions grounded in a clear understanding of laws, regulations, business objectives, and strategic priorities.

• Maintain a high-quality, well-staffed team by monitoring workload, anticipating headcount needs, advocating for resources, and shifting support to align with evolving business unit priorities.

• Foster a team culture of business partnership and collaboration- ensuring attorneys work collaboratively with business teams rather than acting as gatekeepers.

Legal Strategy & Risk Advising

• Serve as the primary legal advisor to CC business and product leadership, advising senior executives on legal risks across all CC product and business activities worldwide.

• Develop and drive risk and innovation strategy across a broad and rapidly evolving international legal landscape, including consumer protection, IP, antitrust, licensing, and applicable international laws.

• Connect the dots across business strategy, product plans, and legal risk - breaking down silos, ensuring consistency, and eliminating blind spots across the organization.

• Anticipate legal and market trends, look around corners, and put plans in place to address emerging risks before they materialize.

Cross-Functional Partnership

• Partner closely with privacy, trust and safety, trade compliance, Employment, Corporate, Product, Security, and Go-To-Market teams to manage CC product compliance end-to-end.

• Develop deeply meaningful relationships with senior stakeholders across Adobe, building the organizational knowledge and trust needed to get things done effectively.

• Develop a deep understanding of CC customer segments - including Education, Government, Enterprise, Teams, and Individual - the offers provided to each, associated terms, and routes to market.

• Support CC's back-end platforms where legal compliance requirements are essential to Adobe's overall compliance profile.

Innovation & Continuous Improvement

• Act as both a custodian of existing legal frameworks and an innovator - continuously evolving the team's operating model to meet new business needs, a shifting legal landscape, and emerging market trends.

• Develop creative, scalable legal support models that empower the team to prioritize work according to the risk level and strategic value of each product or initiative.

• Lead the continued development and improvement of all aspects of CC global product and services compliance.

• J.D. degree and active membership in at least one state bar.

• 15+ years of relevant legal experience, including prior in-house experience or first-chair law firm experience.

• 6+ years of people management experience leading large, talented legal teams.

Legal Expertise

• Extensive knowledge across multiple legal disciplines relevant to product compliance: privacy, trust and safety, consumer protection, trade compliance, IP, antitrust, licensing, and international law.

• Extensive experience leading, negotiating, and closing large, complex, strategic partnerships.

• Advanced substantive knowledge of generative artificial intelligence and its legal implications.

• Strong command of SaaS software business models and the legal frameworks that govern them.

Business Acumen

• Proven ability to understand and internalize business strategy, company goals, and competitive dynamics - and to use that knowledge to inform risk advising and team prioritization.

• Significant understanding of Adobe's current and possible future technologies, strategies, policies, and competitors, as well as applicable law and industry trends.

• Demonstrated experience right-sizing risk: making practical, business-friendly legal recommendations that enable growth rather than stymie it.

Leadership & Communication

• Experience advising and working directly with senior executives and Board members.

• Ability to communicate effectively and with credibility across all levels of the organization.

• Strategic problem solver with excellent legal and business judgment, including demonstrated experience identifying and acting on risk mitigation opportunities.

• Exceptional interpersonal skills, a collaborative spirit, a great sense of humor, and someone who does not take her or himself too seriously and has an unwavering commitment to professionalism.

• A meticulous, creative thinker who thrives in a fast-moving, cross-functional environment.

About Adobe

Adobe empowers everyone to create through innovative platforms and tools that unleash creativity, productivity and personalized customer experiences. Adobe's industry-leading offerings including Adobe Acrobat Studio, Adobe Express, Adobe Firefly, Creative Cloud, Adobe Experience Platform, Adobe Experience Manager, and GenStudio enable people and businesses to turn ideas into impact, powered by AI and driven by human ingenuity.

Our 30,000+ employees worldwide are creating the future and raising the bar as we drive the next decade of growth. We're on a mission to hire the very best and believe in creating a company culture where all employees are empowered to make an impact. At Adobe, we believe that great ideas can come from anywhere in the organization. The next big idea could be yours.

Let's Adobe together

At Adobe, we believe in creating a company culture where all employees are empowered to make an impact. Learn more about Adobe life, including our values and culture, focus on people, purpose and community, Adobe for All, comprehensive benefits programs, the stories we tell, the customers we serve, and how you can help us advance our mission of empowering everyone to create.

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Expected Pay Range:

At Adobe, for sales roles starting salaries are expressed as total target compensation (TTC = base + commission), and short-term incentives are in the form of sales commission plans. Non-sales roles starting salaries are expressed as base salary and short-term incentives are in the form of the Annual Incentive Plan (AIP).

In addition, certain roles may be eligible for long-term incentives in the form of a new hire equity award.

State-Specific Notices:

California:

Fair Chance Ordinances

Adobe will consider qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records for employment in accordance with state and local laws and "fair chance" ordinances.

Colorado:

Application Window Notice

If this role is open to hiring in Colorado (as listed on the job posting), the application window will remain open until at least the date and time stated above in Pacific Time, in compliance with Colorado pay transparency regulations. If this role does not have Colorado listed as a hiring location, no specific application window applies, and the posting may close at any time based on hiring needs.

Massachusetts:

Massachusetts Legal Notice

It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.