Scale Engineer

Software Engineering Manager

Software Engineering ManagerPrincipal Software Engineering ManagerHigh

AppFolio is seeking a Principal Software Engineering Manager to lead and mentor high-performing engineering teams, drive technical strategy, and foster a culture of innovation and collaboration. This role requires a strong blend of technical expertise, people management skills, and strategic thinking to deliver impactful software solutions.

Rounds·5

Timeline·~14d

Experience·10 - 15 yrs

Comp band·US$180000 - US$250000

Interview time·255 min

Evaluation

What they measure.

  • Leadership and people management capabilities
  • Strategic thinking and technical vision
  • Execution and delivery excellence
  • Collaboration and communication skills
  • Cultural fit and alignment with AppFolio values

Preparation

How to prepare.

Tips

  1. Deeply understand AppFolio's mission, values, and products.
  2. Review your past experiences and prepare specific examples using the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) for behavioral questions.
  3. Brush up on modern software development methodologies, architectural patterns, and cloud technologies.
  4. Think about your leadership philosophy and how you foster team growth and performance.
  5. Prepare thoughtful questions to ask the interviewers about the role, team, and company.

Study plan

Fig · Study plan — 04 phases

01 / 04
01

Phase 01 of 04

Company & Self-Assessment

Weeks 1-2: AppFolio business/product/culture, leadership accomplishments, STAR stories.

Weeks 1-2: Focus on understanding AppFolio's business, products, and engineering culture. Research common challenges faced by SaaS companies and how AppFolio addresses them. Review your career history and identify key leadership accomplishments and challenges. Prepare STAR stories for common management scenarios.

Questions

Commonly asked.

  • Describe your leadership philosophy and how you foster a positive and productive engineering culture.
  • Tell me about a time you had to manage a significant technical challenge or project failure. What did you learn?
  • How do you balance the need for rapid feature development with maintaining code quality and system stability?
  • Describe your process for hiring and retaining top engineering talent.
  • How do you handle underperforming team members?
  • Walk me through a time you had to influence stakeholders or senior leadership to adopt a new technical direction.
  • How do you stay current with emerging technologies and industry trends?
  • What are your strategies for managing technical debt?
  • Describe a situation where you had to resolve a conflict within your team or between teams.
  • How do you delegate effectively and empower your team members?
  • What are your thoughts on Agile methodologies and how do you implement them?
  • How do you measure the success of your engineering teams?
  • Tell me about a time you had to make a difficult decision that impacted your team.
  • What are your expectations for a Principal Software Engineering Manager at AppFolio?
  • How do you foster innovation within your teams?

Locations

Regional differences.

Fig · Regions — 02 locations

01 / 02

Location

Remote

Interview focus

Remote team management strategiesCross-cultural communicationBuilding trust and cohesion in distributed teams

Common questions

  • How do you handle performance issues with remote team members?
  • Describe a time you had to adapt your management style for a geographically distributed team.
  • What tools and strategies do you use to ensure effective communication and collaboration across different time zones?

Tips

  • Highlight experience with managing remote or hybrid teams.
  • Be prepared to discuss specific examples of fostering collaboration across distances.
  • Emphasize your understanding of asynchronous communication best practices.

Rounds

Round-by-round.

Expand a step for evaluation criteria, sample questions, and prep notes.

DSA

Coding questions at AppFolio.

Frequently reported on AppFolio loops

View all at AppFolio

Other guides

More at AppFolio.