Software Engineering Manager
Asana is looking for experienced Software Engineering Managers (L6) to lead and mentor high-performing engineering teams. This role involves a blend of technical leadership, people management, and strategic thinking to drive product development and foster a collaborative engineering culture.
5
~14 days
7 - 10 yrs
US$180000 - US$250000
270 min
Overall Evaluation Criteria
Technical Acumen
People Management
Leadership & Strategy
Cultural Alignment
Preparation Tips
Study Plan
Company & Product Immersion
Weeks 1-2: Research Asana's culture, product, and engineering practices. Understand EM challenges.
Weeks 1-2: Deep dive into Asana's company culture, mission, values, and product suite. Understand their target audience and competitive landscape. Review Asana's engineering blog and any available technical talks to grasp their technology stack and engineering practices. Familiarize yourself with common challenges faced by engineering managers in scaling organizations.
People Management & Leadership
Weeks 3-4: Study people management best practices. Prepare STAR examples for leadership.
Weeks 3-4: Focus on people management principles. Review concepts like performance management, coaching, conflict resolution, delegation, and building high-performing teams. Prepare specific examples from your past experience using the STAR method, focusing on situations where you demonstrated strong leadership and people development skills.
Technical Strategy & Practices
Weeks 5-6: Review SDLC, Agile, and high-level system design. Prepare to discuss technical strategy.
Weeks 5-6: Refresh your understanding of software development lifecycle, agile methodologies, system design principles (at a high level), and common technical challenges. While you won't be coding, you need to demonstrate technical credibility and the ability to guide technical discussions and decisions. Prepare to discuss how you foster technical excellence within your teams.
Final Preparation & Questions
Week 7: Practice articulating leadership philosophy and prepare insightful questions.
Week 7: Practice articulating your leadership philosophy, vision for an engineering team, and how you would contribute to Asana's engineering culture. Prepare questions to ask the interviewers that demonstrate your engagement and thoughtfulness about the role and the company.
Commonly Asked Questions
Location-Based Differences
Remote/Hybrid
Interview Focus
Common Questions
How do you handle underperforming engineers in a remote setting?
Describe a time you had to manage a conflict between engineers on different time zones.
What are your strategies for fostering team cohesion and culture in a hybrid work environment?
Tips
On-site (e.g., San Francisco, New York)
Interview Focus
Common Questions
How do you manage stakeholder expectations with a strong on-site presence?
Describe your experience with in-person team building activities.
How do you balance the needs of on-site and remote team members?
Tips
Process Timeline
Interview Rounds
5-step process with detailed breakdown for each round
HR/Recruiter Screen
Initial screening with HR to assess basic qualifications and cultural fit.
This initial screening call with a recruiter is designed to assess your overall fit for the role and Asana. They will cover your background, motivations, and high-level experience in people management and technical leadership. It's also an opportunity for you to learn more about the role and the company.
What Interviewers Look For
Evaluation Criteria
Questions Asked
Tell me about yourself and your career progression.
Why are you interested in this Software Engineering Manager role at Asana?
What are your strengths and weaknesses as a manager?
Describe your experience managing engineering teams.
What do you know about Asana?
Preparation Tips
Common Reasons for Rejection
People Management Interview
In-depth discussion on people management, coaching, and team development.
This round focuses on your people management skills. You'll be asked behavioral questions designed to probe your experience in hiring, coaching, mentoring, performance management, conflict resolution, and building effective teams. Expect questions that require you to share specific examples from your past.
What Interviewers Look For
Evaluation Criteria
Questions Asked
Describe a time you had to manage an underperforming engineer. What steps did you take?
How do you foster career growth for your team members?
Tell me about a time you had to resolve a conflict between team members.
How do you build trust and psychological safety within a team?
What is your approach to hiring and onboarding new engineers?
Describe a time you had to deliver difficult feedback to an engineer.
Preparation Tips
Common Reasons for Rejection
Leadership & Strategy Interview
Focus on strategic thinking, project execution, and stakeholder management.
This interview assesses your strategic thinking, project management skills, and ability to influence stakeholders. You'll discuss how you set team direction, manage roadmaps, handle cross-functional collaboration, and ensure successful project delivery. Technical depth relevant to managing engineering teams will also be evaluated.
What Interviewers Look For
Evaluation Criteria
Questions Asked
How do you prioritize competing demands and manage your team's roadmap?
Describe a time you had to influence stakeholders to adopt a particular technical approach.
How do you ensure your team delivers high-quality software on time?
What is your experience with managing technical debt?
How do you foster innovation within your engineering team?
Tell me about a time a project you managed faced significant challenges. How did you adapt?
Preparation Tips
Common Reasons for Rejection
Technical & System Design Interview
Assesses technical judgment, architectural understanding, and problem-solving.
This technical interview assesses your ability to understand and guide technical decisions, even if you're not coding directly. You might discuss system design, architecture, debugging strategies, or technical challenges faced by your previous teams. The goal is to gauge your technical judgment and your ability to support your engineers technically.
What Interviewers Look For
Evaluation Criteria
Questions Asked
Describe the architecture of a complex system you've worked on. What were the key design decisions?
How do you approach diagnosing and resolving production issues?
What are the trade-offs between different database technologies?
How do you ensure the scalability and reliability of the systems your team builds?
Discuss a time you had to make a significant technical trade-off. What was your reasoning?
What are your thoughts on CI/CD and DevOps practices?
Preparation Tips
Common Reasons for Rejection
Hiring Manager Interview
Final discussion with the hiring manager to assess vision, leadership, and team fit.
This is your final interview, typically with the hiring manager for the role. It's a chance to discuss your vision for the team, how you'd approach the challenges of the role, and ensure alignment on expectations. The hiring manager will assess your leadership potential and how you'd fit within their specific team and management philosophy.
What Interviewers Look For
Evaluation Criteria
Questions Asked
What is your vision for this team in the next 6-12 months?
How would you onboard yourself into this role and team?
Describe your ideal working relationship with your manager.
What are the biggest challenges you anticipate in this role, and how would you address them?
How do you measure success for yourself and your team?
Preparation Tips
Common Reasons for Rejection
Commonly Asked DSA Questions
Frequently asked coding questions at Asana