# Software Engineering Manager
**Role:** Software Engineering Manager · **Level:** L6
**Company:** [Asana](https://scaleengineer.com/companies/asana)
**Difficulty:** High
**Salary:** US$180000 - US$250000
**Experience:** 7 - 10
**Timeline:** ~14 days
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.
Canonical: https://scaleengineer.com/interviews/asana/l6-software-engineering-manager
---
## Overall evaluation

- Technical Acumen
- People Management
- Leadership & Strategy
- Cultural Alignment

## Questions asked

- Tell me about a time you had to manage a difficult stakeholder relationship. How did you handle it?
- Describe your approach to setting team goals and ensuring alignment with broader company objectives.
- How do you foster a culture of psychological safety and continuous learning within your team?
- Walk me through a challenging project you managed from inception to delivery. What were the key challenges and how did you overcome them?
- How do you identify and develop high-potential engineers on your team?
- Describe a time you had to make a difficult decision that impacted your team. What was your process?
- How do you balance the need for speed with the importance of code quality and technical debt?
- What is your experience with performance management, including addressing underperformance?
- How do you stay technically relevant as a manager?
- Tell me about a time you failed. What did you learn from it?

## Preparation tips

### lists

- Thoroughly research Asana's mission, values, products, and recent news.
- Understand the specific challenges and opportunities for an Engineering Manager at Asana.
- Prepare specific examples using the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) for behavioral questions.
- Review common software engineering principles and practices, even if you're not coding directly.
- Familiarize yourself with Asana's engineering blog and public technical talks.
- Think about your leadership philosophy and how it aligns with Asana's culture.

### studyPlan

- {"title":"Company & Product Immersion","longDescription":"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.","shortDescription":"Weeks 1-2: Research Asana's culture, product, and engineering practices. Understand EM challenges."}
- {"title":"People Management & Leadership","longDescription":"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.","shortDescription":"Weeks 3-4: Study people management best practices. Prepare STAR examples for leadership."}
- {"title":"Technical Strategy & Practices","longDescription":"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.","shortDescription":"Weeks 5-6: Review SDLC, Agile, and high-level system design. Prepare to discuss technical strategy."}
- {"title":"Final Preparation & Questions","longDescription":"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.","shortDescription":"Week 7: Practice articulating leadership philosophy and prepare insightful questions."}

## Location differences

- {"location":"Remote/Hybrid","differences":{"tips":["Highlight experience with distributed teams and asynchronous communication.","Be prepared to discuss tools and techniques for remote team engagement.","Emphasize your ability to build trust and psychological safety across distances."],"interviewFocus":["Adaptability to remote/hybrid management styles","Cross-time zone collaboration strategies","Building inclusive remote team cultures"],"commonQuestions":["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?"]}}
- {"location":"On-site (e.g., San Francisco, New York)","differences":{"tips":["Showcase your ability to foster strong relationships through face-to-face interactions.","Provide examples of successful in-person team events or initiatives.","Discuss how you ensure equitable experiences for both on-site and remote team members."],"interviewFocus":["On-site team dynamics and collaboration","Leveraging in-person interactions for team building","Managing hybrid teams with a significant on-site component"],"commonQuestions":["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?"]}}

## Round 1: HR/Recruiter Screen
**Type:** Recruiter Screen · **Difficulty:** Medium · **Duration:** 45 min
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.
**Interviewers look for:** Enthusiasm and genuine interest in Asana.; Clear communication and ability to articulate thoughts.; Basic understanding of the EM role.; Alignment with Asana's core values.
**Evaluation criteria:** Initial assessment of communication skills and cultural fit.; Understanding of basic management principles.; Motivation for applying to Asana.
**Common rejection reasons:** Lack of clear examples demonstrating people management skills.; Inability to articulate a coherent leadership philosophy.; Poor communication or stakeholder management.; Failure to demonstrate alignment with Asana's values.
## Questions

- 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

- Be prepared to talk about your career journey and why you're interested in Asana.
- Have specific examples ready to illustrate your management experience.
- Research Asana's mission and values.
- Prepare questions about the role, team, and company culture.

## Round 2: People Management Interview
**Type:** People Management Interview · **Difficulty:** High · **Duration:** 60 min
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.
**Interviewers look for:** Demonstrated ability to grow and develop talent.; Empathy and strong interpersonal skills.; Effective strategies for managing performance and providing feedback.; Experience in fostering a positive team environment.
**Evaluation criteria:** Depth of people management philosophy and practices.; Ability to coach, mentor, and develop engineers.; Skills in performance management and feedback.; Experience in conflict resolution and team building.
**Common rejection reasons:** Lack of depth in people management strategies.; Inability to provide concrete examples of developing engineers.; Poor conflict resolution skills.; Difficulty in handling challenging team situations.
## Questions

- 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

- Prepare detailed examples using the STAR method for common people management scenarios.
- Think about your philosophy on team structure, growth, and motivation.
- Be ready to discuss how you handle underperformance and difficult conversations.
- Consider how you foster diversity and inclusion within your teams.

## Round 3: Leadership & Strategy Interview
**Type:** Leadership & Strategy Interview · **Difficulty:** High · **Duration:** 60 min
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.
**Interviewers look for:** Ability to think strategically and plan for the future.; Effective communication with technical and non-technical stakeholders.; Sound judgment in technical and project-related decisions.; Proactive approach to identifying and mitigating risks.
**Evaluation criteria:** Strategic thinking and ability to align team with business goals.; Project management and execution capabilities.; Stakeholder management and communication skills.; Technical leadership and decision-making ability.
**Common rejection reasons:** Lack of strategic thinking or inability to connect team goals to business objectives.; Poor communication or stakeholder management skills.; Inability to articulate a clear technical vision or strategy.; Difficulty in managing project execution and delivery.
## Questions

- 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

- Prepare examples of strategic planning and execution.
- Think about how you manage dependencies and communicate progress to stakeholders.
- Be ready to discuss your approach to technical decision-making and risk management.
- Understand Asana's business objectives and how engineering contributes to them.

## Round 4: Technical & System Design Interview
**Type:** Technical & System Design Interview · **Difficulty:** High · **Duration:** 60 min
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.
**Interviewers look for:** Strong technical foundation and credibility.; Ability to engage in meaningful technical discussions.; Understanding of scalability, reliability, and performance.; Capacity to mentor engineers on technical growth.
**Evaluation criteria:** Technical depth and breadth relevant to Asana's domain.; Ability to guide architectural decisions and technical strategy.; Understanding of software development best practices.; Problem-solving and critical thinking skills.
**Common rejection reasons:** Lack of technical depth or inability to guide technical discussions.; Poor understanding of system design principles.; Inability to assess technical contributions of team members.; Weak problem-solving skills in a technical context.
## Questions

- 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

- Review fundamental computer science concepts and software engineering principles.
- Familiarize yourself with common architectural patterns and trade-offs.
- Think about how you've guided technical decisions in past roles.
- Be prepared to discuss technical challenges and solutions at a high level.

## Round 4: Hiring Manager Interview
**Type:** Hiring Manager Interview · **Difficulty:** High · **Duration:** 45 min
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.
**Interviewers look for:** Clear vision and passion for leading a team.; Ability to articulate how they would succeed in the role.; Strong alignment with the manager's leadership style.; Enthusiasm and proactive approach.
**Evaluation criteria:** Alignment with the hiring manager's vision and team goals.; Leadership potential and ability to drive impact.; Problem-solving approach and decision-making style.; Overall fit with the team and manager's expectations.
**Common rejection reasons:** Poor alignment with the hiring manager's vision for the team.; Lack of clarity on how they would contribute to team success.; Inability to demonstrate leadership potential.; Mismatch in working styles or expectations.
## Questions

- 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

- Reiterate your understanding of the role and team's goals.
- Clearly articulate your leadership philosophy and approach.
- Be prepared to discuss how you would tackle specific challenges mentioned during the process.
- Ask thoughtful questions about the team's current projects, challenges, and future direction.