# Software Engineering Manager
**Role:** Software Engineering Manager · **Level:** M80
**Company:** [Atlassian](https://scaleengineer.com/companies/atlassian)
**Difficulty:** High
**Salary:** US$180000 - US$250000
**Experience:** 8 - 15
**Timeline:** ~4 days
The Software Engineering Manager (M80) interview at Atlassian is a comprehensive process designed to assess leadership potential, technical acumen, people management skills, and strategic thinking. Candidates are evaluated on their ability to lead teams, drive technical excellence, foster a positive culture, and contribute to Atlassian's mission.
Canonical: https://scaleengineer.com/interviews/atlassian/m80-software-engineering-manager
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## Overall evaluation

- Leadership and People Management
- Technical Acumen and Strategy
- Communication and Collaboration
- Cultural Fit and Growth Mindset

## Questions asked

- Describe your leadership philosophy and how you foster a positive team culture.
- Tell me about a time you had to manage a conflict within your team. How did you resolve it?
- How do you approach performance management and career development for your engineers?
- Describe a challenging technical decision you made as a manager. What was the outcome?
- How do you balance the needs of your team with the strategic goals of the company?
- Tell me about a time you had to deliver difficult feedback to an engineer. How did you approach it?
- How do you stay current with technology trends and ensure your team is adopting best practices?
- Describe a situation where you had to lead your team through a significant change or challenge.
- How do you prioritize work and manage competing demands for your team's resources?
- What are your strategies for attracting and retaining top engineering talent?

## Preparation tips

### lists

- Deeply understand Atlassian's products, values, and mission.
- Prepare specific examples using the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) for behavioral questions.
- Review common software engineering management challenges and best practices.
- Familiarize yourself with Atlassian's leadership principles.
- Practice articulating your leadership philosophy and management style.
- Research current trends in software development and team management.
- Be ready to discuss your experience with scaling teams and managing technical debt.
- Prepare questions to ask the interviewers about the role, team, and company culture.

### studyPlan

- {"title":"Company and Management Fundamentals","longDescription":"Weeks 1-2: Focus on Atlassian's history, products (Jira, Confluence, Trello, Bitbucket), company values, and recent news. Understand their business model and market position. Review common software engineering management frameworks and best practices, including Agile methodologies, DevOps, and CI/CD.","shortDescription":"Weeks 1-2: Atlassian overview, products, values. Management frameworks (Agile, DevOps)."}
- {"title":"People Management and Behavioral Skills","longDescription":"Weeks 3-4: Deep dive into people management. Study topics like performance management, career development, coaching, conflict resolution, hiring, and building high-performing teams. Prepare behavioral examples using the STAR method for each of these areas.","shortDescription":"Weeks 3-4: People management (performance, career, conflict, hiring). STAR method practice."}
- {"title":"Technical Leadership and Strategy","longDescription":"Weeks 5-6: Focus on technical leadership and strategy. Review system design principles, architectural patterns, scalability, reliability, and technical decision-making processes. Prepare to discuss your experience in technical strategy, roadmap planning, and managing technical debt.","shortDescription":"Weeks 5-6: Technical strategy, system design, scalability, roadmap planning."}
- {"title":"Interview Practice and Refinement","longDescription":"Week 7: Practice mock interviews, focusing on articulating your leadership philosophy, management style, and strategic thinking. Refine your answers to common interview questions and prepare insightful questions to ask the interviewers.","shortDescription":"Week 7: Mock interviews, refining answers, preparing questions."}

## Location differences

- {"location":"Remote","differences":{"tips":["Highlight experience with asynchronous communication tools.","Provide examples of successful remote team initiatives.","Demonstrate understanding of time zone challenges and solutions."],"interviewFocus":["Remote team management strategies","Cross-cultural communication","Building trust and engagement in a distributed workforce"],"commonQuestions":["How do you handle underperforming engineers in a remote setting?","Describe a time you had to adapt your leadership style for a distributed team.","What tools and strategies do you use to foster collaboration and communication in a remote environment?"]}}
- {"location":"San Francisco","differences":{"tips":["Showcase experience in rapid prototyping and iteration.","Provide examples of successful process improvements.","Emphasize a proactive approach to identifying and solving problems."],"interviewFocus":["Agility and adaptability","Scaling engineering practices","Navigating organizational change"],"commonQuestions":["How do you balance the needs of a fast-paced startup environment with established corporate processes?","Describe your experience with scaling engineering teams in a high-growth environment.","How do you foster innovation and agility within a larger organization?"]}}
- {"location":"Sydney","differences":{"tips":["Highlight experience in stakeholder management and negotiation.","Provide examples of successful cross-departmental projects.","Demonstrate a deep understanding of business strategy and its impact on engineering."],"interviewFocus":["Organizational influence","Cross-functional collaboration","Strategic alignment"],"commonQuestions":["How do you approach building and maintaining a strong engineering culture in a large, established company?","Describe your experience with matrixed organizations and influencing stakeholders across different departments.","How do you ensure alignment between engineering initiatives and broader business objectives?"]}}

## Round 1: People Leadership Assessment
**Type:** Hiring Manager Interview · **Difficulty:** High · **Duration:** 45 min
Assesses leadership and people management skills through behavioral questions.
This initial round focuses on assessing your foundational leadership and people management capabilities. The hiring manager will explore your experience in building and developing teams, managing performance, fostering a positive work environment, and handling common team challenges. Expect behavioral questions designed to understand your approach to people leadership.
**Interviewers look for:** Clear vision for leading engineering teams; Empathy and understanding of team dynamics; Ability to coach and mentor engineers; Proactive approach to team challenges
**Evaluation criteria:** Leadership potential; People management skills; Communication clarity; Problem-solving approach
**Common rejection reasons:** Lack of clear leadership vision; Inability to articulate people management strategies; Poor conflict resolution skills; Failure to demonstrate strategic thinking
## Questions

- Describe your approach to building a high-performing engineering team.
- How do you handle underperforming team members?
- Tell me about a time you had to resolve a conflict between team members.

## Preparation tips

- Prepare specific examples of your leadership successes and challenges.
- Understand Atlassian's approach to people management and culture.
- Be ready to discuss your philosophy on coaching, feedback, and career development.

## Round 2: Technical Strategy and Architecture
**Type:** Technical and Strategy Interview · **Difficulty:** High · **Duration:** 60 min
Evaluates technical depth, strategic thinking, and system design capabilities.
This round delves into your technical leadership and strategic thinking. You'll be asked to discuss your experience with system design, architecture, scaling, and technical decision-making. The interviewer will assess your ability to guide technical strategy, manage technical debt, and ensure the team is building robust and scalable solutions.
**Interviewers look for:** Ability to guide technical direction; Sound judgment in technical decision-making; Understanding of system design and scalability; Capacity to manage technical debt and innovation
**Evaluation criteria:** Technical depth and breadth; Strategic thinking; Architectural understanding; Problem-solving and decision-making
**Common rejection reasons:** Lack of strategic technical vision; Inability to articulate technical decision-making processes; Poor understanding of scalability and architecture; Difficulty in prioritizing technical initiatives
## Questions

- How would you design a system for [specific problem, e.g., real-time notifications]?
- Describe a time you had to make a significant technical trade-off. What was your reasoning?
- How do you ensure your team follows best practices in software development?

## Preparation tips

- Review system design principles and common architectural patterns.
- Prepare to discuss your experience with scaling applications and infrastructure.
- Think about how you prioritize technical initiatives and manage technical debt.

## Round 3: Stakeholder Management and Business Alignment
**Type:** Cross-Functional Collaboration Interview · **Difficulty:** High · **Duration:** 45 min
Focuses on collaboration, influence, and alignment with business goals.
This round assesses your ability to collaborate with stakeholders across different functions (e.g., Product Management, Design, other Engineering teams) and influence decision-making. You'll discuss how you align engineering efforts with business goals and communicate technical strategies to non-technical audiences.
**Interviewers look for:** Ability to communicate effectively with diverse audiences; Skill in influencing without direct authority; Understanding of business objectives and how engineering contributes; Collaborative approach to problem-solving
**Evaluation criteria:** Communication and influence; Stakeholder management; Cross-functional collaboration; Business acumen
**Common rejection reasons:** Inability to influence stakeholders; Poor communication of vision; Lack of alignment with business goals; Difficulty in managing cross-functional relationships
## Questions

- How do you collaborate with Product Managers to define roadmaps?
- Describe a time you had to influence a decision made by stakeholders outside your team.
- How do you ensure your team's work is aligned with the company's overall business objectives?

## Preparation tips

- Prepare examples of successful cross-functional collaboration.
- Think about how you communicate technical concepts to business stakeholders.
- Understand how to align engineering roadmaps with product and business strategies.

## Round 4: Cultural Alignment and Values
**Type:** Behavioral and Cultural Fit Interview · **Difficulty:** Medium · **Duration:** 45 min
Assesses alignment with Atlassian's values and cultural fit.
This round is designed to assess your cultural fit within Atlassian. Interviewers will explore your alignment with the company's values, your approach to collaboration, and your ability to adapt to change. Be prepared to share examples that demonstrate your personal values and how they resonate with Atlassian's culture.
**Interviewers look for:** Demonstration of Atlassian's core values (Openness, Collaboration, Innovation, Customer Focus); Positive attitude and enthusiasm; Ability to handle ambiguity and change; Commitment to continuous learning and self-improvement
**Evaluation criteria:** Cultural fit; Alignment with Atlassian values; Resilience and adaptability; Growth mindset
**Common rejection reasons:** Poor cultural fit; Lack of alignment with Atlassian values; Inability to demonstrate resilience or adaptability; Negative attitude or lack of enthusiasm
## Questions

- How do you embody collaboration in your daily work?
- Describe a time you faced a significant setback. How did you respond?
- What are you passionate about outside of work?

## Preparation tips

- Research Atlassian's core values and understand what they mean in practice.
- Prepare examples that showcase your collaborative spirit and adaptability.
- Be authentic and enthusiastic about the opportunity.