Atlassian

Principal Engineer

Software EngineerP60Very High

The Principal Engineer (P60) interview at Atlassian is a rigorous process designed to assess deep technical expertise, leadership capabilities, and strategic thinking. Candidates are expected to demonstrate a strong understanding of software architecture, system design, scalability, and the ability to mentor and guide other engineers. The interview process typically involves multiple rounds, including technical deep dives, system design challenges, and behavioral assessments focused on leadership and collaboration.

Rounds

4

Timeline

~4 days

Experience

10 - 15 yrs

Salary Range

US$180000 - US$250000

Total Duration

255 min

Overall Evaluation Criteria

Technical Skills

Technical Depth and Breadth
System Design and Architecture
Problem-Solving Skills
Leadership and Mentorship
Communication and Collaboration
Strategic Thinking
Cultural Fit and Values Alignment

Leadership and Impact

Ability to lead and influence technical direction.
Experience in driving complex projects from conception to delivery.
Mentoring and developing other engineers.
Effective communication with technical and non-technical stakeholders.
Proactive problem-solving and decision-making.

Cultural Fit

Alignment with Atlassian's values (Openness, Honesty, Courage, Helping, and Doing the Right Thing).
Ability to work effectively in a collaborative team environment.
Demonstrated passion for technology and continuous learning.

Preparation Tips

1Deeply understand Atlassian's products and their technical architecture.
2Review fundamental computer science concepts, data structures, and algorithms.
3Practice system design problems, focusing on scalability, reliability, and trade-offs.
4Prepare to discuss your past projects in detail, highlighting your contributions and impact.
5Brush up on leadership principles and behavioral interview techniques (STAR method).
6Research common challenges and solutions in distributed systems, cloud computing, and relevant technologies.
7Understand Atlassian's company culture and values.

Study Plan

1

System Design

Weeks 1-2: System Design fundamentals and practice.

Weeks 1-2: Focus on System Design. Study distributed systems concepts, microservices architecture, databases (SQL/NoSQL), caching strategies, message queues, and load balancing. Practice designing large-scale systems like social media feeds, e-commerce platforms, or real-time collaboration tools. Review common design patterns and architectural styles. Consider resources like 'Designing Data-Intensive Applications' by Martin Kleppmann.

2

Technical Fundamentals

Weeks 3-4: Core CS, Data Structures, Algorithms, and language specifics.

Weeks 3-4: Deep Dive into Technical Expertise. Revisit core computer science principles, data structures, and algorithms. Focus on areas relevant to the specific role (e.g., concurrency, performance optimization, specific programming languages like Java or Go). Work through challenging algorithmic problems on platforms like LeetCode (Hard difficulty).

3

Behavioral and Leadership

Weeks 5-6: Behavioral questions and leadership examples (STAR method).

Weeks 5-6: Behavioral and Leadership Preparation. Prepare stories using the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) for common leadership, teamwork, conflict resolution, and problem-solving scenarios. Reflect on your career experiences and identify key achievements and learnings. Understand Atlassian's values and how you embody them.

4

Mock Interviews

Week 7: Mock interviews and feedback.

Week 7: Mock Interviews and Refinement. Conduct mock interviews with peers or mentors, focusing on both technical and behavioral aspects. Get feedback on your communication, problem-solving approach, and clarity. Refine your answers and ensure you can articulate your thoughts concisely and effectively.

Commonly Asked Questions

Describe a time you had to make a significant technical decision with incomplete information. What was your process, and what was the outcome?
How do you mentor and grow engineers on your team? Provide specific examples.
Walk me through the architecture of a complex system you designed or significantly contributed to. What were the key challenges and trade-offs?
Tell me about a time you failed on a project. What did you learn from it?
How do you balance delivering new features with maintaining system health and addressing technical debt?
Describe a situation where you had a technical disagreement with a colleague or manager. How did you resolve it?
How do you approach designing for scalability and resilience in a distributed environment?
What are your thoughts on the current state of cloud computing and its impact on software development?
How do you foster a culture of innovation and psychological safety within a team?
Imagine you need to design a real-time notification system for millions of users. What would be your approach?
How do you handle ambiguity and changing requirements in a fast-paced environment?
What are your strategies for ensuring code quality and maintainability in a large codebase?

Location-Based Differences

Sydney, Australia

Interview Focus

Deep technical expertise in specific domains relevant to Atlassian's products (e.g., distributed systems, cloud computing, data engineering, front-end architecture).Proven ability to lead technical initiatives and drive complex projects to completion.Strategic thinking and ability to influence technical direction at an organizational level.Mentorship and people development skills.Strong communication and stakeholder management abilities.Experience with agile methodologies and DevOps practices.Understanding of Atlassian's product suite and their technical underpinnings.

Common Questions

Describe a complex system you designed and the trade-offs you made.

How do you approach mentoring junior engineers?

Tell me about a time you had to influence a team to adopt a new technology or approach.

Discuss a challenging technical problem you solved and your thought process.

How do you ensure the scalability and reliability of large-scale systems?

What are your strategies for managing technical debt?

How do you stay current with emerging technologies and industry trends?

Describe a situation where you had to disagree with a technical decision made by a senior leader. How did you handle it?

How do you foster a culture of innovation and continuous improvement within a team?

Walk me through your process for diagnosing and resolving production issues in a distributed system.

Tips

For Sydney/APAC roles: Emphasize experience with large-scale, distributed systems and cloud-native architectures. Highlight contributions to open-source projects if applicable. Showcase experience with Atlassian's core technologies (e.g., Java, Go, JavaScript, AWS/Azure).
For US/EMEA roles: Focus on experience with high-growth environments, rapid iteration, and building products for a global user base. Demonstrate strong understanding of cloud infrastructure (AWS, GCP, Azure) and microservices architectures. Highlight experience with data-intensive applications and machine learning if relevant to the specific team.
Be prepared to discuss your contributions to technical strategy and architectural decisions.
Quantify your impact whenever possible using metrics.
Showcase your ability to think about the 'why' behind technical decisions, not just the 'how'.

Austin, USA

Interview Focus

Deep technical expertise in specific domains relevant to Atlassian's products (e.g., distributed systems, cloud computing, data engineering, front-end architecture).Proven ability to lead technical initiatives and drive complex projects to completion.Strategic thinking and ability to influence technical direction at an organizational level.Mentorship and people development skills.Strong communication and stakeholder management abilities.Experience with agile methodologies and DevOps practices.Understanding of Atlassian's product suite and their technical underpinnings.

Common Questions

Describe a complex system you designed and the trade-offs you made.

How do you approach mentoring junior engineers?

Tell me about a time you had to influence a team to adopt a new technology or approach.

Discuss a challenging technical problem you solved and your thought process.

How do you ensure the scalability and reliability of large-scale systems?

What are your strategies for managing technical debt?

How do you stay current with emerging technologies and industry trends?

Describe a situation where you had to disagree with a technical decision made by a senior leader. How did you handle it?

How do you foster a culture of innovation and continuous improvement within a team?

Walk me through your process for diagnosing and resolving production issues in a distributed system.

Tips

For US/EMEA roles: Focus on experience with high-growth environments, rapid iteration, and building products for a global user base. Demonstrate strong understanding of cloud infrastructure (AWS, GCP, Azure) and microservices architectures. Highlight experience with data-intensive applications and machine learning if relevant to the specific team.
Be prepared to discuss your contributions to technical strategy and architectural decisions.
Quantify your impact whenever possible using metrics.
Showcase your ability to think about the 'why' behind technical decisions, not just the 'how'.

Warsaw, Poland

Interview Focus

Deep technical expertise in specific domains relevant to Atlassian's products (e.g., distributed systems, cloud computing, data engineering, front-end architecture).Proven ability to lead technical initiatives and drive complex projects to completion.Strategic thinking and ability to influence technical direction at an organizational level.Mentorship and people development skills.Strong communication and stakeholder management abilities.Experience with agile methodologies and DevOps practices.Understanding of Atlassian's product suite and their technical underpinnings.

Common Questions

Describe a complex system you designed and the trade-offs you made.

How do you approach mentoring junior engineers?

Tell me about a time you had to influence a team to adopt a new technology or approach.

Discuss a challenging technical problem you solved and your thought process.

How do you ensure the scalability and reliability of large-scale systems?

What are your strategies for managing technical debt?

How do you stay current with emerging technologies and industry trends?

Describe a situation where you had to disagree with a technical decision made by a senior leader. How did you handle it?

How do you foster a culture of innovation and continuous improvement within a team?

Walk me through your process for diagnosing and resolving production issues in a distributed system.

Tips

For US/EMEA roles: Focus on experience with high-growth environments, rapid iteration, and building products for a global user base. Demonstrate strong understanding of cloud infrastructure (AWS, GCP, Azure) and microservices architectures. Highlight experience with data-intensive applications and machine learning if relevant to the specific team.
Be prepared to discuss your contributions to technical strategy and architectural decisions.
Quantify your impact whenever possible using metrics.
Showcase your ability to think about the 'why' behind technical decisions, not just the 'how'.

Process Timeline

1
Coding and Algorithms60m
2
System Design75m
3
Leadership and Behavioral60m
4
Strategic Leadership60m

Interview Rounds

4-step process with detailed breakdown for each round

1

Coding and Algorithms

Coding problems focusing on data structures and algorithms.

Technical Coding InterviewHigh
60 minSenior Software Engineer or Staff Engineer

This round focuses on your core technical skills. You will be asked to solve one or two coding problems, typically involving data structures and algorithms. The interviewer will assess your ability to write clean, efficient, and well-tested code, as well as your problem-solving approach and communication during the process. Expect questions that require you to think about edge cases and optimize your solutions.

What Interviewers Look For

Clean, efficient, and well-reasoned code.Clear communication of thought process.Ability to identify edge cases and test thoroughly.Understanding of time and space complexity.

Evaluation Criteria

Technical problem-solving skills.
Understanding of data structures and algorithms.
Coding proficiency.
Ability to think critically and logically.

Questions Asked

Given a binary tree, find the lowest common ancestor of two given nodes in the tree.

Data StructuresAlgorithmsTreeRecursion

Implement a function to find the k-th largest element in an unsorted array.

Data StructuresAlgorithmsArraySortingQuickselect

Design and implement a data structure that supports insert, delete, search, and getRandom in O(1) average time.

Data StructuresHash TableArrayDesign

Preparation Tips

1Practice coding problems on platforms like LeetCode, HackerRank, or Coderbyte.
2Focus on understanding the underlying data structures and algorithms.
3Be prepared to explain your thought process clearly.
4Practice writing code on a whiteboard or in a shared editor.
5Review common algorithms and their complexities.

Common Reasons for Rejection

Lack of depth in technical knowledge.
Inability to articulate design choices and trade-offs.
Poor problem-solving approach.
Difficulty in handling ambiguity.
Lack of leadership or mentorship experience.
Poor communication skills.
2

System Design

Design a scalable and reliable system, discussing trade-offs.

System Design InterviewVery High
75 minStaff Engineer or Principal Engineer

This round assesses your ability to design complex, scalable, and reliable systems. You will be presented with an open-ended problem (e.g., design Twitter's feed, design a URL shortener) and expected to lead the discussion. Focus on requirements gathering, high-level design, component breakdown, data modeling, API design, and discussing trade-offs. Consider aspects like scalability, availability, consistency, latency, and cost.

What Interviewers Look For

A structured approach to problem-solving.Clear articulation of design choices and justifications.Consideration of various components (databases, caching, APIs, etc.).Ability to identify and mitigate risks and failure points.Understanding of scalability patterns and techniques.

Evaluation Criteria

System design and architecture skills.
Understanding of distributed systems principles.
Ability to handle scale, reliability, and availability.
Consideration of trade-offs.
Problem decomposition and abstraction.

Questions Asked

Design a system like Google Maps.

System DesignScalabilityDistributed SystemsMappingAPIs

Design a rate limiter for an API.

System DesignScalabilityDistributed SystemsAPIsConcurrency

Design a distributed cache system.

System DesignScalabilityDistributed SystemsCachingData Structures

Preparation Tips

1Study common system design patterns and architectures.
2Practice designing various large-scale systems.
3Understand concepts like CAP theorem, eventual consistency, load balancing, caching, and database sharding.
4Be prepared to draw diagrams and explain your design clearly.
5Think about operational concerns like monitoring, logging, and deployment.

Common Reasons for Rejection

Inability to design scalable and reliable systems.
Poor consideration of trade-offs.
Lack of clarity in design choices.
Failure to address potential failure points.
Not considering operational aspects (monitoring, deployment).
Over-simplification of complex problems.
3

Leadership and Behavioral

Behavioral questions assessing leadership, mentorship, and collaboration.

Behavioral And Leadership InterviewHigh
60 minEngineering Manager or Director

This round focuses on your behavioral and leadership competencies. You'll be asked questions about your past experiences, focusing on how you've led teams, mentored engineers, handled conflicts, driven initiatives, and collaborated with others. Use the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) to structure your answers. The interviewer wants to understand your leadership style, your ability to influence, and how you align with Atlassian's culture and values.

What Interviewers Look For

Examples of taking initiative and ownership.Ability to mentor and guide junior engineers.Effective communication and conflict resolution skills.Demonstrated ability to work cross-functionally.Understanding of team dynamics and how to foster a positive environment.

Evaluation Criteria

Leadership and influence.
Mentorship and team development.
Collaboration and communication.
Problem-solving and decision-making.
Alignment with Atlassian's values.

Questions Asked

Tell me about a time you had to lead a project through significant challenges. What was your approach?

LeadershipProblem SolvingProject ManagementBehavioral

Describe a situation where you had to influence a team or stakeholder to adopt your technical vision.

LeadershipInfluenceCommunicationBehavioral

How do you handle underperformance on your team?

LeadershipMentorshipTeam ManagementBehavioral

Tell me about a time you disagreed with your manager. How did you handle it?

Conflict ResolutionCommunicationBehavioral

Preparation Tips

1Prepare specific examples using the STAR method for common behavioral questions.
2Reflect on your leadership experiences, successes, and failures.
3Understand Atlassian's core values and how you demonstrate them.
4Think about how you mentor and develop others.
5Be ready to discuss your career aspirations and why you're interested in Atlassian.

Common Reasons for Rejection

Lack of leadership experience or potential.
Inability to influence or mentor others.
Poor communication or collaboration skills.
Not demonstrating alignment with company values.
Difficulty in handling conflict or challenging situations.
Lack of strategic thinking.
4

Strategic Leadership

Strategic thinking, business alignment, and executive presence.

Executive/Strategic InterviewVery High
60 minDirector of Engineering or VP of Engineering

This final round is typically with a senior leader (Director or VP) and focuses on your strategic thinking, leadership impact, and ability to influence at a higher level. You'll discuss your career vision, how you approach technical strategy, and how you align technical decisions with business objectives. Be prepared to discuss your experience in driving significant technical initiatives and your perspective on the future of technology relevant to Atlassian.

What Interviewers Look For

Ability to think beyond immediate tasks and consider long-term implications.Understanding of how technology drives business value.Experience in shaping technical strategy.Strong communication and presentation skills.Proactive identification of opportunities and risks.

Evaluation Criteria

Strategic thinking and vision.
Impact on business goals.
Technical leadership at an organizational level.
Ability to influence senior stakeholders.
Innovation and forward-thinking.

Questions Asked

What is your vision for the future of collaboration software, and how can Atlassian lead in this space?

StrategyVisionIndustry TrendsBusiness Acumen

Describe a time you had to make a difficult strategic technical decision that had significant business implications.

StrategyDecision MakingBusiness ImpactBehavioral

How do you foster innovation within engineering teams and ensure that innovative ideas are brought to fruition?

InnovationLeadershipTeam ManagementStrategy

What are the biggest technical challenges facing Atlassian today, and how would you address them?

StrategyProblem SolvingTechnical Vision

Preparation Tips

1Understand Atlassian's business strategy and product roadmap.
2Think about industry trends and how they might impact Atlassian.
3Prepare to discuss your vision for technical leadership and innovation.
4Be ready to articulate the business impact of your past technical contributions.
5Practice presenting your ideas concisely and persuasively.

Common Reasons for Rejection

Lack of strategic vision.
Inability to connect technical decisions to business goals.
Poor communication with senior leadership.
Not demonstrating a proactive approach to innovation.
Failure to consider the broader impact of technical decisions.

Commonly Asked DSA Questions

Frequently asked coding questions at Atlassian

View all
Two SumEASYLongest Substring Without Repeating CharactersMEDIUMContainer With Most WaterMEDIUMInteger to RomanMEDIUM3SumMEDIUMFind First and Last Position of Element in Sorted ArrayMEDIUMTrapping Rain WaterHARDJump Game IIMEDIUMGroup AnagramsMEDIUMMaximum SubarrayMEDIUM