Scale Engineer

Senior Principal Engineer

Software EngineerP70Very High

The Senior Principal Engineer (P70) interview at Atlassian is a rigorous process designed to assess deep technical expertise, leadership capabilities, and strategic thinking. Candidates are expected to demonstrate a high level of proficiency in software design, architecture, problem-solving, and influencing technical direction across multiple teams. This role requires not only strong individual contribution but also the ability to mentor and guide other engineers, drive technical initiatives, and contribute to the overall engineering excellence at Atlassian.

Rounds·4

Timeline·~21d

Experience·10 - 15 yrs

Comp band·US$180000 - US$250000

Interview time·225 min

Evaluation

What they measure.

  • Depth and breadth of technical knowledge.
  • Ability to design and architect complex, scalable, and reliable systems.
  • Problem-solving skills and analytical thinking.
  • Leadership and mentorship capabilities.
  • Communication and interpersonal skills.
  • Strategic thinking and long-term vision.
  • Understanding of software development best practices and methodologies.
  • Ability to influence and drive technical decisions.
  • Cultural fit and alignment with Atlassian values.

Preparation

How to prepare.

Tips

  1. Deeply understand Atlassian's products, mission, and values.
  2. Review your past projects and identify key technical challenges, solutions, and outcomes.
  3. Practice system design problems, focusing on scalability, reliability, and trade-offs.
  4. Prepare to discuss your leadership experiences, mentorship approaches, and how you influence technical direction.
  5. Brush up on core computer science fundamentals, data structures, and algorithms, especially as they apply to large-scale systems.
  6. Familiarize yourself with common architectural patterns and distributed systems concepts.
  7. Prepare behavioral questions using the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result).
  8. Research the specific technologies and domains relevant to the team you are interviewing for.
  9. Think about how you would contribute to Atlassian's engineering culture and technical strategy.

Study plan

Fig · Study plan — 04 phases

01 / 04
01

Phase 01 of 04

Foundation & Company Understanding

Weeks 1-2: Atlassian products, CS fundamentals, engineering culture.

Weeks 1-2: Deep dive into Atlassian's product suite (Jira, Confluence, Bitbucket, Trello, etc.), understanding their core functionalities, target users, and underlying technical challenges. Review Atlassian's engineering blog and public statements on technology and culture. Revisit fundamental CS concepts: data structures, algorithms, operating systems, and networking, focusing on their application in large-scale systems.

Questions

Commonly asked.

  • Describe a complex system you designed or significantly improved. What were the key challenges and trade-offs?
  • How do you approach mentoring and developing engineers at different levels?
  • Tell me about a time you had to influence a team or stakeholders on a technical decision.
  • How do you balance innovation with maintaining stability and reliability in production systems?
  • Walk me through your process for diagnosing and resolving a critical production issue.
  • What are your thoughts on the future of [relevant technology area, e.g., cloud computing, AI/ML integration] and how might it impact Atlassian?
  • Describe a situation where you had to deal with significant technical debt. How did you prioritize and address it?
  • How do you ensure code quality and maintainability in a large codebase?
  • Tell me about a time you failed. What did you learn from it?
  • How do you stay updated with new technologies and evaluate their potential adoption?
  • Describe your experience with leading technical projects from conception to delivery.
  • How do you foster a culture of psychological safety and continuous improvement within a team?

Locations

Regional differences.

Fig · Regions — 03 locations

01 / 03

Location

Sydney, Australia

Interview focus

Emphasis on strategic technical decision-making and long-term impact.Assessment of ability to drive cross-functional technical initiatives.Evaluation of experience in scaling systems and teams.Focus on leadership in technical problem-solving and mentorship.

Common questions

  • Describe a time you had to influence a team with a different technical opinion. How did you approach it?
  • How do you balance technical debt with delivering new features under pressure?
  • Walk me through a complex system you designed or significantly contributed to. What were the trade-offs?
  • How do you mentor junior engineers and foster a culture of learning?
  • What are your thoughts on the future of [specific technology relevant to Atlassian, e.g., cloud-native architectures, distributed systems]?

Tips

  • Be prepared to discuss your most impactful technical contributions and their business outcomes.
  • Highlight instances where you've led significant technical change or innovation.
  • Showcase your ability to think about system design at a very large scale and across multiple product areas.
  • Demonstrate a deep understanding of Atlassian's products and their technical challenges.

Rounds

Round-by-round.

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

High

Technical / Coding · 60 min · Senior Software Engineer or Architect

This round focuses on assessing your fundamental technical skills and your ability to apply them to solve complex problems. You will likely be asked to work through a coding challenge or a design problem that requires you to demonstrate your understanding of data structures, algorithms, and software design principles. The interviewer will evaluate your approach to problem-solving, your ability to write clean and efficient code, and your understanding of trade-offs.

What they look for

Strong understanding of core computer science principles.Ability to break down complex problems.Sound judgment in making technical decisions.Clear communication of thought process.

Evaluation

  • Technical depth and breadth.
  • Problem-solving skills.
  • System design capabilities.
  • Analytical thinking.

Sample questions

  • Design a rate limiter for a web service.

    System DesignScalability

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

    Data StructuresAlgorithms

  • How would you design a URL shortening service?

    System DesignScalabilityDatabases

Prep for this round

  1. 01Practice coding problems on platforms like LeetCode (Medium/Hard).
  2. 02Review common data structures and algorithms.
  3. 03Think about edge cases and test your solutions thoroughly.
  4. 04Be prepared to explain your thought process clearly.

Common rejection reasons

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

DSA

Coding questions at Atlassian.

Frequently reported on Atlassian loops

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Other guides

More at Atlassian.