Scale Engineer

Distinguished SDE

Software EngineerOVery High

Expedia's Distinguished Software Engineer (O Level) interview process is designed to assess deep technical expertise, architectural thinking, leadership potential, and a strong cultural fit. Candidates are expected to demonstrate a high level of problem-solving ability, system design skills, and the capacity to influence technical direction within the organization. This role requires a proven track record of delivering complex, scalable, and high-quality software solutions.

Rounds·4

Timeline·~4d

Experience·10 - 15 yrs

Comp band·US$180000 - US$250000

Interview time·225 min

Evaluation

What they measure.

  • Technical depth and breadth
  • Problem-solving and analytical skills
  • System design and architectural thinking
  • Leadership and influence
  • Communication and collaboration
  • Cultural fit and alignment with Expedia's values

Preparation

How to prepare.

Tips

  1. Deep dive into Expedia's technology stack and products.
  2. Review core computer science fundamentals: data structures, algorithms, operating systems, databases.
  3. Practice system design problems, focusing on scalability, reliability, and trade-offs.
  4. Prepare to discuss your past projects in detail, highlighting your contributions and impact.
  5. Understand Expedia's business domain and the challenges faced by the travel industry.
  6. Develop strong behavioral examples using the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result).
  7. Research common interview questions for senior engineering roles.
  8. Practice explaining complex technical concepts clearly and concisely.
  9. Prepare thoughtful questions to ask the interviewers about the role, team, and company.

Study plan

Fig · Study plan — 04 phases

01 / 04
01

Phase 01 of 04

Foundational Computer Science

Weeks 1-2: Data Structures, Algorithms, OS, Databases.

Weeks 1-2: Focus on core data structures (arrays, linked lists, trees, graphs, hash tables) and algorithms (sorting, searching, dynamic programming, graph traversal). Practice implementing these and analyzing their time and space complexity. Review operating system concepts like processes, threads, memory management, and concurrency. Study database fundamentals, including SQL, NoSQL, indexing, and transaction management.

Questions

Commonly asked.

  • Design a system to handle real-time flight status updates for millions of users.
  • Describe a time you had to make a significant technical decision that had a major impact on a product. What was your thought process?
  • How would you design a distributed caching system for a large e-commerce platform?
  • Tell me about a challenging bug you encountered in a production environment and how you debugged it.
  • What are your thoughts on the trade-offs between monolithic and microservices architectures?
  • How do you ensure the security and privacy of user data in a large-scale application?
  • Describe your experience with performance optimization and profiling tools.
  • How do you mentor junior engineers and contribute to a team's technical growth?
  • Imagine you need to build a recommendation engine for travel packages. How would you approach this?
  • Discuss a time you disagreed with a technical decision made by your team or manager. How did you handle it?

Locations

Regional differences.

Fig · Regions — 03 locations

01 / 03

Location

Seattle, USA

Interview focus

Emphasis on strategic thinking and long-term technical vision.Assessment of ability to drive technical initiatives across multiple teams.Evaluation of experience with large-scale, mission-critical systems.Focus on leadership and mentorship capabilities.Understanding of Expedia's business domain and its technical challenges.

Common questions

  • Discuss a time you had to influence a team to adopt a new technology or approach. What was the outcome?
  • Describe a complex technical challenge you faced in a distributed system and how you resolved it.
  • How do you mentor junior engineers and foster technical growth within a team?
  • In a high-pressure situation, how do you prioritize tasks and ensure project success?
  • What are your thoughts on the future of cloud computing and its impact on travel technology?

Tips

  • Be prepared to discuss your contributions to open-source projects or significant technical publications.
  • Highlight instances where you've led architectural decisions for major product features.
  • Showcase your ability to communicate complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences.
  • Research Expedia's recent technological advancements and strategic goals.
  • Prepare specific examples of how you've driven innovation and improved engineering practices.

Rounds

Round-by-round.

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

DSA

Coding questions at Expedia.

Frequently reported on Expedia loops

View all at Expedia

Other guides

More at Expedia.