Scale Engineer

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Software Engineering ManagerSenior DirectorHigh

This interview process is designed to assess candidates for a Senior Director, Software Engineering Manager role at Expedia. It evaluates technical leadership, people management, strategic thinking, and execution capabilities.

Rounds·4

Timeline·~4d

Experience·10 - 15 yrs

Comp band·US$180000 - US$250000

Interview time·210 min

Evaluation

What they measure.

  • Technical depth and breadth in relevant domains.
  • Ability to architect scalable and reliable systems.
  • Understanding of software development best practices and methodologies.

Preparation

How to prepare.

Tips

  1. Deeply understand Expedia's mission, values, and business objectives.
  2. Review your past projects and identify key accomplishments, challenges, and learnings.
  3. Prepare specific examples using the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) for behavioral questions.
  4. Brush up on system design principles, scalability, and distributed systems.
  5. Familiarize yourself with modern software development practices, CI/CD, and cloud technologies.
  6. Understand common management frameworks and leadership philosophies.
  7. Research current trends in the travel technology industry.

Study plan

Fig · Study plan — 04 phases

01 / 04
01

Phase 01 of 04

Foundation & Self-Assessment

Weeks 1-2: Business understanding, career review, STAR stories, system design basics.

Weeks 1-2: Focus on understanding Expedia's business, products, and strategic goals. Review your career history and identify key leadership experiences. Prepare STAR-method stories for common leadership and management scenarios. Study system design fundamentals and common architectural patterns.

Questions

Commonly asked.

  • Describe your leadership philosophy and how you foster a positive engineering culture.
  • Tell me about a time you had to manage a significant technical challenge or failure. What did you learn?
  • How do you prioritize work for your team when faced with competing demands?
  • What are your strategies for developing and retaining top engineering talent?
  • How do you ensure your teams are aligned with the company's strategic objectives?
  • Describe a situation where you had to make a difficult decision regarding team structure or personnel.
  • How do you approach architectural decisions and ensure technical excellence?
  • Tell me about a time you had to manage a conflict within your team or with another department.
  • What is your experience with Agile methodologies and how have you adapted them?
  • How do you measure the success of your engineering teams?
  • Describe a time you had to influence senior leadership on a technical or strategic matter.
  • How do you stay current with emerging technologies and industry trends?

Locations

Regional differences.

Fig · Regions — 02 locations

01 / 02

Location

Seattle

Interview focus

Emphasis on strategic thinking and long-term vision.Assessment of experience with large-scale system design and architecture.Evaluation of ability to drive organizational change and influence senior leadership.Focus on global team management and cross-cultural communication.

Common questions

  • How do you handle a team member who is consistently underperforming?
  • Describe a time you had to make a difficult decision that impacted your team. What was the outcome?
  • How do you foster innovation within your engineering teams?
  • What are your strategies for managing remote or distributed teams effectively?
  • How do you balance technical debt with delivering new features?
  • Tell me about a time you had to influence stakeholders outside of your direct control.

Tips

  • Be prepared to discuss your experience with global teams and diverse workforces.
  • Highlight your strategic planning and execution successes.
  • Showcase your ability to influence and collaborate with senior executives.
  • Demonstrate a deep understanding of architectural principles and scalability.

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.