# O
**Role:** Software Engineering Manager · **Level:** Senior Director
**Company:** [Expedia](https://scaleengineer.com/companies/expedia)
**Difficulty:** High
**Salary:** US$180000 - US$250000
**Experience:** 10 - 15
**Timeline:** ~4 days
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.
Canonical: https://scaleengineer.com/interviews/expedia/senior-director-software-engineering-manager
---
## Overall evaluation

- Technical Acumen
- People Leadership
- Strategic Vision
- Collaboration & Communication
- Execution & Decision Making

## Questions 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?

## Preparation tips

### lists

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

### studyPlan

- {"title":"Foundation & Self-Assessment","longDescription":"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.","shortDescription":"Weeks 1-2: Business understanding, career review, STAR stories, system design basics."}
- {"title":"Leadership & Technical Depth","longDescription":"Weeks 3-4: Deep dive into people management strategies, including hiring, performance management, team building, and conflict resolution. Practice articulating your leadership philosophy. Review advanced system design concepts, scalability challenges, and distributed systems. Prepare for behavioral questions related to team dynamics and people development.","shortDescription":"Weeks 3-4: People management, leadership philosophy, advanced system design, team dynamics."}
- {"title":"Strategy & Execution","longDescription":"Week 5: Focus on strategic thinking, product development lifecycle, and cross-functional collaboration. Prepare examples of how you've influenced stakeholders and driven technical strategy. Practice articulating your vision for engineering teams. Review case studies related to managing engineering organizations and driving innovation.","shortDescription":"Week 5: Strategy, product lifecycle, stakeholder influence, engineering vision."}
- {"title":"Final Preparation & Mock Interviews","longDescription":"Week 6: Mock interviews focusing on all aspects of the role. Refine your answers and ensure clarity and conciseness. Get feedback from peers or mentors. Final review of key concepts and preparation for specific interview rounds.","shortDescription":"Week 6: Mock interviews, feedback, final review."}

## Location differences

- {"location":"Seattle","differences":{"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."],"interviewFocus":["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."],"commonQuestions":["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."]}}
- {"location":"San Francisco","differences":{"tips":["Provide specific examples of how you've developed and mentored engineers.","Quantify the impact of your team's work on business objectives.","Demonstrate your understanding of product strategy and market dynamics.","Be ready to discuss your experience with performance management and career growth frameworks."],"interviewFocus":["Focus on people management and team development.","Assessment of operational excellence and execution efficiency.","Evaluation of experience with product development lifecycle and go-to-market strategies.","Emphasis on collaboration with product management and other business units."],"commonQuestions":["How do you build and maintain a high-performing engineering culture?","Describe your approach to hiring and retaining top engineering talent.","How do you manage conflict within your team or between teams?","What is your experience with Agile methodologies and scaling them?","How do you ensure the quality and reliability of software delivered by your teams?","Tell me about a time you had to pivot your team's strategy due to market changes."]}}

## Round 1: Leadership and Strategy Interview
**Type:** People Leadership & Strategy · **Difficulty:** High · **Duration:** 60 min
Assesses leadership philosophy, team building, and strategic alignment.
This round focuses on your overall leadership philosophy, experience in building and managing high-performing engineering teams, and your ability to set strategic direction. You will be asked behavioral questions to assess your people management skills, conflict resolution abilities, and how you foster a positive and productive engineering culture. The interviewer will also probe your strategic thinking and how you align technology initiatives with broader business objectives.
**Interviewers look for:** A clear and compelling leadership vision.; Evidence of successful team building and people development.; Strategic thinking and ability to connect technology to business outcomes.; Strong communication and interpersonal skills.
**Evaluation criteria:** Leadership style and effectiveness.; Ability to inspire and motivate teams.; Strategic thinking and alignment with business goals.; People management and development skills.
**Common rejection reasons:** Lack of clear leadership vision.; Inability to articulate strategic alignment.; Poor communication or stakeholder management skills.; Failure to demonstrate people development capabilities.
## Questions

- Describe your approach to building and scaling engineering teams.
- Tell me about a time you had to make a significant change to your team's structure or processes. What was the impact?
- How do you balance innovation with operational stability?
- What are your key principles for effective communication with your team and stakeholders?

## Preparation tips

- Reflect on your leadership style and be ready to articulate it.
- Prepare examples of how you've mentored engineers and driven career growth.
- Think about how you've handled team challenges and conflicts.
- Be ready to discuss your approach to strategic planning and execution.

## Round 2: System Design Interview
**Type:** System Design & Technical Deep Dive · **Difficulty:** High · **Duration:** 60 min
Evaluates system design, architecture, and technical problem-solving skills.
This round is a deep dive into your technical expertise, focusing on system design, architecture, and your ability to lead technical initiatives. You will be presented with a complex problem and asked to design a solution, discussing trade-offs, scalability, and potential challenges. The interviewer will assess your understanding of distributed systems, databases, networking, and other relevant technical areas.
**Interviewers look for:** Ability to design complex, scalable, and reliable systems.; Deep understanding of distributed systems principles.; Sound judgment in making technical decisions and trade-offs.; Ability to articulate technical concepts clearly.
**Evaluation criteria:** System design capabilities.; Understanding of scalability, reliability, and performance.; Technical decision-making and trade-off analysis.; Knowledge of architectural patterns and best practices.
**Common rejection reasons:** Inability to design scalable and robust systems.; Lack of understanding of distributed systems concepts.; Poor articulation of technical trade-offs.; Insufficient depth in relevant technical domains.
## Questions

- Design a system for [e.g., a ride-sharing service, a social media feed, an e-commerce platform]. Discuss scalability, availability, and data consistency.
- How would you handle a sudden surge in traffic for our core services?
- Discuss the trade-offs between SQL and NoSQL databases for a specific application.
- Explain how you would ensure the reliability and fault tolerance of a distributed system.

## Preparation tips

- Review system design principles, common architectural patterns (microservices, event-driven, etc.).
- Practice designing scalable systems for various use cases.
- Brush up on database concepts, caching strategies, and load balancing.
- Understand trade-offs between different technologies and approaches.

## Round 3: Product and Strategy Alignment Interview
**Type:** Product & Strategy Alignment · **Difficulty:** High · **Duration:** 45 min
Assesses collaboration with product, technical strategy, and execution.
This interview focuses on your ability to collaborate with product management, define technical strategy, and drive the execution of product roadmaps. You'll discuss how you work with product teams, your understanding of the product development lifecycle, and how you ensure technical solutions meet business needs. The interviewer will assess your ability to translate business requirements into technical plans and deliver successful products.
**Interviewers look for:** A clear vision for technical strategy and roadmap.; Understanding of how to partner effectively with product management.; Ability to drive execution and deliver results.; Experience in managing the full product development lifecycle.
**Evaluation criteria:** Technical strategy and roadmap development.; Product development lifecycle understanding.; Collaboration with product and business stakeholders.; Execution and delivery focus.
**Common rejection reasons:** Inability to articulate a clear technical strategy.; Lack of understanding of the product development lifecycle.; Poor collaboration with product management.; Failure to demonstrate execution and delivery capabilities.
## Questions

- How do you partner with Product Management to define and execute a technical roadmap?
- Describe your experience with the full software development lifecycle, from ideation to launch and maintenance.
- How do you ensure that technical decisions align with product goals and user needs?
- Tell me about a time you had to manage scope creep or changing requirements on a project.

## Preparation tips

- Understand Expedia's product strategy and key business drivers.
- Prepare examples of successful product launches you've led or contributed to.
- Think about how you collaborate with product managers and other cross-functional teams.
- Be ready to discuss your approach to technical planning and prioritization.

## Round 4: Hiring Manager / Cultural Fit Interview
**Type:** Behavioral & Cultural Fit · **Difficulty:** Medium · **Duration:** 45 min
Assesses cultural fit, motivation, and career aspirations.
This final round is typically with the hiring manager or a senior HR representative. It's an opportunity to discuss your career aspirations, understand the team's dynamics, and ensure a good cultural fit. You'll be asked questions about your motivations, how you handle challenges, and what you're looking for in your next role. This is also your chance to ask any remaining questions about the role, team, or company culture.
**Interviewers look for:** Alignment with Expedia's core values (e.g., customer focus, integrity, innovation).; Genuine interest in the role and the company.; Clear career goals and a desire for growth.; Positive attitude and collaborative spirit.
**Evaluation criteria:** Cultural fit with Expedia's values.; Motivation and career aspirations.; Alignment with the team and organizational goals.; Overall enthusiasm and engagement.
**Common rejection reasons:** Lack of alignment with company culture and values.; Poor cultural fit or inability to demonstrate Expedia's core values.; Inability to articulate career aspirations and growth potential.; Lack of enthusiasm or engagement.
## Questions

- Why are you interested in this role at Expedia?
- What are your long-term career goals?
- How do you handle ambiguity or uncertainty in your work?
- What kind of work environment do you thrive in?

## Preparation tips

- Reiterate your interest in Expedia and the specific role.
- Be prepared to discuss your career goals and how this role fits into them.
- Think about how your values align with Expedia's values.
- Prepare thoughtful questions to ask the interviewer.