Scale Engineer

Software Engineering Manager

Software Engineering ManagerL6High

Groupon's Software Engineering Manager (L6) interview process is designed to assess leadership potential, technical acumen, and strategic thinking. Candidates are evaluated on their ability to manage teams, drive technical projects, and contribute to the company's overall engineering vision. The process typically involves multiple rounds, including behavioral, technical, and system design interviews, culminating in a final hiring manager discussion.

Rounds·5

Timeline·~14d

Experience·7 - 15 yrs

Comp band·US$170000 - US$220000

Interview time·270 min

Evaluation

What they measure.

  • Leadership and people management skills
  • Technical depth and breadth
  • Strategic thinking and business acumen
  • Communication and interpersonal skills
  • Problem-solving and decision-making abilities
  • Cultural fit and alignment with Groupon's values

Preparation

How to prepare.

Tips

  1. Thoroughly review your resume and be prepared to discuss every project and experience in detail.
  2. Understand Groupon's mission, values, and recent business initiatives.
  3. Practice articulating your leadership philosophy and management style.
  4. Prepare specific examples using the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) for behavioral questions.
  5. Brush up on system design principles and be ready to discuss scalability, reliability, and performance.
  6. Familiarize yourself with common software engineering management challenges and how you've addressed them.
  7. Research common interview questions for engineering managers at your level.
  8. Prepare thoughtful questions to ask the interviewers about the role, team, and company culture.

Study plan

Fig · Study plan — 04 phases

01 / 04
01

Phase 01 of 04

Leadership and Behavioral Foundations

Weeks 1-2: Leadership & Behavioral focus. Practice STAR method.

Weeks 1-2: Deep dive into leadership principles, management theories, and your own leadership experiences. Focus on articulating your management philosophy, conflict resolution strategies, and performance management techniques. Review common behavioral interview questions and practice using the STAR method.

Questions

Commonly asked.

  • Tell me about a time you had to manage a difficult stakeholder. How did you handle it?
  • Describe your approach to hiring and building a high-performing engineering team.
  • How do you foster a culture of innovation and continuous improvement within your team?
  • Walk me through a complex technical project you led from inception to completion.
  • How do you balance technical debt with delivering new features?
  • What are your strategies for mentoring and developing junior engineers?
  • Describe a situation where your team missed a critical deadline. What did you learn?
  • How do you handle disagreements within your team?
  • Design a system for [a relevant Groupon product/feature, e.g., a personalized deal recommendation engine].
  • What are your thoughts on the current technology landscape and how it impacts e-commerce?
  • How do you measure the success of your team and your own performance?
  • Tell me about a time you had to make a difficult decision that impacted your team.

Locations

Regional differences.

Fig · Regions — 02 locations

01 / 02

Location

Remote/Hybrid

Interview focus

Remote team management strategiesCross-cultural communicationTools and techniques for distributed collaboration

Common questions

  • How do you handle underperforming team members in a remote setting?
  • Describe a time you had to adapt your leadership style for a distributed team.
  • What are your strategies for fostering team cohesion and collaboration across different time zones?

Tips

  • Highlight experience with remote or hybrid team leadership.
  • Be prepared to discuss specific tools and methodologies used for remote work.
  • Emphasize your ability to build trust and rapport virtually.

Rounds

Round-by-round.

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

DSA

Coding questions at Groupon.

Frequently reported on Groupon loops

View all at Groupon

Other guides

More at Groupon.