Scale Engineer

Software Engineering Manager

Software Engineering ManagerL2High

This interview process is designed to assess candidates for a Software Engineering Manager (L2) position at Notion. It evaluates technical leadership, people management skills, strategic thinking, and cultural fit within Notion's collaborative and fast-paced environment.

Rounds·4

Timeline·~14d

Experience·5 - 10 yrs

Comp band·US$170000 - US$220000

Interview time·210 min

Evaluation

What they measure.

  • Technical depth and breadth
  • Problem-solving abilities
  • System design and architecture understanding
  • Ability to mentor and grow engineers

Preparation

How to prepare.

Tips

  1. Deeply understand Notion's mission, values, and product.
  2. Review common software engineering management interview questions, focusing on behavioral and situational scenarios.
  3. Prepare specific examples using the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) for each core competency.
  4. Brush up on system design principles and be ready to discuss architectural trade-offs.
  5. Think about your leadership philosophy and how you foster a positive and productive team environment.
  6. Consider how you would handle common management challenges like underperformance, conflict, and technical debt.
  7. Research Notion's engineering culture and recent technical blog posts or announcements.

Study plan

Fig · Study plan — 04 phases

01 / 04
01

Phase 01 of 04

Company & Self-Assessment

Weeks 1-2: Notion's culture, values, product. Career history review.

Weeks 1-2: Focus on Notion's company culture, values, and product. Understand their engineering principles and recent technical challenges. Review your own career history and identify key achievements and learning experiences relevant to management.

Questions

Commonly asked.

  • Tell me about a time you had to manage a difficult stakeholder relationship. How did you handle it?
  • Describe your approach to setting and tracking team goals and KPIs.
  • How do you balance the need for rapid feature development with maintaining code quality and reducing technical debt?
  • Walk me through a challenging project you managed from inception to delivery. What were the key challenges and how did you overcome them?
  • How do you foster a culture of psychological safety and continuous learning within your team?
  • Describe a time you had to make a significant technical decision with incomplete information. What was your process?
  • How do you identify and develop high-potential engineers on your team?
  • What is your experience with agile methodologies, and how do you adapt them to your team's needs?
  • How do you handle underperformance on your team?
  • Tell me about a time you had to deliver bad news to your team. How did you approach it?

Locations

Regional differences.

Fig · Regions — 02 locations

01 / 02

Location

Remote

Interview focus

Remote team management strategiesCross-time zone collaborationVirtual team building

Common questions

  • How do you handle performance issues with a remote team member?
  • Describe a time you had to adapt your management style for a distributed team.
  • What tools and strategies do you use to foster collaboration across different time zones?

Tips

  • Highlight experience with remote or hybrid team leadership.
  • Be prepared to discuss specific tools for remote communication and project management.
  • Emphasize your ability to build culture and connection in a distributed setting.

Rounds

Round-by-round.

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

DSA

Coding questions at Notion.

Frequently reported on Notion loops

View all at Notion

Other guides

More at Notion.