# Director
**Role:** Software Engineering Manager · **Level:** GL30
**Company:** [Optum](https://scaleengineer.com/companies/optum)
**Difficulty:** High
**Salary:** US$180000 - US$250000
**Experience:** 10 - 15
**Timeline:** ~14 days
This interview process is for a Director-level Software Engineering Manager (GL30) at Optum. It is designed to assess leadership capabilities, technical depth, strategic thinking, and people management skills.
Canonical: https://scaleengineer.com/interviews/optum/gl30-software-engineering-manager
---
## Overall evaluation

- Leadership and Management
- Technical Acumen
- People and Project Delivery

## Questions asked

- Describe your leadership philosophy and how you motivate engineers.
- How do you handle underperforming team members?
- Tell me about a time you had to make a significant technical decision. What was the process and outcome?
- How do you foster a culture of innovation and continuous improvement?
- Describe your experience in managing budgets and resources.
- How do you balance strategic initiatives with day-to-day operational needs?
- What are your strategies for attracting and retaining top engineering talent?
- Tell me about a time you failed. What did you learn from it?
- How do you ensure alignment between engineering efforts and business objectives?
- What is your approach to performance management and career development for your team?
- Describe a complex technical challenge you faced and how you overcame it.
- How do you handle conflict within your team or with stakeholders?
- What are your thoughts on the future of healthcare technology?
- How do you stay current with emerging technologies and industry trends?

## Preparation tips

### lists

- Deeply understand Optum's mission, values, and business objectives.
- Review your career accomplishments and prepare specific examples using the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result).
- Brush up on core software engineering principles, architectural patterns, and modern development practices (e.g., cloud, microservices, CI/CD).
- Practice articulating your leadership philosophy and management style.
- Prepare questions to ask the interviewers about the role, team, and company.
- Research the interviewers on LinkedIn to understand their backgrounds.
- Be ready to discuss your experience with managing budgets and resource allocation.
- Familiarize yourself with common leadership challenges and how you've overcome them.

### studyPlan

- {"title":"Company & Self-Assessment","longDescription":"Weeks 1-2: Focus on understanding Optum's business, its position in the healthcare industry, and its strategic goals. Review company reports, press releases, and leadership interviews. Simultaneously, revisit your own career narrative and identify key achievements relevant to leadership and technical strategy.","shortDescription":"Weeks 1-2: Optum Business & Strategy, Career Narrative Refinement."}
- {"title":"Technical & Management Practices","longDescription":"Weeks 3-4: Deep dive into technical leadership and management best practices. Study system design principles, cloud architecture, DevOps, and agile methodologies. Prepare to discuss your experience in these areas and how you've applied them.","shortDescription":"Weeks 3-4: Technical Leadership, System Design, Cloud, DevOps, Agile."}
- {"title":"Behavioral & Situational Preparation","longDescription":"Weeks 5-6: Focus on behavioral and situational questions. Practice articulating your leadership philosophy, conflict resolution strategies, and people management approach using the STAR method. Prepare specific examples for common leadership scenarios.","shortDescription":"Weeks 5-6: Behavioral Questions, STAR Method, Leadership Scenarios."}
- {"title":"Final Review & Mock Interviews","longDescription":"Week 7: Final preparation. Conduct mock interviews, refine your answers, and prepare insightful questions for the interviewers. Ensure you are comfortable discussing your vision for an engineering team and your approach to driving innovation.","shortDescription":"Week 7: Mock Interviews, Question Refinement, Vision Articulation."}

## Location differences

- {"location":"New York","differences":{"tips":["Research Optum's strategic initiatives and how your experience aligns.","Be prepared to discuss your experience with global teams if applicable.","Highlight examples of driving significant technical or process improvements.","Understand the specific challenges and opportunities in the local tech landscape."],"interviewFocus":["Emphasis on strategic alignment with business goals.","Assessment of experience with large-scale, complex projects.","Evaluation of ability to influence cross-functional stakeholders.","Focus on talent acquisition and retention strategies specific to the local market."],"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?","Tell me about a time you had to resolve a conflict between team members."]}}
- {"location":"San Francisco","differences":{"tips":["Prepare to discuss your technical background and how you stay current.","Showcase examples of successful team growth and development.","Be ready to articulate your vision for engineering excellence.","Familiarize yourself with Optum's role in the healthcare industry."],"interviewFocus":["Strong emphasis on technical leadership and architectural vision.","Assessment of experience in managing multiple product lines or services.","Evaluation of ability to drive operational excellence and efficiency.","Focus on understanding Optum's healthcare technology landscape and challenges."],"commonQuestions":["How do you balance technical debt with new feature development?","Describe your approach to performance management and career development for engineers.","How do you ensure your team adheres to best practices in software development?","What is your experience with cloud-native architectures and DevOps practices?","Tell me about a project where you had to significantly scale your team or its output."]}}

## Round 1: Leadership and Strategic Alignment
**Type:** Leadership and Strategy Interview · **Difficulty:** High · **Duration:** 60 min
Assesses leadership, strategic thinking, and cultural fit.
This initial round focuses on assessing your overall leadership capabilities, strategic thinking, and alignment with Optum's culture. The interviewer will explore your experience in managing teams, driving technical strategy, and fostering a positive work environment. Expect questions about your leadership philosophy, how you handle challenges, and your vision for engineering excellence.
**Interviewers look for:** A clear vision for leading engineering teams.; Ability to connect technical strategy with business goals.; Strong communication and influencing skills.; Demonstrated people management experience.; Alignment with Optum's core values.
**Evaluation criteria:** Leadership potential; Strategic thinking; Communication skills; Cultural fit
**Common rejection reasons:** Lack of clear leadership vision.; Inability to articulate strategic thinking.; Poor communication or interpersonal skills.; Failure to demonstrate people management capabilities.; Lack of alignment with Optum's culture and values.
## Questions

- Describe your leadership philosophy.
- How do you foster a culture of innovation?
- Tell me about a time you had to lead a team through significant change.
- What are your strategies for developing talent within your team?

## Preparation tips

- Prepare to discuss your leadership style and philosophy.
- Have specific examples ready to illustrate your experience in team building, strategic planning, and problem-solving.
- Understand Optum's mission and values and how they resonate with your own.
- Practice articulating your career aspirations and how this role fits into them.

## Round 2: Technical Architecture and Design
**Type:** Technical Deep Dive and System Design · **Difficulty:** High · **Duration:** 75 min
Evaluates technical depth, system design, and problem-solving skills.
This round delves into your technical expertise and architectural vision. You'll be expected to discuss your experience with designing, building, and scaling software systems. Expect questions on system design, architectural trade-offs, cloud technologies, and best practices in software development. You may also be asked to whiteboard a solution to a complex problem.
**Interviewers look for:** A strong grasp of software architecture and design patterns.; Experience in building and scaling complex systems.; Proficiency in modern development practices (e.g., CI/CD, DevOps).; Ability to think critically and solve challenging technical problems.; Capacity to mentor and guide engineers on technical matters.
**Evaluation criteria:** Technical depth and breadth; System design and architecture skills; Problem-solving abilities; Understanding of modern technologies (Cloud, Microservices, etc.); Ability to mentor and guide technical teams
**Common rejection reasons:** Lack of technical depth in relevant areas.; Inability to design scalable and robust solutions.; Poor understanding of architectural principles.; Weak problem-solving skills.; Difficulty in explaining complex technical concepts.
## Questions

- Design a system for [specific problem, e.g., a URL shortener, a social media feed].
- Discuss the trade-offs between microservices and monolithic architectures.
- How would you ensure the scalability and reliability of a large-scale distributed system?
- Describe your experience with CI/CD pipelines and DevOps practices.

## Preparation tips

- Review system design principles, common architectural patterns, and trade-offs.
- Practice designing scalable, reliable, and maintainable systems.
- Be prepared to discuss your experience with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP) and containerization (Docker, Kubernetes).
- Refresh your knowledge of data structures, algorithms, and distributed systems.
- Think about how you would mentor and guide engineers on technical challenges.

## Round 3: People and Team Leadership
**Type:** People Management and Behavioral Interview · **Difficulty:** High · **Duration:** 60 min
Evaluates people management, conflict resolution, and team building skills.
This round focuses on your people management and team leadership skills. The interviewer will assess your ability to hire, develop, and retain talent, manage performance, resolve conflicts, and build a high-performing team. Expect behavioral questions related to your experience in these areas.
**Interviewers look for:** Proven ability to manage and develop engineering teams.; Skills in conflict resolution and performance management.; Experience in fostering collaboration and a positive team culture.; Ability to align team efforts with broader business goals.; Effective stakeholder communication and management.
**Evaluation criteria:** People management skills; Conflict resolution; Performance management; Team building and motivation; Stakeholder management
**Common rejection reasons:** Inability to demonstrate effective people management.; Poor conflict resolution skills.; Lack of experience in performance management.; Difficulty in aligning team goals with business objectives.; Failure to show empathy or understanding of team dynamics.
## Questions

- Describe a time you had to manage an underperforming employee. What steps did you take?
- How do you handle disagreements or conflicts within your team?
- Tell me about a time you successfully mentored an engineer.
- How do you ensure your team's work aligns with the company's strategic objectives?

## Preparation tips

- Prepare specific examples using the STAR method for situations involving team management, conflict resolution, and performance improvement.
- Think about your approach to career development and mentorship.
- Be ready to discuss how you set goals and measure success for your team.
- Consider how you manage stakeholder expectations and communicate progress.

## Round 4: Senior Leadership Alignment
**Type:** Executive and Strategic Interview · **Difficulty:** High · **Duration:** 45 min
Assesses strategic vision, business acumen, and executive presence.
This final round is with a senior leader (e.g., VP of Engineering or CTO). It focuses on your strategic vision, business acumen, and ability to operate at an executive level. You'll discuss your long-term plans for an engineering organization, how you align technology with business strategy, and your approach to driving significant impact.
**Interviewers look for:** A clear and compelling vision for the engineering organization.; Ability to think strategically and make high-level decisions.; Strong business acumen and understanding of financial drivers.; Capacity to influence and collaborate with senior leadership.; Executive presence and confidence.
**Evaluation criteria:** Executive presence; Strategic vision; Business acumen; Ability to influence senior stakeholders; Cultural alignment with senior leadership
**Common rejection reasons:** Lack of alignment with senior leadership.; Inability to influence at a senior level.; Poor strategic vision for the department.; Lack of understanding of business drivers.; Failure to demonstrate executive presence.
## Questions

- What is your vision for the engineering department in the next 3-5 years?
- How do you balance innovation with operational stability?
- Describe a time you influenced senior leadership to adopt a new technology or strategy.
- What are the key business challenges facing Optum, and how can engineering help address them?

## Preparation tips

- Articulate your vision for a high-performing engineering organization.
- Be prepared to discuss business strategy and how technology enables it.
- Demonstrate your ability to think critically about industry trends and competitive landscapes.
- Prepare thoughtful questions for the senior leader about the company's future and challenges.