# Software Engineering Manager
**Role:** Software Engineering Manager · **Level:** L6A
**Company:** [Rokt](https://scaleengineer.com/companies/rokt)
**Difficulty:** High
**Salary:** US$180000 - US$220000
**Experience:** 7 - 10
**Timeline:** ~14 days
This interview process is designed to assess candidates for the Software Engineering Manager (L6A) role at Rokt. It evaluates technical leadership, people management skills, strategic thinking, and cultural fit.
Canonical: https://scaleengineer.com/interviews/rokt/l6a-software-engineering-manager
---
## Overall evaluation

- Technical Acumen
- People Management
- Strategic & Business Acumen
- Cultural Fit

## Questions asked

- Tell me about a time you had to manage a difficult stakeholder relationship. How did you handle it?
- Describe your approach to setting technical direction for a team.
- How do you foster a culture of innovation and psychological safety within your team?
- Walk me through a challenging project you led. What were the key challenges, and how did you overcome them?
- How do you balance the need for speed with the importance of code quality and technical debt?
- Describe a time you had to make a significant technical decision with incomplete information.
- How do you identify and develop talent within 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 failed. What did you learn from it?

## Preparation tips

### lists

- Understand Rokt's mission, values, and products.
- Review common software engineering management challenges and best practices.
- Prepare specific examples using the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) for behavioral questions.
- Familiarize yourself with agile development methodologies and scaling practices.
- Think about your leadership philosophy and how you foster a positive team culture.
- Be ready to discuss your experience with technical decision-making and architectural trade-offs.
- Research common interview questions for engineering managers.

### studyPlan

- {"title":"Company & Self-Assessment","longDescription":"Weeks 1-2: Deep dive into Rokt's business, products, and engineering culture. Understand the company's strategic goals and how the engineering team contributes. Review your own career achievements and identify key examples that demonstrate leadership, technical expertise, and people management skills. Start preparing STAR method stories.","shortDescription":"Weeks 1-2: Research Rokt, review career achievements, prepare STAR stories."}
- {"title":"People Management","longDescription":"Weeks 3-4: Focus on people management. Study topics like performance management, conflict resolution, coaching, mentoring, hiring, and building high-performing teams. Practice articulating your management philosophy and providing examples of how you've applied these principles.","shortDescription":"Weeks 3-4: People management skills, coaching, mentoring, hiring, team building."}
- {"title":"Technical Leadership","longDescription":"Weeks 5-6: Concentrate on technical leadership and system design. Refresh your knowledge of software architecture, scalability, reliability, and common technical challenges. Prepare to discuss how you guide technical decisions, manage technical debt, and ensure the quality of engineering output.","shortDescription":"Weeks 5-6: Technical leadership, system design, architecture, scalability, reliability."}
- {"title":"Behavioral & Strategic Practice","longDescription":"Week 7: Practice behavioral and situational questions. Simulate interview scenarios, focusing on articulating your thought process and decision-making. Prepare for questions related to strategic thinking, prioritization, and handling ambiguity. Refine your STAR stories.","shortDescription":"Week 7: Behavioral and situational questions, strategic thinking, prioritization, STAR method practice."}
- {"title":"Final Preparation","longDescription":"Week 8: Final review and mock interviews. Conduct mock interviews with peers or mentors, covering all aspects of the interview process. Ensure you are comfortable discussing your experience and answering questions concisely and effectively. Prepare thoughtful questions to ask the interviewers.","shortDescription":"Week 8: Mock interviews, final review, prepare questions for interviewers."}

## Location differences

- {"location":"APAC","differences":{"tips":["Highlight experience with distributed teams and remote collaboration tools.","Be prepared to discuss strategies for maintaining team morale and productivity across different locations.","Emphasize your ability to adapt management styles to diverse cultural contexts."],"interviewFocus":["Remote team management","Cross-cultural communication","Building trust in a distributed team"],"commonQuestions":["How do you handle performance issues with a direct report in a remote setting?","Describe a time you had to manage a conflict between team members located in different time zones.","What strategies do you use to foster team cohesion and collaboration in a hybrid work environment?"]}}
- {"location":"North America","differences":{"tips":["Showcase your experience in fast-growing environments.","Be ready to discuss your approach to hiring and developing engineers.","Provide examples of how you've driven innovation while maintaining operational excellence."],"interviewFocus":["Agile methodologies","Scaling teams and processes","Talent acquisition and retention"],"commonQuestions":["How do you balance the needs of a fast-paced startup environment with the need for structured processes?","Describe a time you had to make a difficult trade-off between speed and quality.","What are your strategies for attracting and retaining top engineering talent in a competitive market?"]}}

## Round 1: HR Screening
**Type:** HR Screening · **Difficulty:** Medium · **Duration:** 30 min
HR screens for motivation, basic qualifications, and cultural fit.
This initial round is conducted by HR or a recruiter to assess your overall fit for the role and Rokt. They will explore your motivations, career aspirations, and understanding of the company. It's also an opportunity for you to learn more about the role and the company culture. Be prepared to discuss your resume and why you are interested in this specific opportunity.
**Interviewers look for:** Enthusiasm for the role; Basic understanding of Rokt; Good communication skills; Alignment with company values
**Evaluation criteria:** Communication clarity; Cultural alignment; Motivation for the role and Rokt
**Common rejection reasons:** Lack of clear communication; Inability to provide specific examples; Poor cultural fit; Lack of strategic thinking
## Questions

- Why are you interested in the Software Engineering Manager role at Rokt?
- Tell me about your experience managing engineering teams.
- What do you know about Rokt and our products?
- What are your salary expectations?

## Preparation tips

- Research Rokt's mission, values, and recent news.
- Prepare to articulate why you are interested in this role and company.
- Have examples ready to showcase your alignment with Rokt's values.
- Be ready to discuss your salary expectations.

## Round 2: People & Technical Leadership
**Type:** Technical & People Management Interview · **Difficulty:** High · **Duration:** 60 min
Assesses people management, technical leadership, and strategic thinking.
This round focuses on your people management and technical leadership capabilities. The interviewer will delve into your experience managing teams, developing talent, and setting technical direction. Expect behavioral questions designed to assess your leadership style, problem-solving approach, and ability to handle challenging situations. You'll also discuss your strategic thinking and how you align team goals with business objectives.
**Interviewers look for:** Ability to set technical direction; Experience in mentoring and developing engineers; Effective conflict resolution skills; Strategic planning capabilities
**Evaluation criteria:** Technical leadership and vision; People management strategies; Problem-solving and decision-making; Strategic thinking
**Common rejection reasons:** Inability to articulate technical vision; Poor delegation skills; Lack of strategic thinking; Difficulty managing conflict
## Questions

- Describe a time you had to manage a conflict within your team. What was the situation, and how did you resolve it?
- How do you set technical goals and priorities for your team?
- Tell me about a time you had to deliver difficult feedback to a team member. How did you approach it?
- What is your approach to mentoring and developing engineers?
- How do you balance the needs of your team with the broader goals of the organization?

## Preparation tips

- Prepare specific examples using the STAR method for people management and technical leadership scenarios.
- Think about your leadership philosophy and how you foster a positive team environment.
- Be ready to discuss how you handle performance issues and conflicts.
- Practice articulating your approach to technical strategy and decision-making.

## Round 3: System Design & Architecture
**Type:** System Design & Technical Deep Dive · **Difficulty:** High · **Duration:** 60 min
Evaluates system design, technical depth, and architectural thinking.
This round focuses on your technical depth, system design capabilities, and architectural thinking. You will be presented with a complex problem or scenario and asked to design a system or solution. The interviewer will assess your ability to consider scalability, reliability, performance, and trade-offs. This is also an opportunity to discuss your experience with distributed systems and cloud technologies.
**Interviewers look for:** Ability to design scalable and robust systems; Understanding of trade-offs in system design; Experience with distributed systems; Collaborative approach to technical challenges
**Evaluation criteria:** System design and architecture; Scalability and performance considerations; Problem-solving in complex scenarios; Cross-functional collaboration
**Common rejection reasons:** Lack of architectural vision; Inability to handle complex system design; Poor understanding of scalability and performance; Difficulty collaborating with cross-functional teams
## Questions

- Design a system for [e.g., a real-time notification service, a URL shortener, a distributed cache]. Discuss scalability, reliability, and potential bottlenecks.
- How would you approach migrating a monolithic application to a microservices architecture?
- Describe a time you had to make a significant technical trade-off. What was the context, and what was the outcome?
- How do you ensure the quality and maintainability of the code produced by your team?

## Preparation tips

- Review system design principles, common architectural patterns, and trade-offs.
- Practice designing scalable systems for various use cases.
- Be prepared to discuss your experience with cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure) and containerization (Docker, Kubernetes).
- Think about how you would lead a team through complex technical challenges.

## Round 4: Managerial & Strategic Alignment
**Type:** Managerial & Strategic Interview · **Difficulty:** High · **Duration:** 45 min
Assesses strategic thinking, business acumen, and leadership at a higher level.
In this final round, you will meet with a senior leader to discuss your strategic thinking, business acumen, and ability to influence stakeholders. The conversation will focus on how you align engineering efforts with business objectives, manage priorities, and drive impact. Be prepared to discuss your vision for an engineering team and how you contribute to the overall success of the company.
**Interviewers look for:** Ability to align engineering with business strategy; Experience in influencing stakeholders; Sound judgment and decision-making; Understanding of product lifecycle and market dynamics
**Evaluation criteria:** Strategic thinking and planning; Business acumen; Stakeholder management; Decision-making and problem-solving
**Common rejection reasons:** Lack of strategic vision; Poor alignment with company goals; Inability to influence stakeholders; Weak decision-making under pressure
## Questions

- How do you ensure your team's work is aligned with the company's strategic goals?
- Describe a time you had to influence a senior stakeholder to adopt your technical recommendation. How did you approach it?
- What are the key metrics you use to measure the success of your engineering team?
- Imagine you have competing priorities from different departments. How do you decide what your team works on?

## Preparation tips

- Think about how engineering drives business value.
- Prepare examples of strategic initiatives you've led.
- Consider how you manage relationships with product, sales, and other departments.
- Be ready to discuss your long-term vision for an engineering team.