# VP
**Role:** Software Engineering Manager · **Level:** M7
**Company:** [Splunk](https://scaleengineer.com/companies/splunk)
**Difficulty:** Very High
**Salary:** US$190000 - US$250000
**Experience:** 10 - 15
**Timeline:** ~21 days
This interview process is designed to assess candidates for a Software Engineering Manager (M7 level) role at Splunk, focusing on leadership, technical depth, strategic thinking, and people management skills. The VP title indicates a senior leadership perspective is expected.
Canonical: https://scaleengineer.com/interviews/splunk/m7-software-engineering-manager
---
## Overall evaluation

- Overall Leadership and Strategic Impact
- Technical and People Management Excellence

## Questions asked

- Tell me about a time you had to make a difficult decision that impacted your team significantly. What was the outcome?
- How do you balance the need for innovation with the demands of delivering on short-term goals?
- Describe your approach to building and scaling a high-performing engineering team.
- Walk me through a complex technical challenge you faced as a leader and how you navigated it.
- How do you foster a culture of accountability and continuous improvement within your teams?
- What is your philosophy on managing engineers with different levels of experience and motivation?
- How do you stay current with technology trends and ensure your team is adopting relevant practices?
- Describe a situation where you had to influence senior leadership or other departments to adopt your technical vision.
- How do you handle underperformance on your team, both technically and behaviorally?
- What are your key metrics for success as an engineering leader?
- Tell me about a time you failed. What did you learn from it, and how did you apply those learnings?
- How do you prioritize competing demands and manage your team's roadmap effectively?
- What is your experience with Agile methodologies, and how do you adapt them to your team's needs?
- Describe your approach to managing technical debt and ensuring system maintainability.
- How do you foster psychological safety and inclusivity within your engineering teams?

## Preparation tips

### lists

- Deeply understand Splunk's mission, values, and products.
- Review your career accomplishments and quantify your impact.
- Prepare specific examples using the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) for behavioral questions.
- Research current industry trends in cloud, data analytics, and security.
- Familiarize yourself with common software engineering management challenges and best practices.
- Think about your leadership philosophy and how you foster a positive engineering culture.
- Be ready to discuss your approach to technical debt, architectural decisions, and scaling systems.
- Prepare thoughtful questions for the interviewers about Splunk's engineering organization, strategy, and culture.

### studyPlan

- {"title":"Foundation and Self-Assessment","longDescription":"Weeks 1-2: Deep dive into Splunk's business, products, and recent news. Understand the competitive landscape. Review your own career history, identifying key leadership achievements and challenges. Focus on framing your experiences using the STAR method, particularly for people management, technical leadership, and strategic initiatives. Begin researching common M7/VP level interview questions for engineering management roles.","shortDescription":"Weeks 1-2: Splunk research, STAR method practice, career review, M7/VP question prep."}
- {"title":"Technical and People Management Deep Dive","longDescription":"Weeks 3-4: Focus on technical depth. Review system design principles, scalability challenges, and modern software architectures. Prepare to discuss your experience with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP), CI/CD, DevOps, and data-intensive systems. Think about how you've managed technical debt and made architectural trade-offs. Also, dedicate time to people management topics: hiring, performance management, career development, conflict resolution, and building high-performing teams.","shortDescription":"Weeks 3-4: System design, cloud, DevOps, technical debt, people management strategies."}
- {"title":"Practice and Refinement","longDescription":"Week 5: Practice mock interviews, focusing on articulating your leadership philosophy, strategic thinking, and problem-solving approaches. Refine your answers to common behavioral and situational questions. Prepare specific examples of how you've driven innovation, managed change, and influenced stakeholders. Finalize your list of insightful questions to ask the interviewers.","shortDescription":"Week 5: Mock interviews, refining answers, strategic examples, question preparation."}

## Location differences

- {"location":"Remote/Hybrid Focused","differences":{"tips":["Highlight experience with remote team leadership and tools.","Provide examples of successful cross-geo project execution.","Emphasize your understanding of asynchronous communication best practices."],"interviewFocus":["Adaptability to remote/hybrid team dynamics","Cross-functional collaboration in distributed environments","Remote team building and performance management"],"commonQuestions":["How do you handle underperforming teams in a remote setting?","Describe a time you had to drive a significant technical change across multiple distributed teams.","What are your strategies for fostering innovation and collaboration in a hybrid work environment?"]}}
- {"location":"On-site Focused","differences":{"tips":["Showcase your ability to build rapport and influence in person.","Provide examples of successful in-person strategic planning and execution.","Emphasize your experience with direct, face-to-face communication and conflict resolution."],"interviewFocus":["On-site team collaboration and synergy","Stakeholder management and alignment","Driving execution in a co-located setting"],"commonQuestions":["How do you manage stakeholder expectations in a fast-paced, on-site environment?","Describe your approach to building strong relationships with product and business leaders in person.","What are your strategies for driving alignment and execution within a co-located engineering team?"]}}

## Round 1: VP / Senior Leadership Alignment
**Type:** Executive / Leadership Interview · **Difficulty:** High · **Duration:** 45 min
Assess overall leadership, strategic thinking, and executive presence.
This initial round with a senior leader (often a VP or Director) is designed to assess your overall leadership capabilities, strategic thinking, and executive presence. They will probe your career trajectory, leadership philosophy, and your understanding of how engineering drives business value. Expect high-level questions about your vision, how you build and lead teams, and your approach to strategic challenges. This is your opportunity to demonstrate your potential to operate at a senior level within Splunk.
**Interviewers look for:** A clear and compelling leadership narrative.; Ability to connect technical strategy to business goals.; Confidence and poise in discussing complex topics.; Alignment with Splunk's core values.
**Evaluation criteria:** Executive presence and communication skills; Strategic thinking and business acumen; Leadership potential and vision; Cultural alignment
**Common rejection reasons:** Lack of clear leadership vision.; Inability to articulate strategic thinking.; Poor communication or executive presence.; Failure to demonstrate impact or ownership.; Not aligning with Splunk's values.
## Questions

- What is your leadership philosophy, and how do you instill it in your teams?
- Describe a time you had to drive a significant strategic change. What was your approach, and what was the outcome?
- How do you balance long-term technical vision with short-term business priorities?
- What are the key challenges facing engineering leaders today, and how do you address them?

## Preparation tips

- Prepare a concise and impactful summary of your leadership experience.
- Be ready to discuss your strategic vision for engineering organizations.
- Practice articulating how you align technology with business objectives.
- Research the interviewer's background and Splunk's recent strategic initiatives.

## Round 2: Engineering Leadership and People Management
**Type:** Technical and People Management Interview · **Difficulty:** High · **Duration:** 60 min
Assess technical leadership and people management skills.
This round focuses on your technical leadership and people management expertise. You'll be expected to discuss your experience managing engineering teams, driving technical strategy, and overseeing the development of complex software systems. Expect questions about your approach to hiring, performance management, career development, technical decision-making, architectural trade-offs, and scaling engineering organizations. The interviewer will want to understand how you operate as a leader and manager day-to-day.
**Interviewers look for:** A strong grasp of software engineering principles and practices.; Ability to discuss technical challenges and solutions at a high level.; Evidence of effective people management and team building.; Strategic thinking applied to technical roadmaps and execution.
**Evaluation criteria:** Technical depth and architectural understanding; People management and team development skills; Problem-solving and decision-making abilities; Experience in scaling teams and systems
**Common rejection reasons:** Lack of technical depth or credibility.; Inability to articulate technical decisions or trade-offs.; Poor understanding of system design and scalability.; Failure to demonstrate effective people management strategies.; Difficulty in handling complex technical scenarios.
## Questions

- Describe your process for hiring and onboarding new engineers. What do you look for?
- Walk me through a significant technical challenge your team faced. How did you guide them through it?
- How do you foster innovation and encourage experimentation within your teams?
- What is your approach to managing technical debt and ensuring the long-term health of a codebase?
- Tell me about a time you had to deliver difficult feedback to a team member. How did you handle it?

## Preparation tips

- Prepare detailed examples of how you've managed engineering teams and individual contributors.
- Be ready to discuss your approach to technical strategy, architecture, and system design.
- Think about how you foster a culture of learning and growth.
- Review your experience with hiring, performance reviews, and career pathing.

## Round 3: Business and Product Alignment
**Type:** Cross-Functional / Business Acumen Interview · **Difficulty:** High · **Duration:** 60 min
Assess cross-functional collaboration and business alignment.
This round often involves a discussion with a peer leader or a leader from a related function (like Product Management) to evaluate your ability to collaborate across departments and align engineering efforts with broader business strategies. You'll discuss how you partner with product, marketing, sales, and other stakeholders to achieve company goals. Expect questions about your understanding of the market, customer needs, and how engineering contributes to the company's success. This round assesses your business acumen and your ability to operate effectively in a cross-functional environment.
**Interviewers look for:** A clear understanding of Splunk's business and market.; Ability to connect engineering efforts to business outcomes.; Experience collaborating effectively with product management, sales, and other departments.; A forward-thinking approach to team and product strategy.
**Evaluation criteria:** Strategic alignment with Splunk's business objectives; Cross-functional collaboration and influence; Business acumen and understanding of the market; Vision for the specific team/domain; Problem-solving and decision-making in a business context
**Common rejection reasons:** Lack of strategic alignment with Splunk's goals.; Inability to demonstrate cross-functional collaboration skills.; Poor understanding of the business context.; Failure to articulate a compelling vision for the team/area.; Not demonstrating a proactive approach to problem-solving.
## Questions

- How do you partner with Product Management to define and prioritize the engineering roadmap?
- Describe a time you had a disagreement with a product leader. How did you resolve it?
- What is your understanding of Splunk's business strategy, and how does your team contribute to it?
- How do you ensure your engineering team understands the 'why' behind the features they are building?

## Preparation tips

- Understand Splunk's business model, target markets, and key customers.
- Prepare examples of successful collaboration with product management and other business units.
- Think about how you translate business requirements into technical roadmaps.
- Be ready to discuss your perspective on industry trends and competitive landscape.

## Round 4: Cultural Fit and Final Discussion
**Type:** Cultural Fit / HR Interview · **Difficulty:** Medium · **Duration:** 45 min
Assess cultural fit, motivation, and final alignment.
This final round, often conducted by HR or the hiring manager, focuses on cultural fit, motivation, and ensuring you have a clear understanding of the role and Splunk's environment. They will assess your alignment with Splunk's values and your overall enthusiasm for the opportunity. This is also your chance to ask any remaining questions and ensure this is the right move for you. They want to see that you've done your homework and are genuinely excited about contributing to Splunk.
**Interviewers look for:** Genuine interest in Splunk and the role.; Alignment with Splunk's core values (e.g., Innovation, Integrity, Customer Obsession, Fun).; A positive and collaborative attitude.; Curiosity and a desire to learn.
**Evaluation criteria:** Cultural fit and alignment with Splunk values; Motivation and enthusiasm for the role; Growth mindset and learning agility; Overall impression and fit within the team
**Common rejection reasons:** Lack of alignment with Splunk's culture and values.; Inability to demonstrate passion or enthusiasm for the role/company.; Poor cultural fit.; Failure to ask insightful questions.; Not demonstrating a growth mindset.
## Questions

- What excites you most about this opportunity at Splunk?
- How do you contribute to a positive and inclusive team culture?
- What are your long-term career aspirations, and how does this role fit into them?
- Based on what you know about Splunk, what do you see as our biggest opportunities and challenges?

## Preparation tips

- Reiterate your understanding of Splunk's culture and values.
- Express your enthusiasm for the role and the company.
- Prepare thoughtful questions about team dynamics, career growth, and company culture.
- Be authentic and let your personality shine through.