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Stepping into an engineering manager interview can feel a bit daunting - it’s a role that requires technical expertise, leadership skills, and strategic thinking all at once. But with the right preparation, you can show up ready to impress on all those fronts.

In this guide, we’ll cover how to highlight your technical background, demonstrate your people-management experience, and tackle common engineering management interview questions.

Understand the Role of an Engineering Manager

First things first: make sure you have a clear picture of what being an engineering manager means at the company you’re interviewing with. Spend some time reviewing the job description and the company’s products/tech stack. Ask yourself:

What is the balance of technical vs. managerial duties? Some EM roles are very hands-on with coding or design, while others focus more on team coordination and process.
What size team would you manage? Managing a team of 5 is different from managing 50. Your answers should reflect understanding of scale - for a larger team you might talk more about delegation and setting up processes, for a smaller team you might emphasize mentorship and direct technical contributions.
What stage is the company/product in? If it’s a startup or new project, they might value adaptability and broad skills. If it’s a mature product, experience with optimization and scaling might be key.

Understanding these nuances will help tailor your preparation. It will guide which examples from your past experience to highlight. For instance, if the role requires scaling teams quickly, you’ll want to mention how you hired or onboarded engineers in the past. If it emphasizes technical guidance, be ready to discuss architecture decisions you’ve made. Essentially, you want to align your interview responses with what they need from an engineering manager.

Research Your Target Company

Take the time to understand the specific interview process and key focus areas of the company you’re applying to. To make this easier, we've created free company-specific guides that break down each step of the interview and offer tips on how to best prepare:

These resources provide tailored insights to help you approach each company's process with confidence and clarity.

Reflect on Your Leadership and Management Experience

A huge part of an engineering manager interview will be demonstrating your leadership style and people management skills. Take time to reflect on your past experiences leading teams or projects, because you’ll almost certainly get behavioral questions to draw these out. Here are key areas to consider and some tips for each:

Team Leadership: Think of examples where you led a team through a project or a challenge. How did you delegate tasks? How did you motivate team members? For instance, maybe you organized weekly sprints and daily stand-ups that significantly improved communication. Or perhaps you mentored a junior developer who later became a star performer. These anecdotes show how you operate as a leader.
Project Management: As an EM, you juggle timelines, resources, and stakeholder expectations. Recall a project where you had to balance delivering on time with maintaining quality. Did you use any specific methodologies (Agile, Scrum, Kanban)? If so, be ready to talk about how you implemented them. It’s good to mention tools or techniques you like (JIRA for tracking, burndown charts, etc.), but focus on outcomes: “Under my management, we delivered Project X before the deadline by breaking it into smaller milestones and closely tracking progress.”
Handling Challenges: Every management job has tough moments - conflicts, missed deadlines, tough trade-offs. You will likely be asked something like, “Tell me about a time you had a conflict or had to give tough feedback to an engineer on your team.” Prepare a STAR response for this (Situation, Task, Action, Result).
Hiring and Team Building: If you have experience in hiring or growing a team, highlight that. Engineering managers often participate in recruiting. You could mention how you’ve conducted interviews, what you look for in candidates, or how you ensure diversity and inclusion in hiring. Also, if you’ve onboarded new hires effectively or improved team culture (like organizing knowledge-sharing sessions or team retrospectives), these are great points to bring up.

By reflecting on these experiences ahead of time, you’ll be able to answer leadership-related questions smoothly. You’ll come across as a thoughtful leader who learns from past experiences and has a clear management philosophy. Watch this video with detailed explanation of story, scenario, and skillset categories of leadership questions.

Brush Up on Technical Fundamentals and Architecture

Even though the role is managerial, engineering managers are usually expected to be technically solid. Expect some technical questioning or discussion to gauge your depth. The key here is not necessarily that you’ll be coding on a whiteboard (though for some EM roles you might have a coding exercise), but more that you can talk intelligently about systems and guide technical decisions. Here’s how to prepare on the technical side:

Review Your Core Tech Skills: If you come from a software engineering background, revisit the main language or framework you’ve used. You might get a few questions on system design, so recall how various components of a web application work (e.g., how frontend, backend, and database interact). If the company’s domain is specific (say, networking or machine learning), refresh basics in that area. You’ll likely be asked about complex systems you’ve built earlier in your career, or those developed by your teams under your leadership - these are known as technical deep dives.
System Design Practice: Another common area is system design - nothing surprising here. You'll likely get a typical "Design X" type of question. That said, engineering managers usually face a lighter version of what senior or staff-level engineers encounter. No one expects a flawless whiteboard solution under pressure, but you should be able to walk through key trade-offs, scalability considerations, and explain the reasoning behind your decisions. It’s okay if you don’t remember the minutiae of every algorithm - it’s more important to structure your thoughts and cover key considerations (like, “I’d choose a relational database here for consistency” or “We might use a microservices approach to allow independent deployment of modules”).
Know the Latest Tech Trends (just a bit): You don’t need to be an expert in every new tech, but since you’re in a leadership role, being aware of current technologies is a plus. For example, if relevant, you could mention familiarity with cloud services (AWS/Azure), containerization (Docker, Kubernetes), or whatever is pertinent to the company’s stack. If you casually reference, say, “We’ve been exploring using GraphQL at my current job to streamline our API responses,” that shows you’re keeping up with improvements.
Be Ready to Dive into Your Past Projects: The interviewer might pick something from your resume and go deeper: “You built X system - what were the major technical challenges and how did you address them?” Be prepared to discuss a significant project in depth: why you chose certain technologies, how you handled scaling, or an interesting debugging issue you overcame. This not only shows technical acumen but also how you handle challenges in execution.

In short, don’t neglect the technical prep. While you might not be writing code daily as an EM, your credibility often hinges on your technical background. Here are some example system design questions asked by Google, Meta, and Amazon:

Example "Design X" system design questions asked in EM interviews

Design TikTok
Design a system that reads book reviews from other sources and displays them on your online bookstore?
Design a short URL system
Design a real-time comment system to go under a Facebook post which may have millions of concurrent active users
How would you use a load balancer for memcache servers?
Design a ticketing platform
Design a boggle solver
Design a distributed ID generation system
Design a system that counts the number of clicks on YouTube videos

Example "past project" system design questions asked in EM interviews

Describe a system/product/app you or your team built.
How did you evaluate the design of your system?
How did you test performance and scalability?
Describe the bottleneck of the system you designed.
Tell me about a time you scaled a system

Example coding questions asked at engineering manager interviews

Given the root node of a binary search tree, return the sum of values of all nodes with value between L and R (inclusive). (Solution)
Given a binary tree, find the maximum path sum. The path may start and end at any node in the tree. (Solution)
Given an encoded string, return its decoded string. (Solution)
Implement a SnapshotArray that supports predefined interfaces (note: see link for more details). (Solution)
Given an array nums of n integers where n > 1, return an array output such that output[i] is equal to the product of all the elements of nums except nums[i]. (Solution)
Given a matrix and a target, return the number of non-empty submatrices that sum to target. (Solution)
Say you have an array for which the ith element is the price of a given stock on day i. If you were only permitted to complete at most one transaction (i.e., buy one and sell one share of the stock), design an algorithm to find the maximum profit. (Solution)
A strobogrammatic number is a number that looks the same when rotated 180 degrees. Find all strobogrammatic numbers that are of length = n. (Solution)

Prepare for Common EM Interview Questions

Now let’s talk about the questions you’re likely to face specifically in an engineering manager interview. They typically fall into a few categories: people management, technical leadership, project execution, and behavioral/situational questions. Here are some common ones and tips on answering them:

“Tell me about your management style.” - Be honest and self-aware. Do you lead by example? Do you delegate and trust your team, or are you more hands-on? A good approach is to give a short example: “I believe in empowering my team members. For instance, in my last project, I assigned ownership of core modules to each engineer and acted as a mentor. I set clear goals and then had regular one-on-ones to support them, rather than micromanaging every step.” This shows you have a considered approach to leadership.
“How do you prioritize tasks or projects?” - Engineering managers often juggle multiple projects. You can answer by describing a system you use: maybe Agile methodologies, or using impact vs. effort matrices. For example: “I prioritize work by assessing its impact on our goals and the effort required. In sprint planning, I involve the team to estimate effort, then we align tasks to business priorities. If a higher-up drops a new urgent task, I’ll communicate transparently about trade-offs - which other work might slip - to ensure we make informed decisions.”
“Describe a successful project you managed. What made it successful?” - Here, pick a project where you can highlight both technical success and good management. Perhaps the project delivered early, or had zero critical bugs, or improved some KPI by X%. Explain your role in that success: “One project I led was the launch of a new feature that increased user retention by 15%. I attribute the success to setting a clear roadmap with milestones, fostering open communication (daily stand-ups and a shared Slack channel with stakeholders), and doing a post-mortem to learn from the few minor issues we encountered. As a manager, I made sure everyone knew their responsibilities and felt supported to raise concerns early.” This shows you understand results and process.
“Tell me about a time you had to manage underperforming team members.” - This is a delicate one. Interviewers ask it to gauge your tact and effectiveness in tough situations. You might answer: “In the past, I had an engineer who was struggling to meet deadlines. I approached it by having a private, honest conversation to find out if there were any roadblocks or issues (it turned out they were unclear on some requirements and hesitant to ask for help). We agreed on a plan: more frequent check-ins, pairing them with a senior engineer for mentorship, and setting smaller milestones to rebuild confidence. Over the next two months, their performance improved significantly and they regained their confidence.” This shows empathy, proactiveness, and problem-solving in people management.
“How do you handle disagreements on the team, whether technical or personal?” - This checks your conflict resolution skills. A good answer might involve listening and mediation: “Firstly, I encourage a culture of respect and open dialogue. If two engineers disagree on a technical solution, I’ll have them each present their reasoning (sometimes in a team meeting so others can weigh in with pros/cons). I try to ground decisions in data or clear criteria - like performance, scalability, maintainability. If it’s a personal conflict, I talk to each person one-on-one to understand perspectives, then bring them together to find common ground or clear up misunderstandings. For example, I once mediated between two team members who had clashing work styles by establishing some team norms for communication and it resolved a lot of friction.” This shows you don’t shy away from conflict and have a method to resolve it.
“Why do you want to be (or continue as) an engineering manager?” - Motivation matters. You should convey passion for leadership and impact. Maybe you enjoy multiplying your impact through others. For instance: “I became an engineering manager because I love enabling others to do their best work. As a developer, I found satisfaction in coding features; as a manager, that satisfaction comes from coaching a team to deliver a great product. I genuinely enjoy the mix of technical planning and mentoring. Seeing my team grow and succeed is incredibly rewarding, and that’s why I want to continue on this path.” This gives the interviewer a sense that you’re in it for the right reasons, not just for authority or a paycheck.

Those are just a few examples. It’s wise to jot down bullet points for answers to questions in these realms (leadership style, conflict resolution, project success/failure, technical decisions, motivation). Keep your answers structured and story-backed when possible. To test yourself additionally, try out the Interviewly tool - it will stimulate a real interview and provide immediate feedback and performance analysis based on your answers.

Showcase Your Questions and Strategic Thinking

An often overlooked part of preparation is the questions you ask the interviewer. In a managerial interview, asking insightful questions can demonstrate your strategic thinking and genuine interest. It turns the interview into more of a two-way conversation between peers, rather than an interrogation. Here are some question ideas and why they’re good:

Questions about Team and Culture: “Can you tell me about the current engineering team’s structure and the team I’d potentially be managing?” or “What is the team’s biggest challenge currently, and what are you hoping a new engineering manager will solve?” - These show you care about the people aspect and want to understand the dynamics.
Questions about Expectations and Success: “How do you measure success for an engineering manager here? What would you hope I achieve in the first 6 to 12 months?” - This is a strong question because it gets the interviewer to spell out priorities. It also subtly shows that you are goal-oriented and already thinking about how to excel in the role.
Company Vision: If you've done your reasearch about the company and there is anything that genuinely interests you about the strategy, vision and/or role itself, don’t hesitate to ask. It will show you’re already thinking at a high level about aligning with the company’s vision.

Prepare two or three solid questions (more if you like, but you may not have time to ask too many).

One more tip: especially for a leadership role, the interview is also your chance to evaluate them. Pay attention to how they describe the work environment. If they say something like “We’ve had three managers in this position in the last two years” that’s a red flag worth exploring. Don’t be afraid to ask, in a polite way, about challenges or turnover if they hint at it. It shows you’re thoughtful and care about finding the right fit, not just any job.

Conclusion

Walking into an engineering manager interview can be a lot less nerve-wracking when you’ve done your homework and practice.

You’ve reflected on your leadership experiences, brushed up on technical knowledge, prepared for likely questions, and maybe even rehearsed with a friend or an app like Interviewly. This thorough preparation will not only help you answer questions well - it’ll also show in your demeanor. Interviewers notice when a candidate is well-prepared: it comes across in confident answers, structured thinking, and the ability to handle surprises with poise.

Remember, the goal is to demonstrate that unique blend of skills an engineering manager needs. Show them you can talk code and architecture and also talk leadership and strategy. Throughout the interview, let your passion for both technology and teamwork shine. If you don’t know an answer right away, it’s okay to take a moment to think.

Lastly, be yourself. With right preparation and real authenticity, you’re well on your way to making a strong impression.

Good luck!

Engineering Manager Interview Preparation