Engineering Manager

Engineering Leadership Management Structured interviews

A behavioral hiring process for your first engineering manager, built on written management scenarios and structured leadership interviews instead of coding puzzles.

Why this works:

Written scenario responses reveal real management judgment before you spend interview hours
Blind team review scores every candidate on the same leadership rubric, so the decision runs on evidence rather than the loudest voice
Two structured interviews separate people leadership from technical judgment without padding the loop
Skip-level references from engineers the candidate actually managed are the strongest signal on how they lead

Best for: Startups making their first engineering management hire (teams of 6-8 engineers)
Timeline: ~2-3 weeks
Candidate effort: 2-3 hours

Process stages

This template includes 7 stages that candidates move through:

Application

Submit Application

Tell us about the teams you’ve led and why you want to manage this one.

Management Scenarios

Questionnaire

Respond in writing to four management scenarios. Draw on specific situations you have actually handled, with real outcomes, rather than hypotheticals. Expect to spend 1-2 hours.

4 questions

Scenario Review

Team Review

Our team scores your responses independently against a shared leadership rubric before anyone discusses them.

People Leadership Interview

Interview

A conversation about how you hire, coach, give hard feedback, and grow engineers, grounded in specific examples from teams you’ve led.

75 min

Technical Judgment & Delivery

Interview

We’ll walk through real architectural decisions and delivery trade-offs from your experience, plus how you work with product and design. No live coding.

60 min

Skip-Level References

Reference Check

We’ll ask to speak with engineers who reported to you directly, plus a former manager. How the people you led describe you matters most.

Offer

We’ll present you with an offer and talk through the team you’ll be leading.