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The role of the VP of engineering is a multifaceted one. Along with having sound technical knowledge and leadership qualities, the candidate is expected to be able to give strategic direction, create a culture promoting growth by giving mentorship on professional development, and ensure smooth alignment of engineering efforts between cross-functional teams through communication and collaboration. Interviewing fresh talent to be absorbed into the company’s engineering force along with budgeting and allocating resources are some other of the VP’s tasks. If you are looking to interview for this position, then the following set of questions and answers is going to help you prepare for the interview process.
Interview Questions
1. Can you describe your management style with some examples from the past?
Suggested Approach: Since a VP of engineering is meant to lead and manage, the interviewer is going to be interested in gauging if your values and operation style align with the company’s. You can use this opportunity to show who you are as a leader.
Sample Answer: I believe in being solution-oriented and thus try to play on my team’s strengths. I approach situations with an organized approach, keeping my team motivated with regular deserved positive feedback and focusing on creating a healthy work environment. Having said that, I do believe in balance and try to keep it real with my team, keeping them informed of the critical business developments that are likely to affect them and their work and coaching them if their performance is falling short. For example, in my previous company, the sales team had signed on a new client that had a strict policy for accessibility compliance. Once I learned of this, I made it a point to inform my team and brainstorm ways to make sure that we take up accessibility enhancements in our product in a planned manner.
2. How do you structure your engineering team? Explain your thought process behind it.
Suggested Approach: See this question as a way to showcase how you plan to make your team self-reliant and efficient. Being the VP of engineering, you shouldn’t have to intervene in every tiny happening within your team. With companies having intensive operations on a daily basis, your team should be well-equipped to address the daily demands of the business. You can utilize this question to show how you plan on doing this.
Sample Answer: I believe in ‘divide and conquer’ when it comes to daily operations. Setting up smaller units like scrum teams of 4-6 members with one or more senior resources and having 1 or more leads manage these scrum teams. If there are managers in the team then they can be available for the leads. Another thing that I keep in mind while implementing this approach is that the communication gap can be a problem. At the end of the day, we are all one team, so we should function as one body.
3. What are some common friction points between engineering and the product team and how would you handle those situations?
Suggested Approach: When a company is divided into different verticals, it can be quite easy to run the course with blinkers on. Through this question you can showcase how you understand the bigger picture and the role engineering plays in achieving it, thus guiding your team in the right direction to not get caught up in role differences. You can also highlight your problem-solving and interpersonal skills here.
Sample Approach: The product team plays an important role in giving us the vision to execute as they bring in the requirements and features for the product. I often see a tussle between the engineering and the product team when it comes to what should get developed first since resources are limited. Quite often, there are technical enhancements that may be needed by a different stakeholder which may mean dropping some feature from the list of requirements brought in by the product team. I have also seen friction arise when deadlines are being negotiated between the two teams, and if deadlines are missed due to delays in development. In such situations I prefer to take stock of what needs to be developed, what are their priorities, where can we push back or find a work-around, and if we can fast-track any of the solutions. I have always found it beneficial to keep my team open to the product team’s views but also be ready to debate alternatives if and when needed.
4. Describe your approach to handling disagreements within the team.
Suggested Approach: The interviewer will try to understand how you handle conflicts arising within your team. Your style will help decide if you are a good fit for the company.
Sample Answer: Though conflicts can be unpleasant, I try to see them as opportunities to grow. Depending on how severe this conflict is, I let the seniors like the leads and managers try to resolve the issue first. I believe in giving some space to people so that they can learn as well. If they are able to resolve the issue then well and good, but if not, then I intervene and speak directly with the concerned person. Depending on what I learn, I try to come up with solutions and take them further up the chain of command if needed. However, throughout this process, I stay updated about the issue by speaking to and guiding my leads and managers if needed.
5. When in client meetings, how do you handle situations where you disagree with the client?
Suggested Approach: The VP of engineering gets included in high-level client calls along with other prominent heads of the company. The interviewer will want to know how you would conduct yourself in such situations and what strategies you would follow to keep the meeting cordial and fruitful.
Sample Answer: When in such a situation, I prefer not to outrightly say a yes or a no. Usually, one needs to come back to the drawing board, reassess the ongoing commitments, and then give an answer. If there are technical challenges in the client’s ask, then those can be rejected but I do so politely and with proper facts and data at hand so that the client’s trust in the product is not diminished.
6. What is your take on the ever-changing technology market and how do you adapt to it?
Suggested Approach: Use this question to show your general open mindedness towards adapting to change. You can also mention creative ways in which you try to achieve this.
Sample Answer: It is delightful to see how the latest technology is making life so much easier for developers. We have frameworks, tools, and libraries for almost everything. I subscribe to newsletters and have regular discussions with my peers from the same field on this topic. This helps me learn about what is being adopted in the industry. I assess if any of those frameworks can ease our work, fit the budget while also being backward compatible with existing frameworks in use. Depending on the project, if it is a stand-alone one, I discuss the adoption of the technology with my superior and then onboard my team. However, if it is a complex project spanning multiple development teams, I go via the discussion route before impulsively making any changes to the existing framework to avoid regression issues.
7. How would you promote a growth mindset in your team?
Suggested Approach: Use this opportunity to show how you are as a mentor and can creatively come up with ways to keep your team on the right track.
Sample Answer: To me, a growth mindset includes upgrading skillsets along with being able to take on more responsibilities. I encourage an environment where ideas are welcome, and employees feel empowered to propose new solutions. I promote cross-team collaboration, encourage knowledge sharing, and provide resources for professional development. Additionally, I keep the team informed about emerging technologies and industry trends, enabling them to stay ahead of the curve and explore innovative approaches to problem-solving.
8. How do you plan to motivate your team?
Suggested Approach: The interviewer is going to be interested in knowing if you are capable of maintaining team morale and coming up with solutions to do so.
Sample Answer: Without motivation, a team cannot perform effectively. I believe in having regular interactions with the team to keep them apprised of the company’s goals and directions so that they are not left in the dark. Creating a work environment that allows for open communication, active listening, and idea sharing helps promote a sense of belonging and ownership in the team. Regularly acknowledging and appreciating the team’s accomplishments is vital for motivation. I would implement a system to recognize and reward outstanding performance, whether through formal channels like awards or promotions, or informal recognition such as public appreciation and peer acknowledgment.
9. How do you approach risk management and mitigation in engineering projects?
Suggested Approach: As someone who will be leading a team, you are expected to be responsible in your decision making. The interviewer will try to gauge if you are the kind that understands the importance of risk management and is systematic and organized enough to do something with those learnings.
Sample Answer: I tend to implement 2 approaches when it comes to risk management and mitigation. Considering the proactive approach, I ensure that my team does not ignore risk assessment during various stages of development like during technical designs, development, code reviews, and testing. By leveraging the experience of my senior resources, some of whom may be subject matter experts, I make sure that the team does its due diligence. However, issues can crop up during later stages as well. That time, I keep a dedicated resource who can aid with issue resolution and is usually monitored by the lead or manager in the team. As a general practice, I have certain systems in place like sprint review meetings to make sure that my team is learning from past mistakes.
10. How do you plan to keep your team updated with the latest trends in the technology sector?
Suggested Approach: The interviewer is interested in knowing how you plan to use your authority to grow your own team. A good leader should be able to take his team ahead with him.
Sample Answer: By equipping team members with the necessary skills and knowledge, I believe they can adapt to emerging trends and contribute to the organization’s growth. I intend to encourage and support team members to participate in industry events, workshops, and conferences. Attending such events allows them to network with industry professionals, gain exposure to cutting-edge technologies, and bring back valuable insights to the team. I will also encourage my team to attend training programs and workshops tailored to the team’s needs. This could include arranging internal or external training sessions on new technologies, methodologies, or tools. These days online resources, including blogs, forums, and research papers are readily available. I will curate and share relevant articles, publications, and online courses with the team to keep them updated and have a separate channel for the team to use as a forum for sharing and learning such content. Additionally, I will encourage team members to subscribe to industry newsletters and follow influential thought leaders in the field.
11. Describe your views on incorporating quality assurance in development.
Suggested Approach: Since you will be leading your team, how you approach situations will set the tone for your team members. Being a VP of engineering, the interviewer is going to expect you to have a holistic view of the software development process, understand the importance of the contributions of all the other departments, and try to tweak existing processes to benefit the company.
Sample Answer: Quality assurance is crucial for the success of a product. I believe it to be a cumulative responsibility rather than a task that just belongs to the QA team. I will be setting some ground rules with my team to make sure that they understand this and include quality as a forethought rather than an afterthought during their development activities. For example, writing unit tests, executing them after releases, mandatory quality checks during code review, and designing solutions with quality control principles in mind.
12. How do you plan to handle your development team working on multiple projects simultaneously?
Suggested Approach: This question is meant to test your ability to organize your team’s work and plan work for them without burning out your team members.
Sample Answer: Getting an estimate for each of the projects and then assigning team members to them in a thought-out manner is going to be my approach. The manager or lead in my team will be overseeing the progress of these different projects. I will be getting my updates from them but in case of issues or roadblocks, I will get involved in removing those hurdles. I try to ensure that my team divides the work internally in a way that a member is not having to work simultaneously on two projects. Making sure that the team members are finishing a task before jumping to the next one prevents confusion while also giving the required output of simultaneously delivering multiple projects.
13. How do you handle conflicting priorities or requests from multiple stakeholders?
Suggested Approach: This is your chance to showcase how you as an individual are at problem-solving and how well you can apply that to the company’s needs. Be mindful to pitch solutions that understand the magnitude of the situation since decisions at a VP level have effects throughout the organization.
Sample Answer: It all boils down to prioritization. With the involvement of the product team and the testing team, the prioritization of projects will be done. The prioritization categories could include parameters like how critical is fulfilling this requirement to the business, if it is a fix or a new feature, does the team have external dependencies to get it done, does the team have the bandwidth and abilities to get this done, is there a workaround to developing the solution. With the help of these three perspectives, I intend to make well-informed decisions and deliver products that are of top quality.
14. How do you plan to groom the high-potential candidates in your team?
Suggested Approach: This question is again meant to test you as a mentor. Besides that, you are also required to look at the bigger picture and try to keep such candidates interested so that their performance can help achieve the company’s goals.
Sample Answer: When it comes to high-potential candidates, the key is to keep them motivated. I prefer to have one-on-one meetings with them to understand their expectations from this job. It mostly seems to be a blend of monetary expectations and better career opportunities. Based on what I learn, I will be planning ways to give this individual better opportunities in the form of projects, exposure, and responsibilities by speaking with the necessary people like the team’s manager, lead, or HR in case of monetary expectations.
15. How would you deal with a team member who is underperforming?
Suggested Approach: Through this question, the interviewer will try to test your interpersonal skills and coaching capabilities.
Sample Answer: I prefer to keep an open mind and let the team member explain first why their performance is poor. I do this in a one-on-one meeting. Quite often it turns out that they are not equipped in dealing with the project, or they have had some crisis in their personal life. Based on my learning I then chalk out a plan with them to improve their performance. However, if after multiple attempts of intervention I do not see any improvement, I then go for other alternatives like transferring them to a different team or worst case, termination.
16. How do you handle conflict with your contemporaries from different teams during project-related discussions?
Suggested Approach: This question again tests your conflict management skills and how confident you are as a leader representing your team.
Sample Answer: I believe that a collaborative and diplomatic approach works best in such situations. When such conflicts arise, I try to encourage the opposing member to share their views and reasoning while I try to understand where they are coming from. When it is my term, I put forth my argument in a clear and respectful manner. To come to a resolution, I like to shift the focus of the group to data and tangible facts rather than sentiment-based opinions. Quite often, once data is on the table, people start thinking logically again. However, in those few instances where this does not work, I think it best to raise the matter to higher management or the concerned party for the final decision.
17. What technical processes do you intend to involve with the team while performing your management responsibilities?
Suggested Approach: Being mindful of the fact that you are going to have a lot of managerial tasks to look into, try to pick processes that will add the most value to the team.
Sample Answer: I intend to be involved in processes like technical solution designing and code reviews for critical projects. Also if there arise blockers during development, I intend to be involved in solution finding, especially if they are critical projects. However, micro-managing is not something I want to do as I want my team to feel empowered and trusted to do the job they are assigned. So a balance between getting involved and letting go of the reins is going to be what I will implement.
18. How do you foster collaboration and alignment among different departments?
Suggested Approach: You are going to be instrumental in bringing other departments to cooperate with your team. You can use this question to mention the strategies you plan to have in place for doing this.
Sample Answer: I always groom my team to be clear with their requirements before approaching other teams for assistance or collaboration. Once the requirements are clear, then having the necessary discussions with the different departments to outline the requirements helps get an idea of the feasibility of the proposed solution and whether those requirements can be fulfilled within the given timeline. At a leadership level, I will be discussing the need for collaboration and alignment and making sure that the other department leaders are on board. If situations arise where my team is not able to get cooperation from other departments, I will be getting involved to get the same.
19. How do you approach interviewing engineering talent?
Suggested Approach: As interviewing and recruiting engineers to your team is going to be a part of your profile as well, the interviewer will be interested in knowing how you approach this. Highlight ways in which you will be evaluating the candidate’s aptitude whilst also checking if he makes a good fit for the company.
Sample Answer: Before an interview, I first do my homework by going through the applicant’s qualifications. I look out for those applicants who are well-versed in their fields, whose offerings align with what the company needs, and who are able to work well in a team. My interviewing process involves scenario-based questions to test the above. I also prefer giving them problem statements to see if they have the potential to grow and whether they are solution-oriented.
20. How do you plan to ramp up new joiners entering your team?
Suggested Approach: Having an onboarding process for new members of the team will help you get them up to speed quicker. Involving the whole team in this process will give other team members the opportunity to learn to mentor new talent as well, thus preparing for higher roles.
Sample Answer: I prefer tagging a senior as a mentor to every new joiner. Based on the joiner’s experience the senior will give assignments to be completed. The assignments will be understanding the product, writing unit tests, shadowing the senior during meetings, and eventually starting development. Throughout this period, the lead or manager will be interacting with the joiner to see if they are able to cope and what challenges they are facing. Likewise, they will also keep interacting with the senior who is acting as the technical mentor to the joiner to learn if the joiner is suitable for the team, their strengths, and their weaknesses. With all this information we will be able to decide what type of work to give this joiner and plan a course of growth for them.
21. What would you say is your favorite part of a project from conception to completion? Why so?
Suggested Approach: You can use this opportunity to show your interests as an engineer. As an engineering VP, you can pick and choose which one of those stages of development interests you and can simultaneously add value to the team and product.
Sample Answer: Throughout my time in this line of work, I have always enjoyed the process of technical solution design. The process of collaborating with others to come up with a technical solution that solves the problem for the customer while keeping in mind considerations of quality assurance and risk management is extremely important. This process is going to make or break the product. Another aspect that I like is when the product is finally made available to the customer. During this stage, the feedback that comes back is very important as it gives a sense of direction on what we are doing correctly and what needs to be done differently in the future.
22. What is your approach to getting to know what the team is working on in detail?
Suggested Approach: Though you will be promoting a self-sufficient engineering team, you need to be aware of your team’s workings. Having a systematic approach in place to achieve this is going to help show the interviewer that you are the kind of leader that does not forget your team.
Sample Answer: I prefer having documentation of every stage of the development process, even the planning stage. I feel comfortable using tracking frameworks like JIRA to see what the scrum teams are up to during a sprint. I encourage my team to mention details on these tickets as well so that anyone referring to them can have the full picture. Besides this, I periodically connect with my team’s leads and managers to review what is being worked upon, what is the status of these items, and whether there are any red flags.
23. How do you measure and track the performance of your engineering team?
Suggested Approach: Performance management plays an important role as you will be responsible for budgeting and resource allocation as well. You can mention different ways to achieve this to gauge your team’s output and individual performances.
Sample Answer: I use a combination of data-driven metrics and feedback loops. I establish a set of relevant metrics that capture productivity, quality, efficiency, and other key aspects of engineering performance. This may include metrics such as project delivery timelines, defect rates, customer satisfaction ratings, and adherence to best practices or industry standards. Along with that, I strive to have a culture of continuous feedback, where managers and team members engage in frequent discussions to address challenges, recognize achievements, and provide guidance to achieve timely course correction.
24. How do you ensure that the engineering department stays aligned with changing market dynamics and customer needs?
Suggested Approach: How you maintain a willingness to adapt to changing market trends within your team will help you get better results. As a VP, you should have different strategies in place to make sure that your team is not cut-off from the business world completely.
Sample Answer: I strive to instill a holistic approach within my team so that they think of the bigger picture as well. If I learn of some new developments in the company’s business that might hold value for the team, I share it. Besides this, I also encourage the team to be part of the company’s quarterly and annual updates meetings and read through any mailers with such information. Maintaining a close partnership with the product management team also helps in understanding the market landscape and aligning engineering efforts with customer needs. Regular collaboration and knowledge exchange between engineering and product management ensure that the team stays well-informed about the latest market trends and technological advancements.
25. How do you plan to manage the engineering budget and resources? What is your strategy?
Suggested Approach: This is an important part of a VP’s role. Making sure that the budget and resources are optimally utilized will be your responsibility. Discuss your approach to dealing with this.
Sample Answer: Based on the inflow of work, I will discuss a budget with the management for the engineering team. By assessing the resource requirements of the projects like manpower, infrastructure, and training, I will then try to make sure that resources are allocated to the teams that need them the most. By conducting post-project reviews, analyzing resource utilization, and seeking feedback from project teams, I can identify areas for improvement and implement changes. Moreover, if there is a shortage of manpower despite internal shuffling, then I will look into hiring full-time resources, contractors, or third-party vendors for the concerned projects.
