Atlassian Engineering Manager interviews reported by two Senior EM candidates combine a simple but evolving system design prompt, people management and strategy conversations, a coding round, and a values interview.
$223K
Avg. Base Comp
$285K
Avg. Total Comp
4-6 rounds
Typical Rounds
Not reported
Process Length
Two candidates who interviewed for Senior Engineering Manager roles at Atlassian describe a loop that is broader than a typical people-management screen. Both were asked the same technical prompt: design an app where a user saves a favourite colour. One candidate was then asked how to scale it to millions of users and treated it as a frontend system design interview. The other said the interviewer kept adding requirements mid-conversation, so adapting the design to changing constraints mattered more than the initial diagram.
The leadership rounds centred on concrete stories. One candidate was asked about managing a low performer, about a project that missed its timeline and what followed, and about change management strategy. That candidate also described a portfolio review in a panel with a hiring manager and a department lead. The other described delegation, mentoring and ambiguity as recurring themes. Both reported a coding round and a values interview, and one said the values round asked for real examples of living the company values.
Both candidates ended without an offer, so treat this as a picture of the questions rather than a recipe for success. Prepare one scalable design walkthrough you can revise on the fly, three or four leadership stories with clear outcomes, and enough coding practice that the round does not catch you out. The reports show the coding round sitting between the strategy and values stages.
Synthesized from 2 candidate reports by our editorial team.
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Featured question at Atlassian
Convert a list of integers into their Roman numeral representations
| Question | |
|---|---|
| Target Indices | |
| Dijkstra implementation | |
| Target Value Search | |
| Trial User Segmentation | |
| Concurrent LLM Serving | |
| Decreasing Subsequent Values | |
| Why Do You Want to Work With Us | |
| LRU Cache 1 | |
| Merge Sorted Lists | |
| Find Bigrams | |
| Find the Missing Number | |
| Minimum Change | |
| Scrambled Tickets | |
| String Shift | |
| Get Top N Frequent Words | |
| Google Maps Improvement | |
| Prime to N | |
| Find the First Non-Repeating Character in a String | |
| Good Grades and Favorite Colors | |
| The Brackets Problem | |
| Rectangle Overlap | |
| Recurring Character | |
| Friendship Timeline | |
| Permutation Palindrome | |
| Hurdles In Data Projects | |
| WAU vs Open Rates | |
| Losing Users | |
| Weekly Aggregation | |
| Complete Addresses |
Synthesized from candidate reports. Individual experiences may vary.
Candidates report starting with a recruiter or HR conversation about their background. One said it was made clear that team fit would only be decided after all stages were complete. Expect to summarize your management scope and motivation concisely.
Both reporting candidates were given a deliberately simple prompt: build an app that saves a favourite colour. One was asked to scale it to millions of users with a frontend focus, and the other said the interviewer kept adding requirements. Prepare to clarify scope and adapt as constraints change.
One candidate reports questions on managing a low performer and on walking through a project that missed its timeline, including why it slipped and the repercussions. The other describes conversations on delegation, mentoring and handling ambiguity. Bring specific examples with outcomes rather than general philosophy.
One candidate described a separate change management conversation with a hiring manager and department lead panel, which included a portfolio review. The other candidate did not mention this stage, so it may vary by loop or level. Have a change you led ready to discuss.
Both candidates reported a coding round, and one described a live exercise where they talked through their thinking. One candidate said the final values interview asked for real examples of understanding and applying Atlassian's company values. Prepare stories that show the values in action.
