Engineering Manager, Framework Engineering Interview Process at Asana (Reykjavik)

The interview process for the Engineering Manager, Framework Engineering position at Asana in Reykjavik is designed to assess both technical proficiency and leadership skills. Based on my experience and insights from other candidates, here’s a detailed breakdown of the process, what to expect, and how to prepare for the role:

1. Initial Recruiter Call

After submitting your application, you’ll be contacted by a recruiter for an initial phone screen. This first interview usually lasts about 30-45 minutes and is focused on getting a sense of your background, motivations, and basic technical management experience. Key points they will assess include:

• Why Asana?: Expect questions like, “Why are you interested in joining Asana, particularly in the Framework Engineering team?”
• Your experience: You’ll be asked to briefly walk through your resume, especially your engineering management experience, focusing on team leadership, mentoring, and impact in previous roles.
• Basic technical knowledge: Be prepared to discuss your familiarity with system design, scalable architectures, and the frameworks you’ve worked on in the past.

2. Technical Interview

If you pass the recruiter call, you’ll move to a technical interview with an Engineering Manager or senior engineer. This call typically lasts 60 minutes and contains:

• System Design Question: As a Framework Engineering Manager, you’ll likely be asked to design a system that involves frameworks, APIs, or infrastructure. For example, “How would you design a highly scalable API for a task management tool?” Expect to dive into trade-offs, scalability, and performance optimizations.
• Past Technical Experience: They will also probe your experience in leading technical decisions and your ability to mentor engineers through tough problems. You might be asked to describe a time when you led a project or made significant architectural decisions.

3. Onsite or Virtual Onsite Interview

If you pass the phone interview, you’ll be invited to a full-day onsite interview (or virtual if remote). This stage typically involves multiple rounds, combining technical and management interviews. The breakdown usually includes:

Technical Rounds (2-3):

These rounds focus on assessing your ability to think through complex engineering problems and your approach to system design.

• Example: “Design a system for real-time collaboration on Asana tasks across different time zones and how would you ensure that the system scales effectively?”

Technical Leadership:

Expect questions that test your technical leadership abilities. You may be asked how you would address technical debt or optimization problems that might arise in the framework and infrastructure your team works on.

Behavioral/Management Rounds (2-4):

Asana places significant emphasis on management and leadership in these rounds. They are looking for managers who can both lead by example and provide mentorship. You will likely face questions such as:

• “How do you approach running 1:1s with your team members?”
• “Describe a situation where you had to handle a conflict between engineers on your team. How did you manage the situation?”
• “How do you ensure that your team is growing technically and professionally?”

These questions are aimed at understanding how you motivate and develop your team, provide clear feedback, and maintain a high-performance culture. Expect to demonstrate your ability to balance technical guidance with people management.

4. Final Interview with Leadership

The final interview may involve a discussion with senior leadership or the VP of Engineering. This is more of a strategic conversation, focusing on how you align with Asana’s vision and how you would contribute to the long-term goals of the company:

• Strategic Vision: Expect to be asked about how you make decisions that affect the long-term scalability and maintainability of the platform.
• Cultural Fit: Asana values radical inclusion, collaboration, and transparency, so be prepared to discuss how you embody these values as a leader.

5. Offer and Negotiation

If you successfully pass the interviews, you’ll receive an offer. The compensation package for this role includes:

• Base salary: For the Engineering Manager position, it typically ranges from 1,393,333 ISK to 2,146,667 ISK per month.
• Equity: Depending on the role, you may also receive stock options or other performance-based incentives.
• Benefits: Asana offers comprehensive benefits, including mental health support, career coaching, wellness programs, and flexible work options.

---

Preparation Tips

Brush up on System Design

Asana places a heavy emphasis on system design questions, so practicing designing scalable architectures and understanding trade-offs is essential. Focus on designing frameworks and services that support large-scale applications.

Know Asana’s Product

Familiarize yourself with Asana’s framework and how it scales. Asana’s product is deeply tied to teamwork and collaboration, so understanding how the underlying systems support these features will help.

Review Management Skills

Be ready to talk about mentorship, team building, and handling conflicts within your engineering team. Asana values managers who foster growth and autonomy in their teams.

Prepare for Behavioral Questions

Focus on your leadership philosophy, how you give feedback, and how you’ve grown engineers in the past.