Engineering Manager Interview Questions

Engineering managers are project managers who oversee engineering teams for various types of projects in structural, mechanical, civil, or electrical engineering. Engineering managers plan and coordinate engineering projects and supervise multiple teams in the research and development of new products.

Whether you're a job seeker preparing to be interviewed for the role of Engineering Manager or an employer preparing to interview candidates for Engineering Manager position, these Engineering Manager interview questions will help you prepare yourself for the job interview session.

Engineering Manager Interview Questions

Below are a list of some skill-based Engineering Manager interview questions.

1. What made you decide to become an Engineering Manager?
2. What are your educational qualifications and/or field experience for this role?
3. So, how would you describe the role of an Engineering Manager?
4. What qualities did you appreciate in the Engineering Managers under whom you worked?
5. How do you approach building an effective team of engineers?
6. In the past, how have you kept upper management's support for a particularly difficult project?
7. Have you managed other managers?
8. Provide specific examples to show in what ways you have upgraded the skills of your team.
9. If your project is running behind schedule, how would you communicate this to the other teams you are working with? How would you communicate the delay to the executive team?
10. How is managing other managers different from managing individual contributors?
11. How would your current (or last) team describe you?
12. How hands-on are you with the team? Are you involved in coding, design reviews, architecture, etc.?
13. Do you have experience managing remote teams or individuals? What is different about that?
14. What kinds of meetings do you hold to run your team?
15. How do you coach engineers on your team that are smarter and better engineers than you?
16. As a manager, how do you handle trade-offs?
17. Describe how you deal with change management?
18. Describe in detail a project that failed
19. Describe a project in the past that was behind schedule and provide concrete steps that you took to remedy the situation
20. Tell me how you would balance engineering limitations with customer requirements
21. What was the largest project you've executed?
22. Tell me about a time you needed to deliver a project on a deadline but there were multiple roadblocks and constraints to deliver. How did you manage that situation?
23. Tell me about a project, product, or system you worked upon. What were the design and technical problems you faced? How did you solve them?
24. How does an Engineering Manager and a tech lead work together?
25. How do you coach a tech lead?
26. How do you deal with engineers with performance issues?
27. What do you do to keep up-to-date with changing trends in both engineering and management?
28. What makes you believe you are the best candidate for this position?

Engineering Manager Interview Questions and Answers

Every interview is different and the questions may vary. However, there are lots of general questions that get asked at every interview.

Below are some common questions you'd expect during Engineering Manager interviews. Click on each question to see how to answer them.

1. Why Should We Hire You?
2. Do You Have Any Questions for Us?
3. Are You a Leader or a Follower?
4. What Is Your Greatest Accomplishment?
5. Why Do You Want To Leave Your Current Job?
6. Tell Me About Yourself
7. Why Do You Want This Job?
8. What is Your Greatest Weakness?
9. What is Your Greatest Strength?
10. What is Your Salary Expectation?