Technical Program Manager (TPM) Example Interview Questions

Below is a collection of various interview questions I’ve asked to TPMs in the past along with an example calibration guideline you can use.

Technical Problem Solving

• Can you give me an example where you had to dive deep into a problem and be hands on with the engineering team to figure out a solution to a problem?
• How would you run a project to upgrade users to a new version of an API? How do you know whether it’s worth doing the migration?
• Design an API and the high level system components for a Job Scheduling service (insert any other service/team here).
• Give me an example of how you drove a team towards a shared vision. How did you come up with that vision?
• Give me an example of an operational issue you noticed and how you fixed it for the organization permanently?

Project Tracking & Management

• How do you communicate and track projects?
• Can you build a project plan to do X, Y, Z to me? What milestones should we have and what should their scope be?
• Give me an example when you had to work with many stakeholders and build consensus on a solution to a problem. How did you know you were correct, what feedback did you seek?
• How do you ensure you have the right skill sets working on projects?
• What is the definition of a good milestone to you? How do you know you have good milestones in a project?
• Describe the methods and techniques you use to keep your projects on track.

Risk Management

• What are some ways you actively mitigate risk?
• How do you manage active and unknown risks? How do you build risk management steps and contingency plans?
• Can you give me an example of a warning sign you saw early on in a troubled project? How did you recognize it, and what did you do about it?
• Give me an example where you had to prioritize one project over another, how did you make the choice on what to deprioritize and why?
• Give me an example when you had to resolve an issue stemming from discourse with stakeholders (or another interpersonal issue).

Escalation

• Your project is going to miss its deadline. What do you do?
• Give me an example of when you escalated a specific technical (and project related) issue to senior management. What was the outcome? What would you change or do differently?
• If you had complete control over an area in your job, what would you change and why?

Interpersonal Skills

• How do you keep morale high on the team and make your projects fun and exciting?
• How do you promote positive and fun working relationships with others?

Scope

• What is a typical project like for you? Size of project, number of stakeholders, different businesses, international, dollar amount, impact/complexity?

Calibration Guide

• The candidate can deal with ambiguity
• The candidate has a sense of urgency
• The candidate can find solutions when none are obvious
• The candidate is hands on with their projects
• The candidate is able to build consensus and collaboration
• The candidate can identify the warning signs of a troubled project
• The candidate is able to communicate and see the big picture
• The candidate is not afraid to negotiate
• The candidate is not afraid to escalate when required
• The candidate is technically sound and hands on
• The candidate is able to come up with solid project plans while articulating risks and actively seeking out ways to mitigate them
• The candidate is persuasive and able to earn the trust of diverse teams

Related Posts

Thanks for reading this far. Be sure to check out all of my related technical interview practice posts:

• System Design Interview Framework & Strategy
• Behavioral Interview Framework & Strategy
• Coding Interview Framework & Strategy
• Technical Program Management (TPM) Example Interview Questions
• System Design Guide: Scalable Job Schedulers & Cluster Management

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