Engineering Manager
Tools & Resources
EM Tools is the most complete collection of engineering manager tools. Free ROI calculators, prioritization frameworks, system design generators, database selectors, the EM Operating System for Notion, AI interview prep, and engineering manager coaching. Trusted by 10,000+ engineering leaders worldwide.
Free tools, Notion templates, eBooks, interview prep & coaching for engineering managers.
Trusted by engineering leaders at Amazon Web Services · Salesforce · PayPal · JPMorgan Chase · Skyscanner and more
“Great resource for engineers looking to step into leadership roles, or engineering managers looking to level up.”
Caleb Mellas
Team Lead at Olo
“Actionable and thought-provoking content for Engineering Managers, and tools to implement them.”
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Engineering Director at Salesforce
“I found myself diving deep into Stephane's posts and website full of useful tools!”
Patricia Juarez Muñoz
Senior AI Engineer at AWS
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Engineering Manager Interview Prep
Practice the exact behavioral scenarios you'll face in engineering leadership interviews. Answer via voice, get probing follow-ups, and receive expert feedback on your story structure, leadership signal, scope & impact.
A single coaching session costs £200-£700. Get unlimited practice from £24.99/mo.
Browse my 150+ engineering manager interview questions or start practicing with by answering them out loud.
Tell me about a time you had to make an unpopular decision...
Interviewer
Tell me about a time you had to make an unpopular decision with your team. What was the situation and how did you handle it?
Last year, I decided to pause all feature work for two sprints to pay down critical tech debt. The team was frustrated because we had just committed to a product roadmap with tight deadlines...
That sounds like a tough call. How did you communicate this decision to the team, and how did you get their buy-in?
I held a team meeting where I showed them our incident data - we'd had 3 production outages in 6 weeks, all caused by the same legacy service. I framed it as an investment: two sprints now would save us months of firefighting...
Tap to speak
Tell me about a time you had to make an unpopular decision with your team.
- Used concrete data (3 outages in 6 weeks) to justify the decision
- Demonstrated clear stakeholder communication by presenting a comparison framework
- Could quantify the impact more - what was the cost of each outage?
- Consider mentioning how you measured success after the tech debt sprint
Your answer demonstrates strong situational awareness by using incident data to frame the decision. To elevate further, quantify the business impact and tie the investment to measurable outcomes...
“We were averaging 3 P1 incidents per month. I gathered data, calculated 120h of engineering time lost, and presented a trade-off analysis to leadership...”
Engineering Manager Resources
In-depth guides covering everything from resumes and salaries to frameworks and career paths.
Career Paths
IC transitions, salary guides & everything you need to land your next EM role
ExploreInterview Questions
150+ behavioral questions to study or practice with AI voice feedback
ExploreManaging Teams
80 real-world scenarios from conflict resolution to scaling high-performing teams
ExploreManagement Frameworks
50 frameworks from OKRs to DORA metrics, with ready-to-use templates
ExploreEngineering Metrics
30 metrics every engineering leader should track, from DORA to developer experience
ExploreEM Responsibilities
60 responsibilities from hiring and onboarding to executive communication
ExploreGet Hired as an Engineering Manager
Land engineering manager interviews with a proven resume template, optimized LinkedIn, smart application strategy, and 100+ interview questions with answers.
CV & LinkedIn
Templates and guides to stand out
Application Strategy
3x your interview requests
Interview Prep
100+ questions with model answers
“Got an Engineering Manager offer in under a month.” - Richard L.
The Engineering Manager's Field Guide
Tactics for Building, Leading, and Scaling High-Performance Tech Teams
"Read it on a Sunday. Apply something new by Monday."
The EM Operating System
A connected Notion system that tells you who needs you, builds reviews from evidence and shows who's ready for promotion. Works with Claude. 50 templates included.
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