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Google Technical Program Manager Interview Questions

Review this list of 76 Google Technical Program Manager interview questions and answers verified by hiring managers and candidates.
  • Google logoAsked at Google 
    2 answers

    "Thanks for the question! This is one of my favourite topics because it’s at the core of what we do as PMs DAILY: making the complex simple to drive alignment. I’ve got a structured way to approach this, and I’ll use it to explain payment aggregators - like Plaid - and how they enable Open Banking, with a twist about a technical hiccup I’ve seen in practice. Let’s dive in. I start by assessing the audience. Say I’m talking to a marketing manager at Transak - someone sharp but not techni"

    Adarsh S. - "Thanks for the question! This is one of my favourite topics because it’s at the core of what we do as PMs DAILY: making the complex simple to drive alignment. I’ve got a structured way to approach this, and I’ll use it to explain payment aggregators - like Plaid - and how they enable Open Banking, with a twist about a technical hiccup I’ve seen in practice. Let’s dive in. I start by assessing the audience. Say I’m talking to a marketing manager at Transak - someone sharp but not techni"See full answer

    Technical Program Manager
    Behavioral
    +3 more
  • Google logoAsked at Google 
    6 answers
    +2

    "Referring to https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinesscouncil/2022/03/23/15-strategies-for-balancing-competing-stakeholder-priorities/?sh=7c82aa68262f Understand the conflicting priorities and align it with the goal/ objectives and the company mission. Start with the Least Common Denominator between the conflicting priorities to come to a commonality and start from there to objectively approach the next imp priority Always keep communication on and be transparent with 'equality' an"

    Pramod V. - "Referring to https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinesscouncil/2022/03/23/15-strategies-for-balancing-competing-stakeholder-priorities/?sh=7c82aa68262f Understand the conflicting priorities and align it with the goal/ objectives and the company mission. Start with the Least Common Denominator between the conflicting priorities to come to a commonality and start from there to objectively approach the next imp priority Always keep communication on and be transparent with 'equality' an"See full answer

    Technical Program Manager
    Behavioral
    +6 more
  • Google logoAsked at Google 
    4 answers
    +1

    "Situation - A time I dealt with conflict while on a team was while I was working at Shopify on physical and digital gift card refund point of sale solutions. The situation was that we were dealing with complex technical constraints including not changing particular UI components behavior to act as they should be intended. On the refund screen, the existing design was using a toggle on the same screen to bring up a modal for gift card selection to either select digital or physical options. Thi"

    Ben G. - "Situation - A time I dealt with conflict while on a team was while I was working at Shopify on physical and digital gift card refund point of sale solutions. The situation was that we were dealing with complex technical constraints including not changing particular UI components behavior to act as they should be intended. On the refund screen, the existing design was using a toggle on the same screen to bring up a modal for gift card selection to either select digital or physical options. Thi"See full answer

    Technical Program Manager
    Behavioral
    +5 more
  • Google logoAsked at Google 
    4 answers
    +1

    "I most want to communicate a few principals of conflict resolution that I believe were integral in this situation, which are mutual respect, a results orientation, an unwavering focus on the user. To that end, here’s how I’d like to structure this answer: First, I’ll tell you about the project we were working on, to provide some background for you. Second, I’ll describe the disagreement. Third, I’ll describe how we arrived at a solution, and finally, I’ll discuss how those 3 conflict resolu"

    Ross B. - "I most want to communicate a few principals of conflict resolution that I believe were integral in this situation, which are mutual respect, a results orientation, an unwavering focus on the user. To that end, here’s how I’d like to structure this answer: First, I’ll tell you about the project we were working on, to provide some background for you. Second, I’ll describe the disagreement. Third, I’ll describe how we arrived at a solution, and finally, I’ll discuss how those 3 conflict resolu"See full answer

    Technical Program Manager
    Artificial Intelligence
    +4 more
  • Google logoAsked at Google 
    2 answers

    "Situation: At my previous company, we had more than 200 different data sources across 15 business units. These included CRM systems, marketing platforms, HR databases, and even third-party data feeds. The problem was that each team was managing data in its own way. This created inconsistent privacy controls, data quality issues, and compliance gaps, all of which were becoming urgent ahead of a major regulatory audit. Task: I was given the responsibility of implementing a unified data governance"

    Mark G. - "Situation: At my previous company, we had more than 200 different data sources across 15 business units. These included CRM systems, marketing platforms, HR databases, and even third-party data feeds. The problem was that each team was managing data in its own way. This created inconsistent privacy controls, data quality issues, and compliance gaps, all of which were becoming urgent ahead of a major regulatory audit. Task: I was given the responsibility of implementing a unified data governance"See full answer

    Technical Program Manager
    Program Sense
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  • Google logoAsked at Google 
    7 answers
    +4

    "The company culture is very supportive and collaborative. Googlers are encouraged to be creative and innovative, and there is a lot of freedom to explore new ideas. The work is challenging and rewarding. Googlers have the opportunity to work on cutting-edge projects that have a real impact on the world. The company is committed to diversity and inclusion. Google is a great place to work for people from all backgrounds and with all different perspectives. I am confident that I would b"

    Praful B. - "The company culture is very supportive and collaborative. Googlers are encouraged to be creative and innovative, and there is a lot of freedom to explore new ideas. The work is challenging and rewarding. Googlers have the opportunity to work on cutting-edge projects that have a real impact on the world. The company is committed to diversity and inclusion. Google is a great place to work for people from all backgrounds and with all different perspectives. I am confident that I would b"See full answer

    Technical Program Manager
    Behavioral
    +3 more
  • Google logoAsked at Google 
    3 answers

    "We will not always have all the required data to make a decision quickly. We need to work with ambiguity effectively by tying up the available facts with intuition."

    Sankar S. - "We will not always have all the required data to make a decision quickly. We need to work with ambiguity effectively by tying up the available facts with intuition."See full answer

    Technical Program Manager
    Behavioral
    +2 more
  • Google logoAsked at Google 
    4 answers
    +1

    "Provided an example from my work history where I asked to move the Go-live date to prevent launch date failure."

    Namu - "Provided an example from my work history where I asked to move the Go-live date to prevent launch date failure."See full answer

    Technical Program Manager
    Behavioral
    +2 more
  • Google logoAsked at Google 
    7 answers
    +4

    "Is the "idea" I'm trying to sell something new or built off an existing service/product we offer? Interviewer: Let's assume new. Assuming it's a proper sit-down meeting with senior management to go over the proposal, here is what the slide deck would contain. Introduction/Description of the problem I'm trying to solve: Before proposing a solution, it is important to first identify the problem we're trying to solve. This section would contain the description of the problem/pain poi"

    Harshita G. - "Is the "idea" I'm trying to sell something new or built off an existing service/product we offer? Interviewer: Let's assume new. Assuming it's a proper sit-down meeting with senior management to go over the proposal, here is what the slide deck would contain. Introduction/Description of the problem I'm trying to solve: Before proposing a solution, it is important to first identify the problem we're trying to solve. This section would contain the description of the problem/pain poi"See full answer

    Technical Program Manager
    Behavioral
  • Google logoAsked at Google 
    3 answers

    "I followed STAR format"

    Shashikant A. - "I followed STAR format"See full answer

    Technical Program Manager
    Behavioral
    +3 more
  • Google logoAsked at Google 
    1 answer

    "performance issues and sudden spikes on input requests by scaling techniques and optimization."

    Srini K. - "performance issues and sudden spikes on input requests by scaling techniques and optimization."See full answer

    Technical Program Manager
    Behavioral
    +6 more
  • Google logoAsked at Google 
    3 answers

    "Situation: I led a critical initiative to re-architect the high volume customer data platform. The system handled over 90 PB of records handling around 70 billion customer records daily and was foundational to customer data capabilities across multiple enterprise products. The existing architecture faced significant challenges around latency, accuracy, and scalability, and any disruption would directly impact global customers and downstream systems. Task: I was responsible for leading t"

    Krish M. - "Situation: I led a critical initiative to re-architect the high volume customer data platform. The system handled over 90 PB of records handling around 70 billion customer records daily and was foundational to customer data capabilities across multiple enterprise products. The existing architecture faced significant challenges around latency, accuracy, and scalability, and any disruption would directly impact global customers and downstream systems. Task: I was responsible for leading t"See full answer

    Technical Program Manager
    Behavioral
    +2 more
  • Google logoAsked at Google 
    2 answers

    "Clarifying my assumptions first, i.e. "Technical contributions are not just writing or reviewing code". Answer : My contributions to any program I lead as a TPM are as follows : Inputs towards design, architecture review, mapping requirements to the proposed design, reviewing the implementation strategy w.r.t scalable solution, Writing core user-centric test scenarios, Validating proposed design vs implementation estimates vs initial planning. etc... Example : Situation: We are a"

    DM - "Clarifying my assumptions first, i.e. "Technical contributions are not just writing or reviewing code". Answer : My contributions to any program I lead as a TPM are as follows : Inputs towards design, architecture review, mapping requirements to the proposed design, reviewing the implementation strategy w.r.t scalable solution, Writing core user-centric test scenarios, Validating proposed design vs implementation estimates vs initial planning. etc... Example : Situation: We are a"See full answer

    Technical Program Manager
    Technical
    +2 more
  • Google logoAsked at Google 
    6 answers
    +3

    "Agile processes have been a game changer for Software development projects from last 2 decades. But there are situations where Agile practices don't work very well and demand a workaround. Some of those scenarios are mentioned below: No Project Plan or Status reports: Agile Project team does not produce formal project plans or status reports unlike Traditional SDLC Projects. Sometimes it is hard to represent project status to senior executives who are interested in the overall status and risk"

    Saket S. - "Agile processes have been a game changer for Software development projects from last 2 decades. But there are situations where Agile practices don't work very well and demand a workaround. Some of those scenarios are mentioned below: No Project Plan or Status reports: Agile Project team does not produce formal project plans or status reports unlike Traditional SDLC Projects. Sometimes it is hard to represent project status to senior executives who are interested in the overall status and risk"See full answer

    Technical Program Manager
    Behavioral
    +1 more
  • Google logoAsked at Google 
    4 answers
    +1

    "Clarifying Questions Who are we? Traditional elevator company or a new age tech startup Assumption: New age tech based elevator company Any constraints: Budget, etc. Assumption: No What kind of a skyscraper building: Assumption: Commercial. Includes office spaces as well as others Any particular goal with respect to building this elevator? Design best in class elevator providing the best user experience for passengers User needs - Users have the following needs when"

    Shasleen I. - "Clarifying Questions Who are we? Traditional elevator company or a new age tech startup Assumption: New age tech based elevator company Any constraints: Budget, etc. Assumption: No What kind of a skyscraper building: Assumption: Commercial. Includes office spaces as well as others Any particular goal with respect to building this elevator? Design best in class elevator providing the best user experience for passengers User needs - Users have the following needs when"See full answer

    Technical Program Manager
    Product Design
    +1 more
  • Google logoAsked at Google 
    8 answers
    +5

    "A few months ago I joined a micro-services platform engineering team as their manager, at that time my team was struggling to deliver towards an upcoming production deadline for a customer facing product. Production date had been moved 5 times already and there were about 40% of product features which were remaining to be tested and signed off to move to production . I was made responsible to deliver the release of this product within the deadline and turnaround the software delivery throughput."

    Shuchi A. - "A few months ago I joined a micro-services platform engineering team as their manager, at that time my team was struggling to deliver towards an upcoming production deadline for a customer facing product. Production date had been moved 5 times already and there were about 40% of product features which were remaining to be tested and signed off to move to production . I was made responsible to deliver the release of this product within the deadline and turnaround the software delivery throughput."See full answer

    Technical Program Manager
    Behavioral
    +2 more
  • Google logoAsked at Google 
    2 answers

    " Project Overview: Real-Time Risk Management System Objective The goal was to develop a real-time risk management system capable of processing and analyzing large volumes of trading data to provide near-instantaneous risk assessments. This system was crucial for enabling traders to make informed decisions while managing their exposure to various market risks in real-time. Complexity Factors 1. \\Data Volume and Velocity\\ \\High Throughput:\\ The system needed to ha"

    Scott S. - " Project Overview: Real-Time Risk Management System Objective The goal was to develop a real-time risk management system capable of processing and analyzing large volumes of trading data to provide near-instantaneous risk assessments. This system was crucial for enabling traders to make informed decisions while managing their exposure to various market risks in real-time. Complexity Factors 1. \\Data Volume and Velocity\\ \\High Throughput:\\ The system needed to ha"See full answer

    Technical Program Manager
    Behavioral
    +2 more
  • Google logoAsked at Google 
    2 answers

    "I always look at the project from three angles, Scope, Schedule, and Cost. To measure the success of the project we also have to look at the other factors, other than the scope, schedule and cost. Here are some of the factors I look at while measuring the success : Metrics : While defining the Goal of the program, we also define the metrics. To assess whether the goal is getting achieved or not, we need to measure the metrics i.e whether the metrics of the program are getting hit or not. For e"

    Tanu M. - "I always look at the project from three angles, Scope, Schedule, and Cost. To measure the success of the project we also have to look at the other factors, other than the scope, schedule and cost. Here are some of the factors I look at while measuring the success : Metrics : While defining the Goal of the program, we also define the metrics. To assess whether the goal is getting achieved or not, we need to measure the metrics i.e whether the metrics of the program are getting hit or not. For e"See full answer

    Technical Program Manager
    Program Sense
    +1 more
  • Google logoAsked at Google 
    2 answers

    "I explained the story of trying to help the engineer to improve the performance and after it is failed, the steps I have taken to move the eng to PIP."

    Nid P. - "I explained the story of trying to help the engineer to improve the performance and after it is failed, the steps I have taken to move the eng to PIP."See full answer

    Technical Program Manager
    Behavioral
    +2 more
  • Google logoAsked at Google 
    2 answers

    "These are my answers to the questions respectively: I think the hardest part of it is to find where to begin to get full control of the project. Gaining essential knowledge about the project and its jargon by either reading, talking to experts, or any other kind of research is a good starting point. But there is always a trade-off between research completion and time that should be considered. So, to summarize my answer I'll say that I start my research with an eye to time and start the proj"

    Moe R. - "These are my answers to the questions respectively: I think the hardest part of it is to find where to begin to get full control of the project. Gaining essential knowledge about the project and its jargon by either reading, talking to experts, or any other kind of research is a good starting point. But there is always a trade-off between research completion and time that should be considered. So, to summarize my answer I'll say that I start my research with an eye to time and start the proj"See full answer

    Technical Program Manager
    Product Design
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