Braze Product Manager Interview Questions
& Process

I had a phone screening for a Senior Technical Product Manager position at Braze. The questions asked were relevant but didn't quite fit the interview format. For instance, asking about launching a 0-to-1 product felt too broad for a 30-minute call, especially without the opportunity to discuss strategy, technical details, and results. Similarly, a question about collaborating with engineers on system architecture, while relevant, was too open-ended for this format and hard to explain clearly without a shared whiteboard or diagrams. The interview format didn't really allow for a good back-and-forth conversation, and for a senior role, it felt rushed, making it tough to really show off my experience.

The interview started with a 30-minute recruiter call to go over company and position specifics, as well as my background. Next, I had a 1-hour video chat with the head of the product team, the hiring manager. This was a deeper dive than the first call, focusing on granular details of a past product launch. The final stage involved four separate 45-minute interviews over two days. These included meetings with design and engineering leads, a management case study (proposing and prioritizing page updates), an execution case study (diagnosing a discovered issue), and a strategy case study (suggesting improvements for a favorite product). I felt the process got tougher as it progressed. The recruiter was approachable, and the hiring manager asked specific questions, clarifying their intentions. However, the third round, particularly the case studies, was tough. Interviewers from different teams seemed instructed to give minimal feedback, which felt robotic and uncaring, although likely an effort to be consistent.

The interview started with a quick call from an internal recruiter. Then, there was a longer phone interview with a technical recruiter. After that went well, I had to do a 'one-pager assessment' where I was just told to verbally explain 3-4 projects where I 'made an impact' at my old job. I spent a few hours writing up what I thought was a good summary of my accomplishments that fit the role. Three days later, the technical recruiter told me the hiring manager didn't think my assessment was what they were looking for. I didn't get any specific reasons why, even when I asked for feedback. I spent hours on this process and a pointless homework assignment with a really unclear goal, and then I wasn't even offered a job or told why I wasn't being considered. It felt unprofessional and like a waste of time. If this is how Braze operates, I guess I dodged a bullet.