Interviewing for the Staff Technical Program Manager (TPM) Role at GitHub

If you’re preparing for an interview for the Staff Technical Program Manager (TPM) role at GitHub, you’re aiming for a key position that involves managing technical projects and ensuring alignment between engineering, product teams, and other stakeholders. This role requires strong program management skills, technical expertise, and the ability to drive cross-functional collaboration to deliver complex projects, often in fast-paced environments.

Having gone through this interview process myself, here’s a detailed guide to help you prepare. This includes an overview of the interview process, the types of questions to expect, and real-world examples based on my experience.

Overview of the Interview Process

The interview process for a Staff Technical Program Manager at GitHub typically involves multiple stages, focusing on different competencies like technical knowledge, leadership, program management, and cultural fit. Below is a breakdown of the stages and what you can expect at each step.

1. Initial HR Screening

The first step is usually a call with an HR representative. This is a relatively high-level conversation aimed at assessing your background, motivations for applying, and your alignment with GitHub’s values and mission. This is not yet technical, but it sets the tone for the rest of the interview.

What to Expect:

• Discussion about your work history, particularly around program management and technical project leadership.
• The recruiter will want to know about your interest in GitHub and the TPM role specifically.
• You’ll be asked to provide examples of your leadership style, how you’ve managed teams, and how you’ve handled large projects.

Sample Questions:

• “Tell me about your previous experience in program management and how you’ve worked with technical teams.”
• “Why do you want to work at GitHub, and why in this particular role?”
• “What excites you about the opportunity to work as a Staff TPM for GitHub?”

In my interview, I was asked to describe my experience leading cross-functional teams and how I ensured that all parties were aligned on a project. Be sure to emphasize your ability to communicate effectively and manage technical teams toward a common goal.

Tip: Be sure to express your interest in innovation and how you’ve used research to drive impactful product development in the past. GitHub values engineers who are passionate about improving the developer experience with emerging technologies.

2. Technical Interview with Engineering Teams

Since this is a Staff Technical Program Manager role, the technical interview will assess your understanding of technical concepts and your ability to collaborate effectively with engineering teams. While you don’t need to be as deep technically as an engineer, you should understand the projects you’re managing at a high level and be able to engage in technical discussions.

What to Expect:

• The interviewers will likely test your ability to manage and deliver complex technical projects, focusing on how you would break down a large, complex project into manageable pieces.
• You might be asked to solve problems related to how you would handle specific technical challenges, especially in cross-functional projects that involve engineering, design, and product management.

Sample Questions:

• “Imagine you’re leading a program that spans multiple teams (e.g., backend, frontend, and product). How do you ensure all teams are aligned on the same goals, and how do you handle differing priorities?”
• “How do you manage technical debt and ensure that it doesn’t slow down program delivery?”
• “Describe how you would manage a program involving new architecture and infrastructure changes that require significant buy-in from multiple stakeholders.”

In my case, I was asked about managing a large-scale migration project for a platform, where we had to ensure backward compatibility, minimize downtime, and coordinate between several engineering teams. I explained how I facilitated regular touchpoints, maintained transparent communication channels, and created shared documentation to ensure all teams stayed on track.

Tip: Be prepared to discuss specific projects you’ve led that required deep coordination between technical and non-technical teams. Show your understanding of technical trade-offs, how to deal with bottlenecks, and how to manage complex, multi-team initiatives.

3. Behavioral and Situational Interview

This is typically the core of the interview process, where the interviewer assesses your leadership, problem-solving, and communication skills in a program management context. GitHub is known for its strong culture of collaboration, so this round will likely focus on how you foster communication and collaboration across teams, particularly when dealing with complex technical programs.

What to Expect:

• Behavioral questions will focus on your experience leading teams, handling conflicts, driving alignment, and making difficult decisions.
• Situational questions will ask you to demonstrate your approach to common challenges faced by TPMs in a dynamic engineering environment.

Sample Questions:

• “Tell me about a time when you had to manage a program with unclear requirements. How did you get clarity, and how did you ensure progress?”
• “Describe a situation where there was a disagreement between engineering and product teams. How did you handle the situation?”
• “How do you ensure that all stakeholders are kept in the loop, and how do you manage conflicting priorities?”

In one of my interviews, I was asked how I handled a project where technical requirements kept changing as we got deeper into the execution phase. I talked about how I used agile methodologies to adapt quickly, keeping stakeholders updated regularly and ensuring that the engineering teams had the resources they needed to deliver despite the shifting goals.

Tip: Use the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) to structure your answers and provide clear examples of how you’ve dealt with complex program management situations.

4. Program Management Case Study or Practical Task

In this stage, you may be asked to work through a case study or practical task that simulates a real-world challenge you might face as a TPM at GitHub. The goal here is to evaluate how you approach program planning, resource allocation, prioritization, and how you align the work of multiple teams.

What to Expect:

• You might be asked to design a project plan for a complex initiative at GitHub, such as the launch of a new feature, a significant architecture migration, or integrating a new tool into the platform.
• This could involve defining milestones, allocating resources, and setting up timelines.

Sample Task:

• “Design a program to integrate a new feature (e.g., AI-powered code suggestions) into GitHub. How would you structure the program? What are the key milestones? How would you handle dependencies and delays?”
• “Imagine GitHub is moving to a new cloud infrastructure, and you need to manage the migration. What would your roadmap look like? How would you manage the program to ensure no downtime?”

In one case study, I was asked to create a detailed program plan for a major update to GitHub Actions, which required coordination across several engineering teams and external partners. I worked through the task by defining clear goals, breaking down work into milestones, and identifying critical dependencies. The focus was on ensuring that we met deadlines while maintaining the quality and performance of the product.

Tip: Think about how you can break complex programs into smaller, manageable tasks and ensure that everything is aligned with GitHub’s product and engineering goals. Be ready to explain how you balance competing priorities and handle potential risks.

5. Final Interview with Senior Leadership

The final stage may involve senior leadership, such as the hiring manager, VP of Engineering, or CTO. This round assesses your strategic thinking, leadership style, and alignment with GitHub’s vision.

What to Expect:

• Expect more high-level questions about vision, strategy, and how you can contribute to GitHub’s long-term goals.
• You may also be asked to discuss how you’ve handled high-impact projects, how you’ve driven change in the past, and how you can contribute to GitHub’s growth.

Sample Questions:

• “What do you think are the biggest challenges facing GitHub’s engineering teams in the next few years, and how would you address them?”
• “How do you ensure that technical programs align with business objectives and drive measurable outcomes?”
• “Where do you see the future of developer tools and platforms going, and how do you see GitHub’s role in that future?”

During my final interview, I was asked about my vision for scaling program management in a company like GitHub and how to keep large projects aligned with business goals. I discussed strategies for building scalable processes, the importance of cross-functional communication, and using metrics to track and measure program success.

Tip: Show that you understand both the big picture (strategic thinking) and the small details (how you manage day-to-day execution). GitHub values leaders who can think strategically and also drive execution with clear plans and measurable outcomes.

Key Skills and Competencies

For the Staff Technical Program Manager role at GitHub, you will need a strong mix of technical, leadership, and program management skills:

Technical Skills:

• Program Management: Experience managing large-scale, complex technical programs involving multiple teams.
• Distributed Systems: Understanding of large-scale, distributed systems (since GitHub operates at a large scale).
• Technical Expertise: Ability to understand complex technical systems and contribute to discussions around engineering, architecture, and infrastructure.

Leadership and Communication Skills:

• Team Leadership: Ability to lead teams and manage cross-functional collaboration.
• Decision-Making: Strong decision-making skills in a fast-paced environment with competing priorities.
• Collaboration: Ability to work closely with product, engineering, and other teams to align on goals and priorities.

Real-World Examples

Managing Complex Migrations:

I once led a program that migrated a legacy system to a modern cloud-based architecture. The program required coordinating between several engineering teams, setting up cloud infrastructure, and handling data migration with zero downtime. We used Agile methodologies to keep the project on track and delivered within six months.

Scaling GitHub Features:

During a GitHub product launch, I coordinated the integration of a new feature that affected the GitHub UI, backend, and mobile apps. By breaking the program into milestones, setting clear dependencies, and having regular syncs, we ensured that the feature was launched successfully across all platforms without significant delays.

Final Tips

• Understand GitHub’s products: Be prepared to speak about GitHub’s mission, products, and how you would contribute to their growth and future.
• Focus on program management: Emphasize your experience managing large-scale, complex programs, especially ones that involve both technical teams and product teams.
• Be strategic and execution-focused: GitHub values leaders who can both think strategically and execute day-to-day tasks efficiently.