Unity Performance Manager (Supply Unified) Interview Guide

Role Overview

The Performance Manager (Supply Unified) role at Unity focuses on optimizing supply-side operations, particularly within the realm of advertising and monetization. This role requires a mix of data analysis, strategic thinking, and a deep understanding of how Unity’s platform drives monetization in real-time games and apps.

The Performance Manager is responsible for optimizing Unity’s advertising supply-side operations, focusing on increasing supply efficiency and helping Unity’s advertisers maximize the value of their ads and monetization strategies. The role blends technical knowledge of advertising technologies, data-driven decision-making, and strategic planning. It also requires constant collaboration with internal teams, such as engineering, account management, and product teams, to improve the platform’s performance and ensure client success.

Interview Process

The interview process for this position typically involves several rounds, each evaluating different aspects of your qualifications, problem-solving abilities, and alignment with Unity’s culture and objectives.

1. Recruiter Call (Screening)

The first round is usually a phone call with a recruiter. The goal is to assess your general fit for the role. The recruiter will review your background and discuss the basics of the job. Expect questions related to your experience with data analysis, supply-side operations, and how your background aligns with the role.

Sample Questions:

• “Tell me about your experience with advertising technologies or supply-side platforms.”
• “What interests you about this role at Unity?”
• “Can you describe a time when you optimized ad performance or user acquisition in a previous role?”

2. Technical Interview (Data Analysis & Strategy)

The next round involves a technical interview, often with the hiring manager or a senior team member. This interview focuses on your ability to analyze large sets of data, derive actionable insights, and implement strategies to improve supply performance. Expect questions about specific tools or platforms you’ve used to analyze ad performance, such as Excel, Looker, or internal Unity tools.

Sample Exercise:
You might be given a dataset related to ad impressions, fill rates, or eCPM (effective cost per thousand impressions) and asked to identify key performance issues and suggest optimization strategies. This could involve improving the balance between supply and demand, optimizing ad delivery, or ensuring that the right ads are shown to the right audience.

Example Questions:

• “Given a dataset of ad performance, how would you analyze and identify supply inefficiencies?”
• “How would you optimize a supply-side platform to increase fill rates and CPM?”

3. Behavioral Interview (Experience & Problem-Solving)

In this round, interviewers will dive into your past experiences and problem-solving abilities. They want to understand how you’ve approached challenges in previous roles, particularly in optimizing performance or handling difficult situations. Expect situational questions where you’ll need to demonstrate your ability to navigate complex operational or technical issues in a fast-paced environment.

Sample Questions:

• “Tell us about a time when you had to resolve a conflict between supply-side and demand-side teams. How did you manage it?”
• “Can you describe a scenario where your analysis led to a significant improvement in ad performance or monetization?”
• “Describe a time when you had to work cross-functionally with other teams to improve a product feature or process.”

4. Cross-Functional Collaboration & Case Study

Given that this role requires close collaboration with internal teams, the next round usually involves a case study or scenario-based interview. You might be asked to devise a plan to solve a problem or create a strategy, working with multiple teams (e.g., engineering, product, account management) to improve the performance of Unity’s ad offerings. This round assesses your communication skills and ability to collaborate effectively across teams.

Sample Task:
For example, you could be given a scenario where Unity is launching a new ad product in a market with low supply efficiency. You’d need to outline how you’d optimize the product’s performance, working with product, engineering, and account management teams to improve both supply and demand.

Example Questions:

• “How would you approach improving the ad supply performance for a new Unity product? What steps would you take across different teams?”
• “If you found that a particular ad format was underperforming, how would you collaborate with the engineering and product teams to address the issue?”

5. Final Interview (Cultural Fit & Alignment with Unity’s Vision)

In the final round, you’ll meet with leadership or other senior stakeholders to assess your cultural fit and alignment with Unity’s long-term goals. The interviewers will be interested in whether you thrive in Unity’s collaborative, fast-paced environment and how well you understand Unity’s mission to empower creators.

Sample Questions:

• “Why do you want to work at Unity? How do you see yourself contributing to our mission?”
• “How do you handle the fast-paced nature of the tech industry? Can you give an example of how you’ve managed multiple priorities effectively?”
• “How do you stay motivated when working on long-term optimization goals?”

Key Skills and Experience Unity Values

• Data-Driven Decision Making: This role requires the ability to analyze large data sets, identify patterns, and make strategic decisions based on those insights. Experience with ad tech platforms or data analysis tools (like Excel, Looker, SQL) is highly valuable.
• Advertising and Supply-Side Experience: Understanding supply-side advertising, including ad delivery, optimization techniques, and working with demand-side teams, is critical. Experience with supply-side platforms (SSPs) or demand-side platforms (DSPs) is highly beneficial.
• Strategic Thinking and Problem-Solving: You need to be able to think strategically and implement practical solutions that can optimize ad supply, improve performance metrics, and collaborate across teams.
• Collaboration Skills: As this role requires constant interaction with internal teams like engineering, product, and account management, your ability to work cross-functionally and communicate complex ideas clearly is essential.
• Adaptability: Working at Unity requires the ability to thrive in a rapidly changing environment, so demonstrating how you’ve adapted to new technologies or shifting priorities in previous roles will be important.

Example Scenarios and Questions

• Scenario 1: You’re tasked with improving the ad fill rate for Unity’s supply-side platform in a new market. How would you approach this challenge, and which metrics would you focus on to measure success?
• Scenario 2: Suppose you identify that the eCPM is declining for a specific ad format. What steps would you take to diagnose the problem, and how would you work with other teams to address it?
• Scenario 3: Unity is launching a new feature that could potentially improve ad delivery. How would you collaborate with the product and engineering teams to ensure the new feature is optimized for supply-side performance?