Applied via referral. Quick recruiter screen - mostly background, team size, ML systems, leadership scope. Followed by a prep call outlining the process. First real round was with an EM - mix of people leadership (managing ICs, handling low perf, 1:1s) and light system design (mine was on scaling a recsys infra). Onsite had 5 rounds - 2 coding (LC-style, focus on clean code and tradeoffs), 1 ML system design (real-world scale problem, end-to-end thinking), 1 project retrospective (how you led, staffed, scaled), and 1 culture-fit (LPs, feedback, conflict handling). Prepped with LC, ML systems, and a couple Prepfully mocks - super useful for retros and design rounds. Got the offer. Would say: focus on showing balanced depth across tech, leadership, and execution.
