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Practising for the listing Manager, Software Development Engineering. Its requirements are filled in below. When you have an answer you like, paste it with your CV in Career Mirror to see which of the job's skills it shows.

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Manager, Software Development Engineering
Who we are

At CarGurus (NASDAQ: CARG), our mission is to give people the power to reach their destination. We started as a small team of developers determined to bring trust and transparency to car shopping. Since then, our history of innovation and go-to-market acceleration has driven industry-leading growth. In fact, we’re the largest and fastest-growing automotive marketplace, and we’ve been profitable for over 15 years.

What we do

The market is evolving, and we are too, moving the entire automotive journey online and guiding our customers through every step. That includes everything from the sale of an old car to the financing, purchase, and delivery of a new one. Today, tens of millions of consumers visit CarGurus.com each month, and ~30,000 dealerships use our products. But they're not the only ones who love CarGurus—our employees do, too. We have a people-first culture that fosters kindness, collaboration, and innovation, and empowers our Gurus with tools to fuel their career growth. Disrupting a trillion-dollar industry requires fresh and diverse perspectives. Come join us for the ride!

Role overview

CarGurus is hiring an Engineering Manager to lead the Purchase team within our Consumer Engineering department. The Purchase team owns the consumer journey from the moment a shopper decides on a car to the moment the deal is done. That means delivering an experience that meets consumers where they are—whether they want agents to handle the heavy lifting on their behalf, or prefer to be guided through each step of financing, trade-in, and deal configuration themselves.

This is a pivotal leadership role at an exciting moment: we are actively transitioning our engineering practices toward AI-native and fully agentic development, and this manager will be a key driver of that transformation. You'll lead a team of talented engineers, shape the technical vision for one of our most strategically important product areas, and champion AI-forward ways of working—from integrating AI coding assistants into daily workflows to architecting intelligent, consumer-facing experiences. If you're energized by the intersection of modern AI development and high-impact consumer products, this is the role for you.

What you'll do

• Lead, mentor, and grow a team of engineers, supporting their technical development and career growth while fostering a collaborative, high-performance team culture

• Partner closely with Product, UX, and Analytics to drive the Purchase roadmap from concept through technical design, implementation, testing, and measurement; actively contribute to roadmap prioritization by proposing technical investments and providing well-reasoned estimates

• Champion AI-forward engineering practices across the team—actively promoting the use of AI coding assistants, agentic workflows, and AI-driven tooling as core parts of the development process

• Lead the team's transition to fully agentic programming paradigms, setting expectations, removing blockers, and modeling the mindset shift required

• Define and drive delivery of consumer-facing AI experiences, collaborating with product and design to bring intelligent, personalized features to millions of car shoppers

• Manage project scope, estimation, and prioritization; decompose complex initiatives into small, self-contained units of work and drive their incremental delivery with a bias toward shipping and learning quickly

• Collaborate effectively across team boundaries—working with consumer, dealer, and platform engineering teams to align on dependencies, define integration requirements, and ensure the Purchase platform evolves reliably alongside the broader CarGurus ecosystem

• Roll up your sleeves and pitch in wherever you'll have the greatest impact—whether that's diving into a technical design session, helping scope an A/B test, unblocking a critical dependency, or jumping into any other area where your involvement moves the team forward

• Advocate for engineering excellence—code quality, observability, system reliability, and continuous improvement in process and tooling

• Have fun!

What you'll bring

• 7+ years of relevant engineering experience, with 3+ years in an engineering management or technical lead role

• Solid backend engineering foundation—comfortable engaging deeply in architectural discussions, system design, and technical trade-offs, particularly in Java/Spring environments, distributed systems, and data layer design

• Genuine enthusiasm for AI and agentic development: you believe AI coding tools and multi-agent workflows are the future of software engineering, and you lead by example in adopting them—set a vision for AI-native development practices and guide engineers through the cultural and technical shift

• Experience delivering consumer-facing AI features or products; experience with conversational or agentic AI experiences is a strong plus

• Customer and product-focused mindset with a bias toward data-driven decisions, and a track record of shipping high-quality, user-centric features at scale

• Strong project management skills and experience with Agile methodologies; able to drive clarity and incremental progress in fast-moving, ambiguous environments

• Demonstrated ability to mentor engineers and help them grow technically and professionally

• Strong communicator and collaborator who builds trust across engineering, product, and design

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or equivalent practical experience

• Curious, empathetic, and plays well with others—with a commitment to continuous learning and expanding your capabilities

The displayed range represents the expected annual base salary / On-Target Earnings (OTE) for this position. On-Target Earnings (OTE) is inclusive of base salary and on-target commission earnings, which applies exclusively to sales roles.

Individual pay within this range is determined by work location and other factors such as job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training.

This annual base salary forms part of a comprehensive Total Rewards Package. In addition to benefits, this role may qualify for discretionary bonuses/incentives and Restricted Stock Units (RSUs).

Position Pay Range
$186,000 — $233,000 USD

Working at CarGurus

We reward our Gurus’ curiosity and passion with best-in-class benefits and compensation, including equity for all employees, both when they start and as they continue to grow with us. Our career development and corporate giving programs, as well as our employee resource groups (ERGs) and communities, help people build connections while making an impact in personally meaningful ways. A flexible hybrid model and robust time off policies encourage work-life balance and individual well-being. Thoughtful perks like daily free lunch, a new car discount, meditation and fitness apps, commuting cost coverage, and more help our people create space for what matters most in their personal and professional lives.

CarGurus may require in-person interviews as part of our hiring process, particularly for positions based in our Boston and Dublin offices. Candidates selected for an in-person interview will be notified in advance. Please be aware that travel expenses are the responsibility of the candidate.

We welcome all

CarGurus strives to be a place to which people can bring the ultimate expression of themselves and their potential—starting with our hiring process. We do not discriminate based on race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, marital status, ancestry, physical or mental disability, veteran status, gender identity, or sexual orientation. We foster an inclusive environment that values people for their skills, experiences, and unique perspectives. That’s why we hope you’ll apply even if you don’t check every box listed in the job description. We also encourage you to tell your recruiter if you require accommodations to participate in our hiring process due to a disability so we can provide the appropriate support. We want to know what only you can bring to CarGurus. #LI-Hybrid

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Requirements found

Marketing Sales Project Management Agile Training

What this posting asks for

Level: Manager — The title says "Manager".

Main responsibilities

Lead, mentor, and grow a team of engineers, supporting their technical development and career growth while fostering a collaborative, high-performance team c…
Partner closely with Product, UX, and Analytics to drive the Purchase roadmap from concept through technical design, implementation, testing, and measurement…
Champion AI-forward engineering practices across the team—actively promoting the use of AI coding assistants, agentic workflows, and AI-driven tooling as cor…
Lead the team's transition to fully agentic programming paradigms, setting expectations, removing blockers, and modeling the mindset shift required
Define and drive delivery of consumer-facing AI experiences, collaborating with product and design to bring intelligent, personalized features to millions of…
Manage project scope, estimation, and prioritization; decompose complex initiatives into small, self-contained units of work and drive their incremental deli…
Collaborate effectively across team boundaries—working with consumer, dealer, and platform engineering teams to align on dependencies, define integration req…
Roll up your sleeves and pitch in wherever you'll have the greatest impact—whether that's diving into a technical design session, helping scope an A/B test, …
Advocate for engineering excellence—code quality, observability, system reliability, and continuous improvement in process and tooling

Competencies an interviewer will look for

Technical skill Core
In the posting: “CarGurus is hiring an Engineering Manager to lead the Purchase team within our Consumer Engineering department.” · “This is a pivotal leadership role at an exciting moment: we are actively transitioning our engineering practices toward AI-native and fully agentic developme…” · “You'll lead a team of talented engineers, shape the technical vision for one of our most strategically important product areas, and champion AI-forward ways …”
Show it by: Names the tools, languages or systems used and how; Explains a technical choice and its trade-off.
Teamwork and collaboration Core
In the posting: “We have a people-first culture that fosters kindness, collaboration, and innovation, and empowers our Gurus with tools to fuel their career growth.” · “Lead, mentor, and grow a team of engineers, supporting their technical development and career growth while fostering a collaborative, high-performance team c…” · “Define and drive delivery of consumer-facing AI experiences, collaborating with product and design to bring intelligent, personalized features to millions of…”
Show it by: Says what they did inside a team, not only what 'we' did; Shows how a disagreement was handled.
Leadership and mentoring Core
In the posting: “This is a pivotal leadership role at an exciting moment: we are actively transitioning our engineering practices toward AI-native and fully agentic developme…” · “You'll lead a team of talented engineers, shape the technical vision for one of our most strategically important product areas, and champion AI-forward ways …” · “Lead, mentor, and grow a team of engineers, supporting their technical development and career growth while fostering a collaborative, high-performance team c…”
Show it by: Describes setting direction or a standard others followed; Names someone they coached and what changed for them.
Adaptability and learning Core
In the posting: “able to drive clarity and incremental progress in fast-moving, ambiguous environments” · “Curious, empathetic, and plays well with others—with a commitment to continuous learning and expanding your capabilities” · “We reward our Gurus’ curiosity and passion with best-in-class benefits and compensation, including equity for all employees, both when they start and as they…”
Show it by: Describes learning something new quickly and using it; Shows a change of plan and how they adjusted.
Attention to detail and quality Core
In the posting: “Partner closely with Product, UX, and Analytics to drive the Purchase roadmap from concept through technical design, implementation, testing, and measurement;” · “Advocate for engineering excellence—code quality, observability, system reliability, and continuous improvement in process and tooling” · “Customer and product-focused mindset with a bias toward data-driven decisions, and a track record of shipping high-quality, user-centric features at scale”
Show it by: Gives an example of an error caught before it caused harm; Names the check or standard they used.
Customer focus Core
In the posting: “The market is evolving, and we are too, moving the entire automotive journey online and guiding our customers through every step.” · “Customer and product-focused mindset with a bias toward data-driven decisions, and a track record of shipping high-quality, user-centric features at scale”
Show it by: Puts the customer's need in their own words; Shows a result for the customer, not only for the company.
Planning and organisation Core
In the posting: “actively contribute to roadmap prioritization by proposing technical investments and providing well-reasoned estimates” · “Manage project scope, estimation, and prioritization;”
Show it by: Shows how priorities were set when everything was urgent; Mentions deadlines met and how.
Data and analysis Core
In the posting: “Solid backend engineering foundation—comfortable engaging deeply in architectural discussions, system design, and technical trade-offs, particularly in Java/…” · “Customer and product-focused mindset with a bias toward data-driven decisions, and a track record of shipping high-quality, user-centric features at scale”
Show it by: Uses a number to describe the situation or the result; Explains what the data showed and what was done with it.
Communication Supporting
In the posting: “Strong communicator and collaborator who builds trust across engineering, product, and design”
Show it by: Adapts the message to the listener; Gives an example of explaining something clearly in writing or speech.

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Practice questions

Tell me about yourself. Dedicated step-by-step practice.
If an interviewer asks something improper How to respond to questions about age, family, origin or health.
Built from this posting (7):
Walk me through a piece of work where you used your strongest technical skill. What exactly did you do? From this posting
Describe a time you worked with another team to deliver something. What was your part? From this posting
Tell me about a time you helped someone on your team get better at their work. From this posting
Describe a time your plans changed suddenly. How did you adjust? From this posting
How have you used marketing in your work? Walk me through one real example. From this posting
Tell me about a problem you solved using sales. From this posting
Tell me about a time you had to explain something complex to someone outside your field. From this posting
This posting reads as Data analysis: its questions come first.
Tell me about an analysis that changed a decision. Data analysis
Describe a time you found that the data you were given was wrong. Data analysis
A manager asks you for 'the numbers' by tomorrow with no further detail. What do you do? Data analysis
How do you check that a query or spreadsheet you built gives the right answer? Data analysis
What makes a dashboard useful, and how have you built one? Data analysis
Tell me about a time you explained a statistical result to people without a data background. Data analysis
Sales dropped 15% last month. How would you find out why? Data analysis
Describe a new tool or technique you learned to finish a piece of work. Data analysis
Tell me about a sale or agreement you are proud of.
Describe a time you handled an upset customer or colleague.
Tell me about a time you had several deadlines at once. How did you decide what to do first?
Give an example of a mistake you caught before it caused a problem.
Tell me about a time you taught someone how to do something.
Describe a time you took the lead without being asked.
Tell me about a time you had to explain something complicated in simple terms.
Describe a process you improved.
Do you have any questions for us?
Why do you want to work here?
Why is there a gap in your employment? Difficult question
Why did you leave your last job? Difficult question
Why are you changing careers? Difficult question
What is your greatest weakness? Difficult question
What are your salary expectations? Difficult question
You seem overqualified for this role. Why do you want it? Difficult question
Improper-question practice: How old are you? / Do you have children? / Where are you from originally?
A customer is angry about a delay you did not cause. What do you do?
How do you keep track of many open customer requests?
Tell me about a time you could not give a customer what they wanted.
You find that the inventory count does not match the system. What do you do?
Tell me about a time a shipment or delivery went wrong.
How do you make sure safety rules are followed on a busy shift?
Two managers ask you to book the same room at the same time. What do you do?
How have you used spreadsheets in your work?
Tell me about a time you had to enter or check a lot of data accurately.
A prospect says your price is too high. How do you respond?
How do you keep your pipeline organised?
Tell me about a technical problem you solved on your own.
You find a bug right before a release. What do you do?
Walk me through how you would check whether a report's numbers are right.