What is a Software Engineer at ABC?

At ABC, a Software Engineer is much more than a standard developer; you are a key owner of our platform's integrity, scalability, and security. We are a fast-growing, venture-backed SaaS company on a mission to modernize critical and underserved sectors. You will be stepping into a high-impact environment where your code directly protects and empowers our hard-working customers who rely on our system of record to run their operations.

This role requires a heavy emphasis on infrastructure, security, and hands-on remediation. You will not just be building standard product features; you will be establishing secure development practices, hardening cloud systems, and shaping the engineering culture from the ground up. We are looking for builders who want to assess where we are, define where we need to be, and actively write the code to get us there.

We hold a high bar for trust, ownership, and a relentless focus on delivering value. You will work closely with engineering peers, coach DevOps team members, and partner with leadership to build a resilient platform. If you are a big thinker and a humble warrior who thrives in fast-moving environments, this role is your opportunity to build something meaningful and lasting.

Getting Ready for Your Interviews

Thorough preparation requires understanding not just what we build, but how we evaluate the engineers who build it. Focus your preparation on the following key evaluation criteria:

Technical Excellence & Hands-On Remediation – Your ability to write, read, and fix code across the stack while implementing robust controls. Interviewers will look for deep, practical experience rather than just theoretical or audit-based knowledge. You can demonstrate strength here by showing how you actively patch vulnerabilities and harden systems.

System Design & Cloud Architecture – How you approach building and securing scalable systems, particularly within modern cloud environments like AWS. We evaluate your ability to anticipate misconfigurations, design resilient access controls, and integrate monitoring seamlessly into the infrastructure.

Grit & Resourcefulness – Your capacity to thrive in a fast-moving, ambiguous startup environment. We evaluate how you define technical paths and create roadmaps when the guidelines are not fully drawn. Show us that you value resourcefulness over resources.

Cross-Functional Leadership – How you influence engineers and executives without relying on fear-driven tactics. Show us how you mentor others, such as coaching DevOps engineers, and how you successfully embed best practices into the daily software development lifecycle.

Interview Process Overview

The interview process for a Software Engineer at ABC is designed to be rigorous, pragmatic, and highly reflective of the actual day-to-day work. We prioritize hands-on problem-solving and architectural thinking over obscure trick questions. You can expect a blend of technical deep dives, system design discussions, and behavioral assessments aimed at understanding your ownership and proactive mindset.

Our interviewing philosophy is deeply rooted in collaboration and our core company values, such as "Do the 1% more" and "Win as a team, learn as a team." You will meet with engineering peers, cross-functional partners, and leadership. Expect conversations to pivot quickly from high-level roadmap planning and compliance strategies (like SOC 2) to deep, code-level vulnerability remediation.

What makes our process distinctive is the emphasis on actionable execution. We want to see that you can assess a current state, define a strategic vision, and actually write the code to execute that vision.

This visual timeline outlines the progression from your initial recruiter screen to the final onsite stages. Use it to pace your preparation, noting the balance between technical coding rounds and strategic leadership discussions. Keep in mind that specific stages may adapt slightly depending on your background and the team's immediate operational needs.

Deep Dive into Evaluation Areas

Hands-On Coding and Vulnerability Remediation

This area matters because you are expected to touch application code, not just infrastructure. We evaluate your ability to identify technical flaws and write robust code to fix them. Strong performance means you can read an existing codebase, spot the vulnerabilities, and implement a secure, efficient solution without slowing down the broader engineering team.

Be ready to go over:

• Code Review & Auditing – Identifying common web application vulnerabilities (like those in the OWASP Top 10) in raw code.
• Secure Implementation – Writing patches, defensive mechanisms, and robust access controls across the stack.
• Tooling Integration – Setting up automated checks and secrets management within our CI/CD pipelines.
• Advanced concepts (less common) –
  • Custom static analysis rule creation.
  • Advanced cryptographic implementations for data at rest and in transit.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "Walk us through a time you found a critical vulnerability in a production application. How did you fix it?"
• "Review this snippet of backend code. Identify the security risks and rewrite it to be secure."
• "How would you implement secure secrets management for a newly deployed microservice?"

Cloud Infrastructure and Systems Architecture

As we scale our SaaS platform, securing our cloud environment is paramount. We evaluate your understanding of modern cloud infrastructure, specifically AWS, and how you design secure networks. A strong candidate anticipates misconfigurations before they happen and builds guardrails that protect the platform automatically.

Be ready to go over:

• AWS Posture – Deep knowledge of IAM roles, VPC configurations, and secure cloud storage.
• Monitoring & Alerting – Implementing tools to detect anomalies, unauthorized access, and operational bottlenecks.
• Compliance & Operations – Supporting SOC 2 efforts and managing vendor security assessments efficiently.
• Advanced concepts (less common) –
  • Multi-region disaster recovery and failover architecture.
  • Zero-trust architecture implementation in a hybrid environment.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "How would you design the access control policies for a new AWS environment from scratch?"
• "Describe a time you had to remediate a significant cloud misconfiguration. What was the impact?"
• "What is your approach to ensuring SOC 2 compliance without slowing down engineering velocity?"

Ambiguity, Grit, and Leadership

At ABC, you will often be the first to tackle a specific problem space. We evaluate your resourcefulness and how you influence the broader engineering culture. Strong performance involves demonstrating a proactive, mission-driven attitude where you see problems and fix them before they are ever reported.

Be ready to go over:

• Roadmap Creation – Assessing current states and defining a strategic, phased path forward.
• Mentorship – Coaching DevOps and engineering peers on operational best practices.
• Stakeholder Communication – Influencing executives and product teams constructively, proving that infrastructure and security enable the business.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "Tell me about a time you had to build a program or process from the ground up with limited resources."
• "How do you convince a product team to prioritize technical debt over shipping a new feature?"
• "Describe your approach to onboarding a new engineer into our development practices."

Key Responsibilities

As a Software Engineer at ABC, your day-to-day will be highly dynamic, bridging the gap between high-level strategy and deep technical execution. You will be responsible for assessing our current technical posture and building a comprehensive roadmap to mature and strengthen our systems as we scale. This is not an advisory or audit-and-report role; you will actively implement controls, tooling, and monitoring across our infrastructure and applications.

Collaboration is a massive part of this role. You will partner closely with the broader engineering organization, embedding secure development practices directly into how we build software. A significant portion of your time will be spent mentoring our DevOps engineers and shaping internal policies—ranging from tool access to employee onboarding operational controls.

You will also drive critical business initiatives, such as owning vendor assessments and supporting compliance efforts like SOC 2 and customer questionnaires. Ultimately, you are laying the technical foundation for what will evolve into a broader, dedicated operational organization within the company.

Role Requirements & Qualifications

To be competitive for the Software Engineer position at ABC, you need a blend of deep technical expertise and strong interpersonal skills.

• Must-have skills – Deep, hands-on experience in application and infrastructure security. Strong programming skills with the proven ability to read, write, and fix code across the stack (not just scripts). Solid understanding of cloud environments (AWS preferred), network protocols, and modern web application vulnerabilities.
• Experience level – A Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Cybersecurity, or a related technical field, paired with strong academic performance. You must have experience building programs or practices at a startup or high-growth company, demonstrating that you have done the work, not just managed it.
• Soft skills – Demonstrated grit, resourcefulness, and a proactive, mission-driven attitude. You must be a strong communicator who can influence peers and executives alike without being preachy or fear-driven.
• Nice-to-have skills – Experience leading a broader DevOps or IT function. Prior exposure to vertical SaaS companies or experience modernizing legacy, underserved industries.

Common Interview Questions

The following questions represent patterns commonly seen in interviews for this role at ABC. They are designed to give you a sense of the scope and depth of our evaluation, rather than serving as a definitive memorization list. Focus on the underlying principles each question tests.

Technical and Code Remediation

This category tests your hands-on ability to identify and fix vulnerabilities directly within the codebase.

• Can you walk us through a complex piece of code you recently refactored for security or performance reasons?
• How do you approach secrets management in a modern SaaS application?
• Review this sample application architecture. Where are the most likely attack vectors, and how would you mitigate them?
• Describe a time you had to write a custom script or application to automate a critical infrastructure control.
• What are the most common misconfigurations you look for when reviewing a colleague's pull request?

Cloud Architecture and Systems

These questions evaluate your understanding of designing resilient, secure infrastructure, particularly in AWS.

• How would you design a secure, highly available VPC architecture for a multi-tenant SaaS application?
• Explain your approach to implementing least-privilege access in an environment that is scaling rapidly.
• What tools and strategies do you use for continuous monitoring and alerting in cloud environments?
• How do you balance developer velocity with strict infrastructure controls?
• Tell me about a time you had to respond to a cloud infrastructure incident. What was your process?

Behavioral and Cross-Functional Leadership

We want to understand how you operate in ambiguous environments, influence others, and align with our core values.

• Tell me about a time you had to define a strategic roadmap with very little initial direction.
• How do you handle situations where engineering pushes back against a necessary implementation?
• Give an example of how you have coached or mentored another engineer to improve their practices.
• "Do the 1% more" is one of our core values. Can you share a time you exemplified this in your work?
• How do you ensure that your work is viewed as an enabler rather than a blocker within a fast-paced startup?

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How difficult is the interview process, and how much should I prepare? The process is rigorous and highly practical. Expect to spend a significant amount of your preparation time reviewing modern cloud architectures, practicing hands-on code remediation, and refining your behavioral examples. Candidates typically spend 1-2 weeks preparing to ensure they can speak deeply about past projects.

Q: What differentiates a successful candidate for this role? Successful candidates seamlessly blend deep technical execution with strategic thinking. They do not just point out flaws; they write the code to fix them and build the systems to prevent them in the future. A proactive, "fix it before it's reported" mindset is a massive differentiator.

Q: What is the working style and culture like at ABC? We are a mission-driven, fast-paced environment that values resourcefulness over resources. We celebrate individuality and expect everyone to act as an owner. Collaboration is key—we win as a team and learn as a team, holding each other to a consistently high bar.

Q: What is the expectation regarding in-office work? This role is based in New York City and operates on a hybrid model. You are expected to be in the office a minimum of 3 days per week to foster collaboration, mentorship, and hands-on teamwork.

Q: How long does the interview process typically take? From the initial recruiter screen to the final offer, the process generally takes about 3 to 5 weeks. We move quickly but want to ensure both you and the team have ample time to assess mutual fit and alignment.

Other General Tips

• Show, Don't Just Tell: Whenever possible, back up your claims with specific, technical examples. If you mention securing an AWS environment, detail the specific IAM policies or VPC configurations you implemented to achieve it.
• Embrace Ambiguity: Be prepared to answer open-ended questions where there isn't a single "right" answer. Interviewers want to see how you structure your thoughts and prioritize risks when the path isn't perfectly clear.

• Communicate Constructively: When discussing how you enforce standards, emphasize education and partnership over policing. Show that you understand how to balance robust engineering practices with the need for business velocity.
• Align with Our Values: Weave our core values—like "Serve our customers," "Be infinitely curious," and "Resourcefulness over resources"—naturally into your behavioral responses.
• Highlight Your Hands-On Capability: Reiterate throughout your interviews that you are a builder. Make it clear that you are comfortable diving into the codebase and getting your hands dirty.

Summary & Next Steps

Stepping into the Software Engineer role at ABC is an opportunity to make a massive impact in a critical, growing industry. You will be at the forefront of modernizing essential services, protecting customer data, and shaping the technical culture of a rapidly scaling company. The challenges are complex, but the reward of building something meaningful and lasting alongside a high-performing team is immense.

As you prepare, focus on demonstrating your hands-on coding abilities, your deep understanding of cloud infrastructure, and your capacity to lead through influence. Review your past projects, practice articulating your problem-solving frameworks, and come ready to discuss how you navigate ambiguity with grit and resourcefulness.

The compensation data above provides insight into the expected salary range for this role. Use this information to understand the total rewards package, keeping in mind that final offers consider your specific experience level and the deep technical expertise you bring to the team.

We believe in your potential and are excited to see the unique perspectives you will bring to the table. For more insights and resources to refine your preparation, continue exploring Dataford. Good luck—you have the skills and the drive to succeed!