What is a Software Engineer at AVIA?

As a Software Engineer at AVIA, you are at the forefront of building the digital infrastructure that powers our core platforms. This role is not just about writing code; it is about solving complex, real-world problems that directly impact our users and our business trajectory. You will be tasked with designing robust, scalable solutions that seamlessly handle high volumes of data while maintaining rigorous security and performance standards.

The impact of a Software Engineer here is highly visible. You will work closely with cross-functional teams, including product managers and design, to translate abstract requirements into tangible, high-performing applications. Whether you are optimizing backend services, refining user-facing features, or architecting new microservices, your technical decisions will shape the foundation of AVIA's product ecosystem.

Expect an environment that balances technical rigor with a strong emphasis on continuous learning and collaboration. The engineering culture at AVIA values pragmatism, clean code, and ownership. You will be given the autonomy to drive initiatives from conception to deployment, making this a highly rewarding role for engineers who thrive on delivering measurable value and taking pride in their craft.

Getting Ready for Your Interviews

Thorough preparation is the key to navigating the AVIA interview loop with confidence. Your interviewers will look for a blend of technical depth, strategic thinking, and cultural alignment.

Technical Proficiency – Interviewers will assess your ability to write clean, efficient, and maintainable code. You can demonstrate strength here by confidently navigating data structures, algorithms, and system design principles, particularly during live whiteboard sessions.

Problem-Solving and Ambiguity – This role requires you to break down complex, open-ended problems. We evaluate how you approach a challenge, structure your thoughts, and adapt when requirements shift or edge cases are introduced.

Cross-Functional Collaboration – Engineering at AVIA is a team sport. Interviewers, particularly product managers and HR, will gauge how effectively you communicate technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders and how you navigate differing opinions to achieve a unified goal.

Culture and Values Fit – We look for candidates who demonstrate ownership, a bias for action, and a collaborative spirit. You can highlight this by sharing specific examples of past projects where you took the initiative, mentored peers, or positively impacted your team's dynamic.

Interview Process Overview

The interview loop for a Software Engineer at AVIA is designed to be thorough yet respectful of your time, typically consisting of three distinct rounds. The process evaluates not just your coding abilities, but how you fit into the broader team dynamic. The pacing is generally straightforward, and candidates often report a positive, transparent experience with the recruiting team.

Your journey begins with a technical screening round focused on core computer science fundamentals and practical coding. If successful, you will move to a highly collaborative second round with HR and a project manager. This middle stage is heavily indexed on cultural fit, behavioral questions, and your ability to work cross-functionally. It is an opportunity for AVIA to see how you communicate and for you to understand the team's working style.

The final stage is distinct and highly impactful: a single, in-depth whiteboard session with the CTO. This round shifts away from rapid-fire coding questions and instead focuses on a longer, more complex problem. The goal here is to evaluate your high-level architectural thinking, your ability to communicate complex logic under pressure, and how you respond to direct technical feedback from executive leadership.

This visual timeline outlines the typical progression from the initial technical screen through the final executive whiteboard session. Use this to structure your preparation, dedicating early study time to core algorithms and later focus to system design and behavioral storytelling. Note that while this is the standard flow, slight variations may occur depending on team availability and specific project needs.

Deep Dive into Evaluation Areas

Core Programming and Algorithms

Your foundational coding skills are rigorously tested in the initial technical round. Interviewers want to see that you can write executable, bug-free code while considering time and space complexity. Strong performance means you not only solve the problem but also proactively discuss trade-offs and edge cases.

Be ready to go over:

• Data Structures – Arrays, hash maps, linked lists, and trees, and knowing when to use each.
• Algorithms – Sorting, searching, and fundamental dynamic programming concepts.
• Code Optimization – Identifying bottlenecks in your initial brute-force solutions and refining them.
• Language-Specific Nuances – Deep knowledge of your chosen programming language, including memory management and concurrency.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "Given a dataset of user interactions, write a function to return the top 'K' most frequent actions."
• "Implement a caching mechanism with an eviction policy (e.g., LRU Cache)."
• "How would you optimize a search function that is currently timing out on large inputs?"

Cross-Functional and Cultural Fit

The second round with HR and the project manager is critical. AVIA values engineers who can step back from the codebase and understand the business context. You are evaluated on your communication skills, empathy, and how you handle project constraints. A strong candidate will provide structured, narrative-driven answers using the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result).

Be ready to go over:

• Conflict Resolution – Navigating disagreements with technical peers or product managers.
• Project Delivery – Managing tight deadlines, shifting requirements, and technical debt.
• Mentorship and Team Dynamics – How you elevate the people around you and contribute to engineering culture.
• Stakeholder Communication – Translating technical blockers into business impact for non-technical audiences.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "Tell me about a time you disagreed with a product manager on a feature requirement. How did you resolve it?"
• "Describe a situation where you had to compromise on code quality to meet a strict deadline."
• "How do you ensure your technical ideas are understood by cross-functional team members?"

The Executive Whiteboard Session

The final round with the CTO is the most challenging and distinctive part of the AVIA interview process. This is a single, extended whiteboard problem designed to test your system design, architectural foresight, and ability to collaborate with senior leadership. Strong performance requires thinking out loud, asking clarifying questions, and defending your design choices logically.

Be ready to go over:

• System Architecture – Designing scalable, fault-tolerant backend systems.
• Data Modeling – Structuring databases to support specific query patterns and business logic.
• Scalability Challenges – Handling increased load, database sharding, and load balancing.
• Security and Compliance – Ensuring data integrity and secure communication between microservices.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "Design a scalable architecture for a real-time notification system."
• "Walk me through how you would architect a platform to handle sudden spikes in user traffic during a major event."
• "Draw out the data model and API endpoints for a new feature that tracks user progress across multiple devices."

Key Responsibilities

As a Software Engineer at AVIA, your day-to-day work will revolve around building, testing, and deploying high-quality software solutions. You will be responsible for owning the end-to-end lifecycle of features, from initial technical scoping to post-deployment monitoring. This requires a proactive approach to identifying potential system vulnerabilities and proposing architectural improvements before they become critical issues.

Collaboration is a massive part of your daily routine. You will participate in agile ceremonies, including daily stand-ups, sprint planning, and retrospective meetings. During these sessions, you will work closely with product managers to refine user stories and with QA engineers to ensure comprehensive test coverage. You will also be expected to conduct rigorous peer code reviews, providing constructive feedback to maintain the integrity of the AVIA codebase.

Beyond feature development, you will drive initiatives related to system performance and technical debt reduction. This might involve refactoring legacy code, optimizing database queries, or integrating new third-party APIs. You will act as a technical subject matter expert for your domain, occasionally mentoring junior engineers and helping to shape the long-term technical roadmap for your team.

Role Requirements & Qualifications

To be competitive for the Software Engineer role at AVIA, you must bring a solid mix of technical expertise and collaborative soft skills. The hiring team looks for candidates who have a proven track record of delivering scalable software while operating effectively within a cross-functional environment.

• Must-have skills – Proficiency in at least one modern programming language (e.g., Python, Java, JavaScript/TypeScript, or Go). Solid understanding of relational and non-relational databases. Experience building and consuming RESTful APIs. Familiarity with version control (Git) and agile development methodologies.
• Nice-to-have skills – Experience with cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, or Azure) and containerization tools like Docker or Kubernetes. Knowledge of CI/CD pipelines and automated testing frameworks. Previous exposure to the healthcare technology sector or highly regulated data environments.
• Experience level – Typically requires 3+ years of professional software engineering experience, though the exact requirement can vary based on the specific seniority of the open position. A background in building scalable web applications or distributed systems is highly preferred.
• Soft skills – Exceptional verbal and written communication. The ability to articulate complex technical trade-offs to non-technical stakeholders. A strong sense of ownership, adaptability, and a collaborative mindset when navigating project ambiguity.

Common Interview Questions

The following questions are representative of what candidates experience during the Software Engineer interview process at AVIA. While you may not encounter these exact questions, they illustrate the patterns and themes you must be prepared to address. Do not memorize answers; instead, focus on the underlying concepts being tested.

Technical and Coding Fundamentals

This category tests your core programming logic, familiarity with data structures, and ability to write clean code under time constraints.

• Given an array of integers, return the indices of the two numbers that add up to a specific target.
• Write a function to reverse a linked list in place.
• How would you find the longest substring without repeating characters?
• Explain the difference between a process and a thread.
• How do you handle deadlocks in a multithreaded application?

Behavioral and Cultural Fit

Evaluated heavily in the second round, these questions assess your collaboration skills, empathy, and alignment with AVIA's core values.

• Tell me about a time you had to pivot your technical approach halfway through a project.
• Describe a situation where you had to work with a difficult team member. How did you handle it?
• Give an example of a time you took the initiative to improve a process or tool outside of your normal responsibilities.
• How do you prioritize your tasks when you have multiple urgent deadlines?
• Tell me about a piece of critical feedback you received and how you acted on it.

System Design and Whiteboarding

Typically reserved for the final round with the CTO, these questions test your ability to architect scalable solutions and communicate high-level technical strategies.

• Design a URL shortening service like Bitly. What are the database considerations?
• How would you design a distributed cache system?
• Walk me through the architecture of a highly available chat application.
• If our main database goes down, how would you design a failover mechanism to ensure zero data loss?
• Draw a system architecture for a service that ingests and processes millions of analytical events per minute.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How difficult is the technical screening round? The technical screen is generally considered of average difficulty compared to major tech companies. It focuses heavily on practical problem-solving rather than obscure algorithmic puzzles. Expect standard data structure and algorithm questions that test your foundational knowledge and coding hygiene.

Q: What is the best way to prepare for the whiteboard session with the CTO? Practice thinking out loud. The CTO is evaluating your thought process, not just the final architecture. Practice drawing out system designs on a whiteboard or digital canvas, explicitly stating your assumptions, and discussing the trade-offs of different database choices and scaling strategies.

Q: How important is the behavioral round compared to the technical rounds? It is highly critical. AVIA places a strong emphasis on cultural fit and cross-functional collaboration. Even if your technical skills are flawless, failing to demonstrate empathy, clear communication, and teamwork during the PM/HR round can result in a rejection.

Q: What is the typical timeline from the first interview to a final decision? The process moves relatively efficiently. Candidates typically complete all three rounds within a 2 to 3-week window, depending on scheduling availability. Feedback is usually provided promptly after the final CTO round.

Q: Does AVIA expect me to know their specific tech stack before joining? While familiarity with their specific stack is a plus, AVIA generally hires for core engineering fundamentals and problem-solving adaptability. If you are strong in your primary language and understand broad architectural principles, you will be well-positioned to succeed.

Other General Tips

• Think Out Loud: Throughout all technical rounds, verbalize your thought process. Interviewers at AVIA want to see how you approach problems. A sub-optimal solution with clear, logical reasoning is often rated higher than a perfect solution written in total silence.
• Clarify Before Coding: Never start writing code or drawing an architecture diagram without fully understanding the requirements. Ask questions about edge cases, input sizes, and expected outputs to show that you are thorough and detail-oriented.
• Master the STAR Method: For the behavioral round with the project manager and HR, structure your answers using Situation, Task, Action, and Result. Keep the "Action" focused on what you specifically did, and ensure the "Result" highlights quantifiable impact whenever possible.
• Embrace Feedback: During the CTO whiteboard session, you will likely be challenged on your design choices. Do not become defensive. Treat it as a collaborative working session. Acknowledge valid points, adapt your design, and explain your reasoning calmly.
• Research the Product Space: While you don't need to be an industry expert, having a baseline understanding of AVIA's market and the types of technical challenges a company in this space faces will help you tailor your system design answers and ask insightful questions at the end of your interviews.

Summary & Next Steps

Securing a Software Engineer role at AVIA is an exciting opportunity to build impactful, scalable technology in a collaborative environment. The interview process is designed to be a comprehensive evaluation of your technical depth, architectural foresight, and ability to thrive within a cross-functional team. By understanding the distinct focus of each round—from the initial coding screen to the behavioral deep-dive and the final executive whiteboard session—you can tailor your preparation to meet the specific expectations of your interviewers.

Focus your energy on mastering core data structures, practicing structured behavioral storytelling, and getting comfortable designing systems on a whiteboard while communicating clearly. Remember that AVIA is looking for engineers who are not only technically proficient but who also bring a sense of ownership, adaptability, and strong communication skills to the team.

This compensation data provides a baseline expectation for the Software Engineer role. Keep in mind that actual offers will vary based on your specific years of experience, performance during the interview loop, and geographic location. Use this information to anchor your expectations and inform your negotiations if you reach the offer stage.

Approach your preparation with focus and confidence. You have the skills to succeed, and deliberate practice will help you showcase your full potential. For further insights, peer experiences, and targeted practice resources, continue exploring the tools available on Dataford. Good luck with your interview journey at AVIA!