Preparing for an interview at AXA requires a balance of functional product management expertise and a deep appreciation for the insurance industry's unique challenges. You should approach your preparation by focusing on the core competencies that AXA values most in its product leaders.

Role-Related Knowledge – You must demonstrate a strong grasp of modern agile product management methodologies, data analysis, and digital user experience. While prior insurance experience is not always mandatory, you must show a keen interest in how technology is disrupting the traditional insurtech space.

Problem-Solving & Structured Thinking – Interviewers will present you with complex, ambiguous scenarios. They want to see that you can break down a problem logically, identify core customer pain points, prioritize solutions based on business value, and define clear success metrics.

Stakeholder Management & Influence – Because AXA is a large, matrixed organization, you will constantly need to align cross-functional teams with competing priorities. Be prepared to show how you influence without authority, build consensus among diverse stakeholders, and communicate technical concepts to non-technical partners.

Resilience & Adaptability – Operating in a global financial services company means navigating regulatory changes, complex legacy systems, and high-pressure environments. You must demonstrate the emotional intelligence and resilience required to drive innovation despite organizational inertia.

The interview process for a Product Manager at AXA is thorough and designed to evaluate both your practical capabilities and your cultural fit. While the exact stages may vary slightly depending on the country and seniority of the role, the global pipeline follows a structured and professional progression.

In European hubs like Paris and Brussels, the process is highly structured, often consisting of up to five rounds. It typically begins with an initial 30-minute HR screening to discuss your background and expectations. This is followed by multiple one-hour interviews with the hiring manager, peer team members for cultural fit, and eventually a director. In other regions, such as Tokyo or the UK, the process may move more rapidly but remains focused on behavioral alignment and structured problem-solving.

A distinctive feature of the AXA process is the operational situational exercise, often referred to as a "mise en situation" in French offices. This round tests how you react to real-world operational challenges, requiring you to think on your feet and demonstrate your day-to-day working style. Throughout the process, the hiring team places a strong emphasis on candidate suitability, often providing structured preparation packs and constructive feedback.

The timeline above illustrates the standard progression from your initial application to the final offer. Candidates should use this timeline to pace their preparation, ensuring they focus on high-level behavioral alignment in the early stages before diving deep into technical case studies and operational exercises in the middle rounds. Keep in mind that regional office requirements may introduce minor variations in the number of peer and director interviews.

To excel in your interviews, you must understand the specific areas where AXA interviewers focus their evaluation. Here is a detailed breakdown of the core pillars you will be tested on.

Product Strategy & Insurance Innovation

This area evaluates your strategic vision and your ability to design products that align with AXA's broader business goals. Interviewers want to see if you can think beyond immediate feature requests to build long-term value in a highly competitive market.

Be ready to go over:

• Digital-first insurance journeys – Designing seamless end-to-end customer experiences, from initial quote generation to final claims settlement.
• Legacy system modernization – How to build modern API-driven product layers on top of complex, legacy core insurance systems.
• Data-driven personalization – Utilizing customer data and telematics to design personalized insurance products and pricing structures.
• Advanced concepts (less common) – Understanding the basics of risk underwriting, reinsurance models, and how regulatory frameworks like GDPR or Solvency II impact digital product features.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "How would you design a digital-first car insurance product that leverages telematics data from connected vehicles?"
• "What strategies would you use to migrate users from legacy, paper-based claims processes to a new mobile application?"

Situational Problem Solving & "Mise en Situation"

This round tests your operational capability and how you handle real-world product management crises. Interviewers look for structured thinking, prioritization frameworks, and the ability to make decisions under pressure.

Be ready to go over:

• Operational crisis management – Handling system outages, security breaches, or sudden drops in key product performance metrics.
• Feature prioritization frameworks – Applying structured models (like RICE or MoSCoW) to balance user needs, technical effort, and business impact.
• Resource constraints – Managing product delivery when engineering capacity is suddenly reduced or key dependencies fail.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "A critical security vulnerability is discovered in our payment gateway during a peak renewal season. How do you prioritize resources to address this?"
• "Walk me through how you would run a diagnostic if our digital onboarding conversion rate dropped by 20% overnight."

Behavioral Resilience & Stakeholder Alignment

This pillar focuses on your leadership style, communication, and emotional intelligence. At AXA, you must be comfortable working within a highly matrixed organization and managing high-pressure situations.

Be ready to go over:

• Influence without authority – Collaborating with and aligning actuaries, legal teams, and compliance officers who may have risk-averse perspectives.
• Managing under pressure – Demonstrating your coping mechanisms and leadership style when facing tight deadlines or demanding workloads.
• Managing conflict – Resolving alignment issues between global product standards and local market requirements.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "Describe a time when legal and compliance rejected a core feature of your product. How did you negotiate a solution that satisfied both regulatory requirements and user experience?"
• "Tell me about a time you had to manage a highly demanding stakeholder who continuously pushed for unrealistic delivery dates."

As a Product Manager at AXA, your day-to-day responsibilities will vary depending on your specific product domain, but the core expectations remain consistent across the global digital organization.

Your primary responsibility is to own the product lifecycle from conception through to launch and continuous optimization. This involves defining the product vision, translating it into a concrete roadmap, and writing clear, actionable user stories for your engineering team. You will spend a significant portion of your time aligning cross-functional partners, ensuring that legal, compliance, and security considerations are integrated into the product development process from day one.

In addition to day-to-day execution, you will act as the voice of the customer within the organization. You will conduct user research, analyze product analytics, and monitor market trends to identify new opportunities for innovation. Collaborating closely with UX/UI designers, you will champion intuitive user journeys that simplify complex financial decisions for AXA's customers.

To be competitive for a Product Manager position at AXA, candidates must demonstrate a strong mix of technical expertise, business acumen, and interpersonal skills.

• Must-have skills:

  • Proven experience as a Product Manager, preferably within fintech, insurtech, banking, or a similarly complex, regulated digital ecosystem.
  • Strong proficiency in agile methodologies, including Scrum and Kanban, with experience leading cross-functional squad structures.
  • Excellent data analysis skills, with the ability to query, analyze, and interpret product metrics to drive decision-making.
  • Outstanding communication and stakeholder management skills, with a track record of influencing senior leadership.

• Nice-to-have skills:

  • A background in computer science, engineering, or a quantitative field.
  • Familiarity with modern cloud architecture, APIs, and microservices.
  • Experience working within a global matrixed organization across multiple time zones and cultures.
  • Knowledge of insurance core systems, underwriting processes, or actuarial principles.

Q: How difficult is the Product Manager interview at AXA? A: Candidates generally rate the difficulty as average to difficult. While basic rounds are straightforward, the situational case study ("mise en situation") and senior director rounds require deep preparation, structured thinking, and a solid understanding of how to manage complex stakeholder environments.

Q: What is the most critical preparation tip for this role? A: Master the STAR pattern (Situation, Task, Action, Result) for behavioral questions, and practice explaining how you navigate corporate constraints, such as regulatory compliance or resource limitations. Showing that you can build compliant yet highly user-friendly products is key.

Q: How does AXA view work-life balance for Product Managers? A: Globally, AXA is known for offering a supportive work environment with strong hybrid work options. However, certain high-growth regional hubs or teams facing tight product deadlines may experience periods of high pressure. Be prepared to discuss how you manage your workload and maintain healthy boundaries during busy periods.

Q: Is prior insurance industry experience required? A: No, it is not strictly required. However, you must be able to demonstrate a strong interest in the industry and show that you can quickly grasp complex financial, risk-based, and regulatory concepts.

• Understand the Value Chain: Spend time researching how modern digital insurance operates. Familiarize yourself with how premium calculations, claims processing, and digital distribution channels interact to create a cohesive business model.
• Address Pressure Professionally: During behavioral rounds, you may be asked how you handle overtime or high-pressure situations. Frame your answers around prioritization, clear communication, and operational efficiency rather than just working longer hours.

• Showcase Matrix Navigation: Emphasize your ability to work across silos. Highlight past experiences where you successfully aligned engineering, design, marketing, and legal departments behind a single product vision.

• Leverage the Prep Materials: If your recruiter provides an interview preparation pack, study it thoroughly. AXA takes pride in its structured recruitment process, and the materials provided are often highly reflective of the actual evaluation criteria.

Securing a Product Manager role at AXA offers an exciting opportunity to drive impactful digital transformation within a world-renowned brand. The position demands a unique blend of strategic foresight, operational excellence, and the ability to build consensus across a complex global organization. By focusing your preparation on structured problem-solving, behavioral resilience, and the specific dynamics of the insurtech sector, you can position yourself as an outstanding candidate.

As you prepare, remember that interviewers are looking for structured, authentic leaders who can deliver value under pressure while championing the needs of the customer. Take the time to refine your STAR stories, practice situational case studies, and familiarize yourself with AXA's digital ecosystem. For deeper insights, real candidate reviews, and additional preparation resources, you can explore further on Dataford.

The compensation data above reflects the competitive market positioning of AXA's product management roles. When evaluating your offers, consider that total compensation at AXA typically includes a solid base salary complemented by performance-based bonuses, comprehensive health benefits, and robust pension plans, making it a highly stable and rewarding long-term career destination.