At Harvest Midstream, a Software Engineer plays a crucial role in building, maintaining, and optimizing the digital infrastructure that keeps midstream energy assets flowing safely and efficiently. Unlike traditional tech companies where software exists solely in the cloud, engineering at Harvest Midstream directly impacts physical infrastructure, including pipelines, gathering systems, storage terminals, and processing plants. You will design and implement the software systems, SCADA integrations, data pipelines, and automation tools that enable real-time monitoring and operational safety across our footprint.

This position bridges the gap between software development and industrial operations, requiring close collaboration with Process Safety Engineers, Operations Engineers, and Project Engineers. Your work ensures that control room operators have highly reliable data, that safety systems trigger instantly when anomalies occur, and that business teams can leverage accurate operational metrics. It is a high-impact, mission-critical role where system reliability and safety-first design are paramount to our daily operations.

For a software professional, this environment offers a unique and rewarding challenge. You will work on complex systems integration, edge-computing solutions in remote locations, and data processing at scale. Your code will directly contribute to the safe transportation of energy, making your technical contributions highly visible and vital to the company's success.

To help you prepare, we have categorized representative questions based on real interview experiences at Harvest Midstream. While your specific interview panel will tailor their questions to your background and target team, you can expect a strong focus on situational judgment, behavioral alignment, and domain-specific engineering principles.

Behavioral & Situational Questions

These questions assess how you handle workplace challenges, collaborate with cross-functional teams, and align with the company's core values.

• Tell me about a time you had to solve a difficult technical problem under a tight deadline.
• Describe a situation where you had a disagreement with a team member. How did you resolve it?

Preparing for an interview at Harvest Midstream requires a balance of technical readiness and an understanding of our operational culture. You should approach your preparation with a focus on practical problem-solving and clear communication.

Role-Related Knowledge – You must demonstrate a solid grasp of software engineering fundamentals, database systems, and integration protocols. Be prepared to discuss how you write clean, maintainable code and design scalable architectures that can interface with industrial automation systems.

Problem-Solving & Systems Thinking – Interviewers want to see how you analyze complex, ambiguous technical challenges. Focus on explaining your thought process clearly, detailing how you break down problems, identify constraints, and choose the most robust solution.

Safety & Operational Awareness – Because our software directly impacts physical assets, a safety-first mindset is critical. Show that you understand the real-world implications of software failures and that you prioritize rigorous testing, redundancy, and risk mitigation in your engineering practices.

Collaboration & Culture Fit – We value team players who can work effectively with diverse groups, from software developers to field technicians. Be ready to share examples of how you have built strong working relationships, navigated disagreements, and contributed to a positive, collaborative team environment.

The interview process at Harvest Midstream is designed to evaluate both your technical capabilities and your alignment with our collaborative, safety-focused culture. Candidates typically experience a structured and straightforward progression that allows both the hiring team and the candidate to assess mutual fit.

Initially, you will undergo a preliminary screening, which may occur after meeting representatives at a career fair or submitting an online application. This is followed by formal interviews, often conducted by two separate interviewers. These conversations focus heavily on situational and behavioral questions, as well as discussions around your technical background and problem-solving methodology. The process is characterized by its professional yet approachable tone, prioritizing clear communication and practical experience over abstract brainteasers.

The visual timeline above outlines the typical stages of the Harvest Midstream hiring process, starting from the initial contact through to the final decision. Candidates should use this timeline to pace their preparation, ensuring they are equally ready for both the behavioral deep dives and the technical discussions.

To succeed in the Software Engineer interview process at Harvest Midstream, you must perform well across several key evaluation areas. Each area tests a specific set of skills necessary for managing our digital and operational technology systems.

SCADA, Automation, and Systems Integration

This area evaluates your ability to design and maintain software that interfaces with physical operations. Interviewers want to see how you handle real-time data flows and ensure seamless communication between software layers and physical devices.

Be ready to go over:

• Industrial Protocols – Your familiarity with protocols like Modbus, OPC UA, or MQTT Sparkplug for industrial data communication.
• Time-Series Databases – How to store and query high-volume, timestamped data from field devices efficiently.
• API Development – Designing robust APIs to expose operational data to business intelligence and analytics platforms.
• Advanced concepts (less common) – Edge-computing architectures for remote sites with limited network bandwidth, and implementing redundancy protocols for continuous data ingestion during network outages.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "How would you optimize a database query that retrieves historical pressure data from a pipeline over a five-year period?"
• "Describe how you would handle network latency issues when transmitting critical alarm data from a remote compressor station."

Operational Software Reliability & Safety

Because our software supports physical infrastructure, system reliability is directly tied to operational safety. This evaluation area focuses on your ability to build fault-tolerant systems that prevent downtime and handle errors gracefully.

Be ready to go over:

• Testing Methodologies – Implementing rigorous unit, integration, and system-level testing to prevent bugs in production.
• Monitoring & Alerting – Setting up proactive monitoring tools to detect software anomalies before they impact operations.
• Disaster Recovery – Designing failover mechanisms and data backup strategies for critical monitoring applications.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "Tell me about a time you designed a system with a single point of failure. How did you modify it to ensure high availability?"
• "What steps do you take to ensure that a software update does not disrupt live operations in a control room environment?"

Behavioral & Situational Judgment

This section assesses your interpersonal skills, adaptability, and decision-making process under pressure. We look for candidates who can communicate effectively across technical and non-technical boundaries.

Be ready to go over:

• Conflict Resolution – How you handle differing technical opinions within a project team.
• Adaptability – Your ability to pivot when project requirements or operational priorities shift suddenly.
• Stakeholder Communication – Translating complex technical issues into clear, actionable information for operations staff.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "Describe a time when you had to support a user who was frustrated with a software tool you developed. How did you handle it?"
• "Tell me about a project where you had to collaborate with a team located in a different office or field site."