monday DevOps Engineer interview questions & guide 2026

The following questions reflect patterns observed in recent monday interviews. While specific technical stacks may vary by team, the focus remains on your ability to design systems, write clean code, and articulate your technical decision-making process.

Technical and System Design

These questions test your ability to architect robust, scalable systems and your understanding of core infrastructure principles.

• How would you design a highly available service that handles millions of requests per day?
• Describe a challenging production issue you resolved and the steps you took to prevent it from reoccurring.

Preparation for monday requires a shift from rote memorization to demonstrating how you think. Interviewers are looking for a balance between deep technical knowledge and a practical, "get-things-done" attitude.

Role-related knowledge – You should have a firm grasp of cloud infrastructure, networking, and CI/CD best practices. Demonstrate this by explaining the "why" behind your tool choices rather than just listing the technologies you have used.

Problem-solving ability – When faced with a design or coding challenge, communicate your thought process clearly. Interviewers at monday value structured thinking, so clarify your assumptions and explore the trade-offs of your proposed solutions before diving into implementation.

Culture fit and values – monday values authenticity and professionalism. Be prepared to discuss your past projects in detail, focusing on your specific contributions, the challenges you faced, and how you collaborated with your team to reach a solution.

The monday interview process for a DevOps Engineer is designed to be thorough yet respectful of your time. You can expect a multi-stage journey that begins with an initial screening and progresses toward deeper technical and behavioral evaluations. The process typically balances theoretical knowledge with hands-on application, including live coding and system design tasks.

This timeline outlines the progression from initial contact to final assessment. Use this to pace your preparation, ensuring you dedicate enough time to both high-level system architecture and the hands-on coding requirements that appear later in the cycle. Note that the process may be tailored based on the specific team's current technical needs.

System Design

This is a critical component where you demonstrate your ability to scale systems. You will be evaluated on your ability to handle trade-offs between cost, performance, and reliability.

Be ready to go over:

• Load balancing strategies and their impact on latency.
• Database scaling and caching layers.

As a DevOps Engineer, your primary objective is to build and maintain the infrastructure that empowers monday developers. You will be responsible for creating and optimizing CI/CD pipelines to ensure rapid, safe, and automated deployments. This involves constant monitoring of system health and proactively identifying bottlenecks before they impact the user experience.

You will collaborate closely with engineering teams to refine their deployment workflows and ensure that infrastructure remains scalable as the company grows. Whether you are managing containerized environments, improving observability, or refining cloud security, your focus is always on creating a frictionless environment for development.

A competitive candidate for this role possesses a strong foundation in cloud-native technologies and a proactive mindset toward automation.

• Must-have skills: Proficient in at least one major cloud provider (AWS, GCP, or Azure), experience with container orchestration (Kubernetes), and strong scripting skills (Python, Go, or Bash).
• Nice-to-have skills: Experience with infrastructure-as-code tools like Terraform, advanced knowledge of observability stacks (Prometheus, Grafana, ELK), and experience with security-first engineering practices.
• Experience level: A proven track record of managing production-grade infrastructure, typically 3+ years of relevant experience.

Q: How difficult are the technical interviews? A: The difficulty is generally considered average to challenging. The focus is on practical problem-solving rather than obscure trivia, so prioritize deep understanding of core concepts over memorizing complex algorithms.

Q: Will I be asked about specific tools? A: Surprisingly, many candidates report that interviewers focus more on architectural principles and your approach to problems rather than deep-diving into specific niche tools. Focus on the "why" behind your choices.

Q: What is the tone of the interview? A: Candidates consistently describe the atmosphere as professional, soothing, and respectful. Interviewers are genuinely interested in getting to know you as a professional, so be yourself.

• Structure your answers: Use the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) when discussing your past projects to ensure your answers are concise and impactful.
• Ask questions: At the end of your interviews, ask insightful questions about the team’s current infrastructure challenges. It shows you are already thinking like a member of the team.
• Be honest about gaps: If you don't know an answer, communicate your thought process on how you would find the solution. Problem-solving skills are often more important than immediate knowledge.
• Practice live coding: Since part of the interview is live, practice writing code while explaining your thought process out loud to a peer or mentor.

The DevOps Engineer role at monday is a high-impact position that sits at the intersection of infrastructure, developer experience, and product stability. By focusing on your core architectural knowledge, refining your ability to communicate complex technical decisions, and maintaining a professional, collaborative mindset, you will be well-positioned to succeed.

Prepare by reviewing your past projects through the lens of scalability and reliability, and ensure you are comfortable articulating your design choices. You have the potential to contribute significantly to the monday ecosystem, and with focused, strategic preparation, you are ready to tackle the interview process with confidence.

The salary module provides insights into compensation expectations for this role. Use this data to benchmark your expectations and ensure you are prepared for salary negotiations during the later stages of the process.