To excel in the nCino interview process, you must understand the specific competencies that interviewers are trained to evaluate. The hiring team looks for a balance of technical execution, process leadership, and client-facing diplomacy.
System Upgrades & Legacy Replacements
This evaluation area focuses on your technical delivery foundation. nCino specializes in replacing legacy bank architectures, which means you must be comfortable managing complex migrations and upgrades.
Interviewers will assess how you handle the transition from old systems to new features. They want to see that you do not just follow a checklist, but actively manage risk, document requirements meticulously, and understand the technical implications of system integrations.
Be ready to go over:
- Documentation Standards – How you design, organize, and maintain project documentation to ensure all technical and business requirements are aligned.
- Legacy Migration Strategies – Your approach to phased rollouts, data mapping, and minimizing operational disruption for the client.
- Feature Adoption – How you ensure client users actually adopt new system features rather than trying to replicate their old, inefficient processes.
- Advanced concepts (less common) – Multi-org Salesforce deployment strategies, managing complex third-party API integrations, and handling regulatory compliance documentation during migrations.
Example questions or scenarios:
- "Walk me through how you structured the documentation for a major system upgrade where legacy features were being deprecated."
- "How do you handle a situation where a client's legacy data is too corrupted or poorly structured to easily migrate to the new platform?"
Agile Process Evolution
At nCino, Agile is not a rigid set of rules but a framework that must adapt to the needs of the team and the client. You will be evaluated on your process leadership and your ability to manage teams through change.
This area tests your practical application of Scrum or Kanban methodologies, particularly when working with development teams that are undergoing their own process transformations. Strong candidates show flexibility and a focus on continuous improvement.
Be ready to go over:
- Agile Ceremonies – How you run effective daily standups, sprint planning, and retrospectives to drive team velocity.
- Managing Process Friction – How you resolve conflicts when developers or clients struggle to adapt to Agile practices.
- Resource Allocation – Your methodology for balancing development capacity with client-facing delivery milestones.
Example questions or scenarios:
- "Describe a time when your development team was in the middle of changing their Agile processes mid-project. How did you ensure delivery timelines weren't impacted?"
- "How do you handle a client who demands a fixed-price, fixed-scope contract while your delivery team operates in a pure Agile framework?"
Client-Facing Role-Play & Communication
The panel interview includes a real-time role-play scenario designed to test how you react under pressure. This is often considered the most challenging part of the interview process.
You will be presented with a project crisis—such as an unhappy stakeholder, a sudden delay, or a scope dispute—and asked to resolve it live with the interviewers acting as the client. They are looking for empathy, active listening, structured problem-solving, and the ability to maintain executive presence.
