1. What is a Project Manager at Principal Financial Group?

As a Project Manager at Principal Financial Group, you are the engine that drives critical business and technology initiatives forward. Operating at the intersection of financial services, asset management, and digital transformation, this role requires you to navigate a highly regulated environment while delivering innovative solutions to millions of global customers. You are not just tracking milestones; you are enabling cross-functional teams to execute complex strategies effectively.

The impact of this position is deeply felt across the organization. Whether you are leading the rollout of a new retirement planning platform, upgrading core financial infrastructure, or driving agile transformations within internal engineering teams, your work directly influences the company's operational efficiency and customer experience. You will act as the bridge between technical execution and business strategy, ensuring that products are delivered on time, within scope, and to the highest quality standards.

What makes this role particularly interesting at Principal Financial Group is the blend of traditional financial stability with modern agile practices. You will be expected to handle ambiguity, align diverse stakeholders, and occasionally dive deep into technical discussions. It is a role designed for leaders who are as comfortable discussing architecture with engineering leads as they are presenting risk mitigations to HR and business executives.

2. Common Interview Questions

While you cannot predict every question, reviewing common themes will help you build versatile, structured answers. The questions below reflect the patterns and focus areas typical for this role.

Agile & Project Delivery

These questions test your tactical ability to run a project and manage the mechanics of software delivery.

• How do you determine the appropriate methodology (Agile vs. Waterfall) for a new initiative?
• Walk me through your process for creating a project schedule from scratch.
• How do you handle scope creep when the business insists the new features are critical?
• Describe a time when a project failed or missed a major deadline. What did you learn?
• How do you measure the success and health of your projects?

Stakeholder & Risk Management

These questions evaluate your communication style and how you handle human complexities and business risks.

• Tell me about a time you had to influence a stakeholder who did not report to you.
• How do you communicate project risks to executive leadership without causing unnecessary panic?
• Describe a situation where you inherited a project that was already in distress. How did you turn it around?
• How do you balance the demands of the business with the capacity and well-being of your engineering team?

Technical Collaboration

Because Principal Financial Group values PMs who understand the tech, expect questions about your interactions with engineering teams.

• How do you build trust with a highly technical engineering team?
• Tell me about a time you had to translate a complex technical issue into a business impact statement.
• Have you ever disagreed with a technical lead on an architectural or delivery approach? How was it resolved?

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3. Getting Ready for Your Interviews

Preparing for a Project Manager interview at Principal Financial Group requires a strategic approach. Interviewers are looking for a blend of structured delivery methodologies, technical intuition, and strong interpersonal skills. You should think of your preparation as a demonstration of how you organize chaos into clarity.

Focus your preparation on these key evaluation criteria:

• Technical and Domain Acumen – While you are not expected to write code, interview panels at Principal Financial Group often look for candidates who understand the technical landscape deeply. You must demonstrate that you can comfortably converse with technical leads, understand system constraints, and grasp the complexities of financial technology.
• Project Delivery & Execution – This evaluates your mastery of project management frameworks (Agile, Scrum, Waterfall). Interviewers want to see how you structure project plans, manage budgets, track dependencies, and pivot when timelines are threatened.
• Problem-Solving & Risk Management – You will be tested on your ability to anticipate roadblocks before they happen. Strong candidates showcase a proactive approach to identifying risks, communicating them transparently, and executing mitigation strategies without waiting for executive direction.
• Stakeholder Alignment & Culture Fit – Collaboration is deeply embedded in the company’s culture. You will be evaluated on your ability to influence without authority, manage conflicting priorities among peers, and maintain professionalism and composure during challenging conversations.

4. Interview Process Overview

The interview process for a Project Manager at Principal Financial Group is designed to be thorough, structured, and highly communicative. While historical timelines have varied, the modern process moves efficiently once you are engaged. You will face a blend of behavioral assessments, peer evaluations, and leadership discussions aimed at validating both your hard skills and your cultural alignment.

Expect the process to begin with a recruiter phone screen, which serves as a rapid alignment check on your background, salary expectations, and logistical requirements such as commute and hybrid work policies. From there, candidates often complete an online assessment to gauge foundational competencies. The core of the evaluation takes place during panel or peer interviews, where you will speak directly with the team members you will collaborate with daily. Finally, a leadership or HR executive interview will assess your long-term potential and strategic mindset.

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This visual timeline outlines the typical sequence of interview stages, from the initial recruiter screen to the final leadership round. Use this to pace your preparation, focusing first on core behavioral alignment and logistical readiness, before diving deep into technical delivery frameworks for the peer and panel stages. Keep in mind that specific stages, like the online assessment, may vary slightly depending on the exact team or location you are interviewing for.

5. Deep Dive into Evaluation Areas

To succeed, you must understand exactly what the interview panels are trying to uncover. Principal Financial Group evaluates Project Managers across several core dimensions, often using behavioral questions to dig into your past experiences.

Agile Delivery and Methodologies

Your mastery of project management frameworks is the baseline expectation. Interviewers will want to know how you run your projects day-to-day. Strong performance in this area means showing flexibility—knowing when to strictly adhere to Agile ceremonies and when to adapt processes to fit the team's reality.

Be ready to go over:

• Sprint Planning and Backlog Grooming – How you work with Product Owners to prioritize work and ensure engineering teams have clear, actionable tasks.
• Velocity and Capacity Planning – Your approach to measuring team output and forecasting delivery dates accurately.
• Hybrid Environments – Navigating projects that require both Agile development and Waterfall regulatory approvals.
• Advanced concepts (less common) – Scaling Agile frameworks (SAFe), portfolio-level budget management, and transitioning legacy teams to modern delivery practices.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "Walk me through a time when your project was falling behind schedule. How did you identify the root cause, and what steps did you take to course-correct?"
• "Describe your process for managing shifting priorities from business stakeholders in the middle of a sprint."

Technical Acumen and Team Leadership

Panels at Principal Financial Group sometimes lean heavily into technical execution. In some cases, teams look for candidates who possess knowledge akin to a tech or team lead. You must prove you can hold your own in technical discussions and earn the respect of engineering teams.

Be ready to go over:

• Bridging Tech and Business – Translating complex technical constraints into business risks that non-technical stakeholders can understand.
• Dependency Management – Identifying and unblocking technical dependencies across different engineering pods.
• Release Management – Understanding the software development life cycle (SDLC) and coordinating smooth deployments.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "Tell me about a time you had to push back on a technical lead's estimate. How did you handle the conversation?"
• "How do you ensure quality and security standards are met without compromising the project timeline?"

Stakeholder Management and Communication

Your ability to communicate effectively is perhaps your most critical tool. Interviewers will look for signs of active listening, clear articulation, and the ability to manage conflict constructively.

Be ready to go over:

• Executive Reporting – Crafting status reports that provide the right level of detail for leadership.
• Conflict Resolution – Mediating disagreements between product, engineering, and business teams.
• Navigating Ambiguity – Taking vague project mandates and turning them into structured, executable plans.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "Describe a situation where you had to align stakeholders who had completely opposite goals for a project."
• "Tell me about a time you had to deliver bad news to a senior executive regarding a project delay."

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6. Key Responsibilities

As a Project Manager, your day-to-day work revolves around keeping the machine running smoothly. You will be responsible for orchestrating the end-to-end delivery of projects, which begins with scoping and requirements gathering and ends with successful deployment and retrospective analysis. You will build and maintain comprehensive project plans, track budgets, and ensure that all regulatory and compliance milestones are met—a critical factor in the financial services sector.

Collaboration is at the heart of your daily routine. You will facilitate daily stand-ups, sprint planning, and retrospective meetings, acting as the primary unblocker for your engineering and design teams. You will work closely with Product Managers to ensure that business requirements are clearly defined and with QA teams to ensure testing phases do not become bottlenecks.

Furthermore, you will be the primary point of contact for project health. This means you will regularly synthesize complex project data into digestible status reports for leadership, highlighting risks, budget variances, and resource constraints before they impact delivery. Your role is proactive, requiring you to constantly look two steps ahead to clear the path for your team.

7. Role Requirements & Qualifications

To be a competitive candidate for this role at Principal Financial Group, you need a blend of formal project management expertise, technical fluency, and strong interpersonal skills.

• Must-have skills – Proven experience managing end-to-end software or IT projects. Deep understanding of Agile and Scrum methodologies. Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to tailor your message to both developers and executives. Strong proficiency with project management tools (e.g., Jira, Confluence, MS Project).
• Nice-to-have skills – Prior experience in the financial services, insurance, or asset management industries. A technical background (such as previous experience as a developer, QA, or technical lead). Formal certifications such as PMP, CSM (Certified ScrumMaster), or PMI-ACP.
• Experience level – Typically, candidates are expected to have 5+ years of dedicated project management experience, preferably in an enterprise technology environment.
• Soft skills – High emotional intelligence, resilience in the face of shifting priorities, and a collaborative, ego-free approach to leadership.

8. Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How important is my physical location and commute for this role? Location is a critical factor early in the process. Principal Financial Group often enforces specific hybrid work policies, and recruiters will strictly evaluate your proximity to the office (e.g., Des Moines). If you live far away, be prepared to discuss your commuting strategy or relocation willingness immediately.

Q: Do I need to have a technical background to pass the interview? While you do not need to write code, interviewers often look for a deep understanding of the SDLC and technical concepts. Panels have been known to ask detailed questions about delivery mechanics, so candidates with a strong technical intuition or past tech-lead experience often stand out.

Q: How long does the interview process typically take? Recent data indicates that the process is fairly quick and communicative once initiated, often wrapping up within a few weeks. However, be prepared for potential delays between the peer interviews and final HR rounds depending on executive availability.

Q: What is the culture like during the interview? Candidates frequently note that the panels are highly professional and ask excellent, thoughtful questions. The peer interview stage is particularly indicative of the collaborative, team-oriented culture you will experience on the job.

9. Other General Tips

• Master the STAR Method: Structure all your behavioral answers using Situation, Task, Action, and Result. Principal Financial Group interviewers appreciate concise, data-backed outcomes. Ensure the "Action" focuses on what you specifically did, not just the team.
• Clarify Before Answering: If an interviewer asks a broad or ambiguous question, do not jump straight into an answer. Ask clarifying questions to narrow the scope. This demonstrates the exact analytical skills needed for a Project Manager.

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• Showcase Empathy for Engineering: When discussing past projects, highlight how you protected your development team from burnout or unnecessary meetings. Demonstrating that you are an advocate for your team will score highly during the peer interview stage.

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• Prepare Questions for Them: Always have 3-4 strategic questions ready for the end of the interview. Ask about their current Agile maturity, the biggest bottlenecks their teams face, or how project success is measured in their specific business unit.

10. Summary & Next Steps

Securing a Project Manager role at Principal Financial Group is an opportunity to drive meaningful change within a stable, highly respected financial institution. You will be at the forefront of digital delivery, balancing the rigor of financial regulations with the speed of modern technology. The interview process is designed to find leaders who are organized, resilient, and capable of bridging the gap between technical execution and business strategy.

To succeed, focus on refining your behavioral examples, ensuring you can articulate your project management philosophy clearly. Practice discussing your technical collaborations and be ready to demonstrate how you handle ambiguity and risk. Approach the interviews with confidence; your ability to communicate clearly and structure your thoughts is exactly what they are evaluating.

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This compensation data provides a baseline for what you can expect regarding base pay and potential bonuses for this role. Use this information to anchor your salary expectations during the initial recruiter screen, keeping in mind that your total compensation will scale with your years of experience and specific domain expertise.

Take the time to review your past project artifacts, rehearse your STAR stories, and research Principal Financial Group's recent business initiatives. For more detailed insights, practice questions, and community experiences, continue exploring resources on Dataford. You have the skills to lead complex initiatives—now it is time to prove it. Good luck!