Top 43
Prep plan
Updated weekly · Last refresh Oct 17

The Broad Institute Software Engineer Interview Questions

The questions to prepare for a The Broad Institute Software Engineer interview. Questions from real interview reports rank first. Updated daily.

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1
CodingStart here. 9 questions · ~97 min
Best 5-Card Hand From N CardsHard
Practice

Evaluate every five-card combination and return the strongest hand using poker category and tie-break rankings.

AlgorithmsThe Broad Institute
Merge Two Sorted Linked ListsEasy
Practice

Merge two sorted singly linked lists into one sorted list by relinking existing nodes.

RecursionLinked ListsSortingThe Broad Institute
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2
Security & Infrastructure5 questions · ~54 min
Scale and Secure a Research PlatformHard

Design a scalable, reliable security architecture for a research platform handling sensitive data, with clear failure handling and recovery.

InfrastructureQualityThe Broad Institute
Versioned Multi-Client API DesignMedium

Tests your API design skills around compatibility, evolution, and client needs.

InfrastructureToolsQualityThe Broad Institute
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3
Behavioral & Leadership24 questions · ~260 min
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4
More topics5 questions · ~54 min
Balancing Speed and QualityMedium

Describe a real example of choosing between faster delivery and a higher quality bar, including stakeholder alignment and risk management.

Trade-offsStakeholder ManagementSuccess CriteriaThe Broad Institute
Large-Scale Genomic Data PipelinesHard

Tests your ability to design scalable, reliable pipelines for genomics workloads.

ETLBatch ProcessingOrchestrationThe Broad Institute
Web System for Millions of UsersHard

Tests your system design skills for scalability, availability, and performance.

Feature StoreModel ServingThe Broad Institute
Optimizing a Database QueryMedium

Tests SQL reasoning, indexing, query plans, and performance troubleshooting.

Joinsquery optimizationAggregationsThe Broad Institute
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Hands-on SQL practiceWrite and run real queries in the editor. 3 drills · ~30 min
The finish line: interview-readyComplete all 43 questions plus 3 hands-on drills to finish this plan.