Monzo

Engineering Manager Interview Experience

February 1, 2023

Positive ExperienceNo Offer

Process

I applied online. The process took 3 weeks.

There were multiple stages:

Stage 1: A chat with a Senior Engineering Manager, which I succeeded in getting through at least!
Stage 2: Three 1-hour interviews: Technical Design, Behavioural, and Team and Org.

Check the interview pack for the specifics about each part. My only feedback about this is that the Technical Design was not as described, and it was a very strange experience for me. The feedback reflected this, and unfortunately, it was obvious that I and the interviewer were not aligned in what we were trying to achieve.

I was underprepared for the Behavioural one. I had a load of examples ready, but unfortunately, most of the specific questions they asked fell between my examples, and I had to adapt on the fly to create something a bit rubbish. I felt good about the Team and Org interview, but still received some constructive feedback.

It was a fantastic experience though, as the TA team contacted me and took me through all the feedback. This created quantifiable and actionable goals for me to work on if I were to reapply at a later stage.

Questions

Just adhere to the candidate pack, and make sure you prepare and cover all bases. Over-prepare the examples and make sure you have something ready!

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Interview Statistics

The following metrics were computed from 23 interview experiences for the Monzo Engineering Manager role.

Success Rate

17%

Pass Rate

Monzo's interview process for their Engineering Manager roles is very selective, failing most engineers who go through it.

Experience Rating

Positive35%

Neutral13%

Negative52%

Candidates reported having negative feelings for Monzo's Engineering Manager interview process.

Monzo Work Experiences

Amazing place - amazing people

Engineering Manager • Former Employee

London, England

January 26, 2025

Pros: An incredible place tackling interesting problems. I had opportunity to learn and develop in ways I never had before.

Cons: Working in certain parts of the company is arguably more difficult to feel like you’re having an impact.

Amazing place - amazing people

Engineering Manager • Former Employee

London, England

January 26, 2025

Pros: An incredible place tackling interesting problems. I had opportunity to learn and develop in ways I never had before.

Cons: Working in certain parts of the company is arguably more difficult to feel like you’re having an impact.

Great product and passionate team members. Important mission.

Engineering Manager • Current Employee

London, England

November 7, 2020

Pros: Monzo is the card that you seem to see people using everywhere, great brand, loyal customers, and the best user experience. The people in Product are smart and passionate about building something meaningful. Many of the original people who built and designed the systems are still at the company.

Cons: I had a difficult 2020 that caused a lot of churn and introspection, which probably made some bad decisions in hindsight. That haze has started to clear with the new leadership.

Great product and passionate team members. Important mission.

Engineering Manager • Current Employee

London, England

November 7, 2020

Pros: Monzo is the card that you seem to see people using everywhere, great brand, loyal customers, and the best user experience. The people in Product are smart and passionate about building something meaningful. Many of the original people who built and designed the systems are still at the company.

Cons: I had a difficult 2020 that caused a lot of churn and introspection, which probably made some bad decisions in hindsight. That haze has started to clear with the new leadership.

Enjoyable role with interesting challenges

Engineering Manager • Current Employee

London, England

January 7, 2024

Pros: - Exciting domain and product space; surprising potential to drive a lot of impact, and if you like learning about interesting things like I do there is so much to discover - Truly excellent colleagues, everyone I've worked with is a combination of kind, talented and motivated - Work life balance (it is intense while you're "on" but folks are supportive of laptops down / your non-work time is protected) - Supportive culture, even down to the details (eg gender-inclusive bathrooms in the office). I'm aware some folks might see stuff like this and think it's policing or wokeness gone wrong, but frankly it builds a safe and productive environment so I'm happy to see it being done. - Company strategy and senior management direction all makes sense. I've been particularly impressed with the CEO, having not known much about them and feels like the right steward to drive excellent outcomes not just for Monzo but for all customers. Overall, I have really enjoyed my time at Monzo so far!

Cons: - EM role not as rigid or clearly defined as in other companies. This is being worked on, and could be a pro since it also means there are multiple ways to be successful - onboarding can be tricky (lots of context to pick up) - (minor nitpick) could move a bit faster on some of the perks / benefits side; e.g. stock options, time to register for health insurance, etc. This is unlikely to be the right workplace or role for people who seek constant explicit direction - I have found you need to be wearing a "self-starter" hat more often than not.

Enjoyable role with interesting challenges

Engineering Manager • Current Employee

London, England

January 7, 2024

Pros: - Exciting domain and product space; surprising potential to drive a lot of impact, and if you like learning about interesting things like I do there is so much to discover - Truly excellent colleagues, everyone I've worked with is a combination of kind, talented and motivated - Work life balance (it is intense while you're "on" but folks are supportive of laptops down / your non-work time is protected) - Supportive culture, even down to the details (eg gender-inclusive bathrooms in the office). I'm aware some folks might see stuff like this and think it's policing or wokeness gone wrong, but frankly it builds a safe and productive environment so I'm happy to see it being done. - Company strategy and senior management direction all makes sense. I've been particularly impressed with the CEO, having not known much about them and feels like the right steward to drive excellent outcomes not just for Monzo but for all customers. Overall, I have really enjoyed my time at Monzo so far!

Cons: - EM role not as rigid or clearly defined as in other companies. This is being worked on, and could be a pro since it also means there are multiple ways to be successful - onboarding can be tricky (lots of context to pick up) - (minor nitpick) could move a bit faster on some of the perks / benefits side; e.g. stock options, time to register for health insurance, etc. This is unlikely to be the right workplace or role for people who seek constant explicit direction - I have found you need to be wearing a "self-starter" hat more often than not.

Amazing place - amazing people

Engineering Manager • Former Employee

London, England

January 26, 2025

Pros: An incredible place tackling interesting problems. I had opportunity to learn and develop in ways I never had before.

Cons: Working in certain parts of the company is arguably more difficult to feel like you’re having an impact.

5.0
Amazing place - amazing people
Engineering Manager • Former Employee
London, England
January 26, 2025
Pros: An incredible place tackling interesting problems. I had opportunity to learn and develop in ways I never had before.
Cons: Working in certain parts of the company is arguably more difficult to feel like you’re having an impact.

Great product and passionate team members. Important mission.

Engineering Manager • Current Employee

London, England

November 7, 2020

Pros: Monzo is the card that you seem to see people using everywhere, great brand, loyal customers, and the best user experience. The people in Product are smart and passionate about building something meaningful. Many of the original people who built and designed the systems are still at the company.

Cons: I had a difficult 2020 that caused a lot of churn and introspection, which probably made some bad decisions in hindsight. That haze has started to clear with the new leadership.

5.0
Great product and passionate team members. Important mission.
Engineering Manager • Current Employee
London, England
November 7, 2020
Pros: Monzo is the card that you seem to see people using everywhere, great brand, loyal customers, and the best user experience. The people in Product are smart and passionate about building something meaningful. Many of the original people who built and designed the systems are still at the company.
Cons: I had a difficult 2020 that caused a lot of churn and introspection, which probably made some bad decisions in hindsight. That haze has started to clear with the new leadership.

Enjoyable role with interesting challenges

Engineering Manager • Current Employee

London, England

January 7, 2024

Pros: - Exciting domain and product space; surprising potential to drive a lot of impact, and if you like learning about interesting things like I do there is so much to discover - Truly excellent colleagues, everyone I've worked with is a combination of kind, talented and motivated - Work life balance (it is intense while you're "on" but folks are supportive of laptops down / your non-work time is protected) - Supportive culture, even down to the details (eg gender-inclusive bathrooms in the office). I'm aware some folks might see stuff like this and think it's policing or wokeness gone wrong, but frankly it builds a safe and productive environment so I'm happy to see it being done. - Company strategy and senior management direction all makes sense. I've been particularly impressed with the CEO, having not known much about them and feels like the right steward to drive excellent outcomes not just for Monzo but for all customers. Overall, I have really enjoyed my time at Monzo so far!

Cons: - EM role not as rigid or clearly defined as in other companies. This is being worked on, and could be a pro since it also means there are multiple ways to be successful - onboarding can be tricky (lots of context to pick up) - (minor nitpick) could move a bit faster on some of the perks / benefits side; e.g. stock options, time to register for health insurance, etc. This is unlikely to be the right workplace or role for people who seek constant explicit direction - I have found you need to be wearing a "self-starter" hat more often than not.

5.0
Enjoyable role with interesting challenges
Engineering Manager • Current Employee
London, England
January 7, 2024
Pros: - Exciting domain and product space; surprising potential to drive a lot of impact, and if you like learning about interesting things like I do there is so much to discover - Truly excellent colleagues, everyone I've worked with is a combination of kind, talented and motivated - Work life balance (it is intense while you're "on" but folks are supportive of laptops down / your non-work time is protected) - Supportive culture, even down to the details (eg gender-inclusive bathrooms in the office). I'm aware some folks might see stuff like this and think it's policing or wokeness gone wrong, but frankly it builds a safe and productive environment so I'm happy to see it being done. - Company strategy and senior management direction all makes sense. I've been particularly impressed with the CEO, having not known much about them and feels like the right steward to drive excellent outcomes not just for Monzo but for all customers. Overall, I have really enjoyed my time at Monzo so far!
Cons: - EM role not as rigid or clearly defined as in other companies. This is being worked on, and could be a pro since it also means there are multiple ways to be successful - onboarding can be tricky (lots of context to pick up) - (minor nitpick) could move a bit faster on some of the perks / benefits side; e.g. stock options, time to register for health insurance, etc. This is unlikely to be the right workplace or role for people who seek constant explicit direction - I have found you need to be wearing a "self-starter" hat more often than not.

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