Monzo

Engineering Manager Interview Experience - London, United Kingdom

December 9, 2024

Negative ExperienceNo Offer

Process

The talent acquisition team was very organised and helpful. After the initial call, a behavioural interview was set up with a Senior Engineering Manager. The interview was conducted by just one person, which to me signals not so good practice. Interviews should always be in pairs to help remove bias. The talent team came back with the response and had no proper feedback. I requested the details from the interviewer and the talent team, but they never got back. I had read about how good the hiring process at Monzo is, but I didn't have a good experience. The hiring team should be respectful and understanding towards the candidate and at least provide proper feedback.

Questions

Tell me about a time when you challenged the technical architect.

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Interview Statistics

The following metrics were computed from 16 interview experiences for the Monzo Engineering Manager role in London, United Kingdom.

Success Rate

19%

Pass Rate

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

Experience Rating

Positive25%

Neutral13%

Negative63%

Candidates reported having very negative feelings for Monzo's Engineering Manager interview process in London, United Kingdom.

Monzo Work Experiences

Tech Company but also a Bank

Engineering Manager • Former Employee

London, England

Pros: - Really friendly and caring people - Feels great working on stuff people know and love - Amazing work-life balance

Cons: - The engineering org hadn’t fully matured yet, and the performance framework and calibrations leaned too heavily on subjective statements and “vibes”.

Tech Company but also a Bank

Engineering Manager • Former Employee

London, England

Pros: - Really friendly and caring people - Feels great working on stuff people know and love - Amazing work-life balance

Cons: - The engineering org hadn’t fully matured yet, and the performance framework and calibrations leaned too heavily on subjective statements and “vibes”.

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.

Tech Company but also a Bank

Engineering Manager • Former Employee

London, England

Pros: - Really friendly and caring people - Feels great working on stuff people know and love - Amazing work-life balance

Cons: - The engineering org hadn’t fully matured yet, and the performance framework and calibrations leaned too heavily on subjective statements and “vibes”.

4.0
Tech Company but also a Bank
Engineering Manager • Former Employee
London, England
June 27, 2023
Pros: - Really friendly and caring people - Feels great working on stuff people know and love - Amazing work-life balance
Cons: - The engineering org hadn’t fully matured yet, and the performance framework and calibrations leaned too heavily on subjective statements and “vibes”.

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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