TL;DR: Spent over five hours interviewing and passed, but was denied by the CEO.

Initially, I interviewed for a senior role but did not proceed to the onsite. The recruiter reached back out a month later, as they now had a non-senior opening, and fast-tracked me to the virtual onsite.

After the virtual onsite, the recruiter was very quick to follow up. They informed me that the team wanted to have one more technical interview before making a final decision. I passed this bonus round and verbally agreed on the offer.

Two days later, the recruiter called to let me know that the CEO has to sign every single offer letter. Unfortunately, my offer was presented but did not receive the CEO's approval or signature, even though they were not part of the interview process at all.

I asked for more details but was told vague answers around potentially reshaping the role, and the CEO's lack of prior knowledge about this role.

It sounds like the company might be chasing ex-FAANG engineers who were laid off, as tech salaries are depressed due to market conditions.

Typical data engineering questions, some behavioral.