Lyft
Manager
Lead Lyft's foundational lakehouse data layer through a multi-year Unity Catalog migration
Own the team behind Lyft's catalog, metadata, and table-format layer (Iceberg/Delta) that every downstream data and ML system depends on. This interview probes engineering management depth under real platform-migration stakes, not general people-management platitudes.
Step into this interview
Free · a live voice mock calibrated to this exact role
What this interview tests
- Leading a multi-quarter lakehouse/Unity Catalog migration under ambiguity
- Cross-org technical negotiation with peer platform teams
- Developing senior/staff-level ICs and giving them ambitious scope
- Balancing platform investment vs. day-to-day reliability of foundational systems
- Managing a geographically distributed engineering team
- Technical fluency in table formats (Iceberg/Delta/Hudi) and catalog/metadata systems
Common question themes
Walk me through how you'd sequence a migration to Unity Catalog without breaking downstream pipelines
Tell me about a time you had to align technical direction with a peer team that didn't report to you
How do you decide when to invest in platform architecture vs. firefighting reliability issues
Describe developing a staff-level IC - how did you match them to scope and what was the outcome
How do you keep a distributed team across time zones operating as one team
What are the tradeoffs between Iceberg, Delta, and Hudi and how would that inform Lyft's direction
Related interviews
Lyft
Mid
Data Scientist, Algorithms, Optimization - Fulfillment
Lyft
Senior
Data Science Manager, Machine Learning - Lyft Ads
Lyft
Mid
Data Scientist, Decisions - Central Market Management
GitLab
Senior
Engineering Manager, Data Foundations
Instacart
Senior
Engineering Manager, Software, Catalog Enrichment
Instacart
Senior