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ATLASSIAN · STAFF SOFTWARE ENGINEER

Atlassian staff engineer interview

The staff and principal software engineer level at Atlassian is P60 Principal, P70 and above, for staff, principal and senior staff engineers. The rounds at this level, how each one is scored, and the questions to practise first.

From public candidate reports and Atlassian's careers pages, checked November 2026. Processes vary by team. AlgoRung is not affiliated with Atlassian.

Track my Atlassian prep
Atlassian titleP60 Principal, P70 and above
ExperienceStaff, principal and senior staff engineers
Interviews after screeningAbout 5
System design roundYes

The Staff Software Engineer rounds, in order

  1. Phone / recruiter screen · 30 min

    A recruiter call about background, motivation, location and pay, where the target level gets set.

    At Staff Software Engineer: Frequently a hiring-manager conversation about scope and impact instead of pure coding.

  2. Phone / recruiter screen · 60 min

    An outsourced interviewer (Karat) runs it: about 20 minutes of quick-fire design or fundamentals questions, then one or two easy-to-medium coding problems.

    At Staff Software Engineer: Frequently a hiring-manager conversation about scope and impact instead of pure coding.

  3. Coding (DSA) · 60 min

    The 'Data Structures' half of the coding interview: an algorithm problem with follow-ups, scored on clean code, naming and testing your own work without being asked.

    At Staff Software Engineer: One or two rounds, sometimes design-flavoured (build a small class with several methods). Coding is a bar to clear, not where level is decided.

  4. Low-level design / machine coding · 60 min

    The 'Code Design' half: build a small working component that can be extended, such as a popularity tracker, then handle new requirements, tie-breaks and concurrency.

    At Staff Software Engineer: Rare as a standalone round; folded into design discussions.

  5. System design (HLD) · 60 min

    A systems design discussion with no coding, where the interviewer adjusts the follow-ups to see how you adapt to new trade-offs.

    At Staff Software Engineer: Two rounds at many companies. Expected to handle ambiguity, cost, operations and cross-team trade-offs, and to change the design when the interviewer pushes.

  6. Hiring manager · 60 min

    One past project in depth, ownership, mentoring and how you collaborate.

    At Staff Software Engineer: Strategy, influence without authority and the biggest bets you have made.

  7. Behavioral · 45 min

    The values interview, usually led by someone outside engineering, with roughly one question per value and probing follow-ups.

    At Staff Software Engineer: Expected scope: org-wide impact, setting direction, hard trade-offs with leadership.

  8. Hiring committee

    An independent committee reviews all the feedback and the CV and makes the final call.

    At Staff Software Engineer: Staff packets get extra scrutiny on design and behavioral scope.

What Atlassian interviewers look for

Behavioral rounds are based on the Company values: Open company, no bullshit, Build with heart and balance, Don't #@!% the customer, Play, as a team, Be the change you seek. Questions for each one.

Coding questions to practise for Atlassian Staff Software Engineer

One or two rounds, sometimes design-flavoured (build a small class with several methods). Coding is a bar to clear, not where level is decided.

Difficulty
Topic
3 questions
  1. Lowest Common Ancestor of a Binary Tree Medium Trees & BST also Google, Meta, Netflix +1
  2. Merge Intervals Medium Intervals also Netflix, LinkedIn, Oracle
  3. Two Sum Easy Arrays & Hashing also Amazon, Microsoft, Swiggy

How the coding round is scored · The online assessment

System design at Staff Software Engineer

Every level gets a code design (LLD) round where you build and extend working code. P40 and above add an HLD round, usually framed around collaboration products like issue trackers and wikis. At P50 and P60 the bar shifts to deep trade-offs, scaling and cross-team impact.

All Atlassian system design questions

Questions people ask

How many rounds are in the Atlassian Staff Software Engineer interview?

About 5 interviews after the screening: phone / recruiter screen, coding (dsa), low-level design / machine coding, system design (hld), hiring manager, behavioral, hiring committee.

Is there a system design round for Atlassian Staff Software Engineer?

Yes. Every level gets a code design (LLD) round where you build and extend working code. P40 and above add an HLD round, usually framed around collaboration products like issue trackers and wikis. At P50 and P60 the bar shifts to deep trade-offs, scaling and cross-team impact.

What coding questions does Atlassian ask at Staff Software Engineer?

The same question pool is used across levels; the bar rises with level. Most reported: Lowest Common Ancestor of a Binary Tree, Merge Intervals, Two Sum.

What does Atlassian expect in coding rounds at Staff Software Engineer?

One or two rounds, sometimes design-flavoured (build a small class with several methods). Coding is a bar to clear, not where level is decided.

Staff Software Engineer interviews at other companies

Staff Software Engineer interview questions across all companies · Behavioral questions