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PHONEPE · SENIOR SOFTWARE ENGINEER (SDE 3)

PhonePe senior engineer interview

The senior software engineer (SDE 3) level at PhonePe is Senior Software Engineer, for senior engineers with about 5 to 10 years of experience. The rounds at this level, how each one is scored, and the questions to practise first.

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

Track my PhonePe prep
PhonePe titleSenior Software Engineer
ExperienceSenior engineers with about 5 to 10 years of experience
Interviews after screeningAbout 4
System design roundYes

The Senior Software Engineer (SDE 3) rounds, in order

  1. Phone / recruiter screen · 20 min

    An HR call on experience and expectations.

    At Senior Software Engineer (SDE 3): Often a coding problem plus questions about your past systems; some companies (Uber) use it to set your level.

  2. Low-level design / machine coding · 90 min

    Machine coding: about 90 minutes to build a working in-memory app, then a 30-minute debrief full of 'why' questions.

    At Senior Software Engineer (SDE 3): Same as SDE 2 plus concurrency (two users booking the same seat) and a clean extension story.

  3. Coding (DSA) · 60 min

    PSDS: two problems candidates often rate hard; a well-explained approach can earn partial credit.

    At Senior Software Engineer (SDE 3): Usually two rounds. Same difficulty, but interviewers expect quick, confident problem solving and production-quality code.

  4. System design (HLD) · 60 min

    Database choice, auth at the gateway, token propagation between services, and scaling.

    At Senior Software Engineer (SDE 3): One or two rounds that set your level. Expected to lead, size the system and go deep on two or three hard parts.

  5. Hiring manager · 55 min

    Your current project's architecture in depth (sharding, replication, APIs), sometimes with a design problem.

    At Senior Software Engineer (SDE 3): Technical leadership, mentoring, and how you choose what to work on.

What PhonePe interviewers look for

Coding questions to practise for PhonePe Senior Software Engineer (SDE 3)

Usually two rounds. Same difficulty, but interviewers expect quick, confident problem solving and production-quality code.

Difficulty
Topic
4 questions
  1. Distribute Coins in Binary Tree Medium Trees & BST also Amazon
  2. Word Search Medium Recursion & Backtracking also Microsoft
  3. LRU Cache Medium Design Data Structures also Amazon, Microsoft, Apple +4
  4. Subarray Sum Equals K Medium Arrays & Hashing also Meta

How the coding round is scored · The online assessment

System design at Senior Software Engineer (SDE 3)

Every level faces machine coding, and it is the main filter: code that works but is poorly structured or not thread-safe gets rejected. SDE-2 and above add an HLD round.

All PhonePe system design questions

Questions people ask

How many rounds are in the PhonePe Senior Software Engineer (SDE 3) interview?

About 4 interviews after the screening: phone / recruiter screen, low-level design / machine coding, coding (dsa), system design (hld), hiring manager.

Is there a system design round for PhonePe Senior Software Engineer (SDE 3)?

Yes. Every level faces machine coding, and it is the main filter: code that works but is poorly structured or not thread-safe gets rejected. SDE-2 and above add an HLD round.

What coding questions does PhonePe ask at Senior Software Engineer (SDE 3)?

The same question pool is used across levels; the bar rises with level. Most reported: Distribute Coins in Binary Tree, Word Search, LRU Cache, Subarray Sum Equals K.

What does PhonePe expect in coding rounds at Senior Software Engineer (SDE 3)?

Usually two rounds. Same difficulty, but interviewers expect quick, confident problem solving and production-quality code.

Senior Software Engineer (SDE 3) interviews at other companies

Senior Software Engineer (SDE 3) interview questions across all companies · Behavioral questions