Atlassian Software Engineer Interview
Detailed, specific guidance on the Atlassian Software Engineer interview process - with a breakdown of different stages and interview questions asked at each stage
The role of an Atlassian Software Engineer
Atlassian actively hires software engineers who are passionate about making impactful, innovative changes in the engineering field. One of the great things about working at Altassian is the flexibility—they let you work from home, in the office, or a mix of both. Also, since they operate as a 'distributed-first' company, interviews and onboarding are all virtual, and they hire from any country where they have a legal entity.
On the compensation side, Atlassian offers a solid package. The average total compensation for the Software Engineer role is around $234K, broken down like this:
- Base Salary: About $166K
- Stock Grants (per year): Around $53.8K
- Bonus: Roughly $14K
Atlassian Software Engineer Interview Guide
The Meta ML Engineering Manager interview process kicks off with a Karat interview (an online assessment) which is a pretty.straightforward round where you tackle basic HTML, CSS, and JS questions. Beyond that, you will encounter 5 types of rounds:
- Up to 2 Coding Interviews
- 1 Full-Stack Craft Interview
- 1 System Design Interview
- 1 Management Interview
- 1 Values/Behavioral Interview
Coding Interview
Overview
The Coding Interview for an Atlassian Software Engineer position is in two parts, depending on whether you're applying for a frontend or backend learning role.
- Data Structures (Backend)
- Code Design (Frontend)
Code Design (Frontend)
In the Code Design interview, you'll need to write and run code in a browser to create a simple interactive user interface. This one is different from traditional technical interviews because you have the flexibility to choose the programming language you want to work with. Make sure you have your IDE set up with a framework you're comfortable with, like React or Vue. A typical starting point would be to create a function that shows the current time when the page loads,
To prepare for this round, review Atlassian-tagged LeetCode questions and standard top interview questions. Focus on understanding clean coding principles and be ready to explain your design choices as you code. The interviewers care more about how you think and solve problems. They want to see how you balance things like code length and efficiency. So, don't worry if you miss a line or two; it won't ruin your chances.
Data Structures (Backend)
For the Data Structures (Backend) interview at Atlassian, you’ll need to be prepared to write and execute code in a language you’re comfortable with, like Java or Python. Again, make sure you have your IDE set up on your computer, along with a testing framework that you like to use. You’ll be sharing your screen with the interviewer, so keep everything organized.
The coding interview lasts 60 minutes and focuses on showing off your coding skills, code quality, and how you think through problems. Make sure you practice DSA thoroughly, specifically medium-to-hard level questions on platforms like LeetCode or HackerRank.
Atlassian also looks at how adaptable you are when facing challenges and how well you communicate. So, talk through your reasoning as you code to showcase how how you think and problem-solve. Prepfully has a bunch of Atlassian Software Engineers with a ton of experience who can coach you ace the coding interviews. Book a 1:1 mock session with them directly here.
Interview Questions
- Implement a grid layout that adjusts the number of columns based on the screen size.
- Write a function that toggles a dropdown menu when clicked.
- Create a simple clock component that updates every second.
- Build a to-do list application where users can add and remove items.
- You have a list of meeting times; write a function to determine if any meetings overlap.
- Solve the problem of finding the longest common subsequence between two strings.
- Write a function to find the first non-repeating character in a string.
- How would you reverse a linked list?
- Implement a function to perform a depth-first search (DFS) on a binary tree.
Book a 1:1 mock session with an Atlassian SWE and increase your chances of success
→ Schedule Now!Full-Stack Craft Interview
Overview
The Full-Stack Craft Interview is a 60-minute session covering both frontend and backend technologies, databases, APIs, and deployment processes. They’ll want to see how well you understand the interactions between different parts of a web application. So, make sure to brush up on both frontend (HTML, CSS, JavaScript frameworks) and backend (Node.js, Express, databases) technologies—and are able to discuss their role in web development.
Also, ve ready to explain complex concepts in a straightforward manner, as the interviewer will assess not only your knowledge but your ability to communicate effectively as well.
Interview Questions
- Describe how you would implement user authentication in a web application.
- How do you handle state management in a single-page application?
- What considerations do you take into account when designing a database schema?
- Can you explain the differences between SQL and NoSQL databases, and when you would choose one over the other?
- How do you design and document a RESTful API?
- What are the advantages of using a microservices architecture in a web application?
System Design Interview
Overview
The System Design interview lasts 60 minutes and focuses on the technical depth, breadth, and proficiency of designing a solution to a specific problem—always eventually at scale
So how do you go about it? 4 tips:
- Once you're presented with a problem or design scenario, start by asking clarifying questions about technical or functional requirements. This is key because there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. Probing for specifics will help you tailor your design to meet the expectations.
- Then comes the actual designing—you'll be provided with a virtual whiteboard tool to help visualise and diagram your solution, as well as make any necessary calculations.
- Now, the key here is to develop a solid high-level design within the first half hour, so make sure to keep a steady pace and communicate your thought process clearly. We recommend you start with a high-level outline before delving into the nitty-gritty details of different components.
- Once you've completed the design, discuss and refine your design with the interviewer. They may ask to optimise your design for specific constraints or consider alternative approaches.
- How can you determine if the system is functioning correctly?
- Are there any potential bottlenecks within the design?
- How do the various components of the system interact with one another?
- How can the system scale effectively?
- How would you handle an unexpected surge in user traffic?
- Can you outline the failover and recovery mechanisms implemented in the design?
Factor in all that feedback and come up with a design that fulfils all the required performance metrics.
Management Interview
Overview
This round is typically one-on-one with either the hiring manager or a senior manager from the team. The focus is on your career goals, interests, and how you see yourself growing with Atlassian.
They’ll ask questions to get a sense of what motivates you and how you might add value, not only to the role you’re applying for but to the company as a whole. It’s clear they’re looking for alignment between your goals and Atlassian’s direction, so be prepared to discuss how your skills and ambitions could make an impact. At the same time, they’ll want to know how Atlassian can support your development. Make sure you have specific examples ready to back up your responses.
Interview Questions
- What attracted you to Atlassian, and why do you want to work here?
- Where do you see yourself in the next 3–5 years, and how does this role align with your goals?
- What motivates you in your work, and what are you most passionate about in your career?
- Describe a time when you collaborated with other teams to achieve a common goal.
- How do you handle disagreements or conflicts within a team?
- What does an ideal work environment look like for you?
Values Interview
Overview
The Values interview is a 45-minute session that focuses entirely on behavioral questions. They’re looking to see if you align with their five core values, like "Open company, no bullshit" and "Build with heart and balance.”
You can expect questions around real situations you’ve been in—like how you handled challenging projects, times when you helped out teammates, or when you took the initiative to improve something on your own. Be honest and thoughtful—this is a good chance to show how you’d bring more than just technical skills to the role.
You can schedule a “behavioural ” style mock Interview with one of Meta's Atlassian software engineers on Prepfully for practice here.
Interview Questions
- Summarize your engineering journey.
- What is one thing you would like to change about your college?
- What has been the biggest failure in your life? How did you overcome it? Do you regret it?
- How do your values align with those of Atlassian?
- What role do you enjoy playing on a team?
- Find the winner of an election where votes are represented as candidate names.
- Find a root-to-leaf path with a sum equal to a given number.
- Find the majority element in an array. A majority element in an array A[] of size n is an element that appears more than n/2 times (and hence, there is at most one such element).
- Find the smallest window in a string containing all characters of another string.
- Describe a time when you stepped up.
- What has been your greatest achievement?
- Design a system ID_Generator that generates unique IDs for different apps requesting them.
- How would you design a URL-shortening service?
- Can you outline the architecture for a real-time chat application?
- What would be your approach to building a scalable image upload service?
Book a "behavioral" style mock session and gain expert insights into the interview
→ Schedule Now!Atlassian Software Engineer Roles and Responsibilities
Following are the roles and responsibilities of a Atlassian Software Engineer:
- You’ll create and manage APIs that are essential to the main features customers interact with.
- You’ll work on React components that customers see and use, making sure the interface is smooth and user-friendly.
- You’ll configure monitoring tools to keep an eye on backend services and make sure they’re running well.
- You’ll set up and improve CI/CD pipelines, which help the team test and deploy changes faster.
- You’ll develop connections with content management systems so content flows easily through the products.
- Every feature or service you work on will need to be stable and reliable, even under high demand.
Atlassian Software Engineer Skills and Qualifications
Here are the skills and qualifications that a Atlassian Software Engineer must have:
- They expect at least 3 years with JavaScript, TypeScript, and libraries like ES6, React, and Node.
- A Bachelor’s or Master’s degree, ideally in Computer Science or a closely related field.
- Experience integrating platforms via REST APIs, ensuring smooth interoperability.
- Familiarity with Git for version control, particularly in collaborative team environments.
- You’ll need to write HTML and Sass/CSS that works across different browsers.
- You should be comfortable working with UX and visual designers.
- Familiarity with server tools like NPM, Docker, NGINX, and Express/Node.
- Bonus points if you have:
- Experience with content management systems
- Cloud experience, especially AWS
- Knowledge of Java, Freemarker, or Rust