Walmart Technical Program Manager Interview Guide

TL;DR the Walmart TPM interview loop looks like:

Step 1: Recruiter screen

Step 2: Hiring manager call

Step 3: The onsite team loop: 2–4 panel rounds 

• 3.1 Technical & system design conversations (exact rounds are team-dependent)
• 3.2 Cross-functional panel
• 3.3 Program, product & stakeholder conversations (exact rounds are team-dependent)

Step 4: Sr. Director final round (some roles)

The technical bar varies but can be quite high for some positions, and you might even have engineers interviewing you.

Overall, teams have freedom to basically interview however they want at Walmart as there is no standardized process. But there are still some common round formats and topics that will be covered.

Any interview or conversation could mix and match different types of questions.

Depending on your role (try to confirm with the recruiter), you might be asked a lot of system design questions. Even some of your behavioral interviews could involve a surprising number of technical aspects.

Walmart recruiters are looking at fit and logistics first of all. Secondarily they also want to see how proficient you are and if you have experience with the tools and technologies mentioned in the JD.

Recruiters will also talk about Walmart’s values and mission and they’re looking for candidates who can tie their own experience into the culture.

Some questions Walmart recruiters have asked TPM candidates:

• How does your previous role help you in the new job?
• Why are you looking for a new role?
• What are your long-term career goals?

A quick tip: When discussing any tools they’ve mentioned, and any you feel appropriate to bring up, make sure you talk about what they were ultimately used for and mention any concrete results or related wins as well.

We suggest you ask your recruiter what the team is working on and what problems they’re having; which will help you flex ways you can help solve those issues in the following interviews. If your recruiter tells you who your interviewers are, you should look through their backgrounds and tailor your prep accordingly. 

The Walmart HM call will be around 45-60 mins. The most common type of questions are “tell me about”. Some candidates have even mentioned that their HM round featured product-sense questions.

Expect classic questions in the Walmart HM round:

• What does your resume not tell us about you?
• Tell me your 3 strengths and 3 weaknesses. 
• How would you take over the role from an individual who is leaving the role? What are the steps you would take to gather information from them before they left?
• How would you give feedback to a junior team member who is excelling and to one who is performing poorly?

You could have a second in-depth screening call with a Walmart engineer; they’ll be asking similar questions but more focused on your technical background. 

Walmart TPM candidates have reported these questions:

• Tell me about your past experiences working with engineers.
• What was your individual influence working with engineers?
• How much cloud experience do you have? Do you have any cloud certifications?

You should prepare a crisp intro that you can reuse in every round that (along with the 101 stuff) also covers the size and the value of the programs you’ve managed. Mentioning specifics also allows the HM to ask follow-up questions and for you to naturally provide more detail about your work.

The Walmart onsite loop has around two to four rounds, which are usually all panel-style interviews. The panel will feature other TPMs, cross-functional teams, potential future teammates, and senior leaders at Walmart. They’ll all be conversational and the tone is relaxed.

You’ll most likely be asked to start each with a short intro about yourself so you have the opportunity to drive the discussion wherever you want. For panel rounds, your interviewers will come from a wide range of backgrounds so try to tailor your intro to appeal to people from different functions as well. 

Walmart TPMs make sure the technology and people behind their eCommerce operations (some of the largest in the world), marketplace, supply chain, inventory, fulfillment, and replenishment are firing and delivering together. 

CEO Doug McMillon talks about Walmart’s tech philosophy which also informs the people they hire: “We build technology to serve people and not the other way around.” Whenever you’re discussing the programs and systems you worked on, bring in what that meant for the customer if possible.

Keep in mind each person is also asking themselves “would this person make my job easier or harder?” This current Walmart employee on Blind advised candidates to have stories and KPIs ready for the work you’ve managed.

Your onsite could also be split across two days if they can’t schedule the panels all at once. We’ve separated the rounds based on the type of questions you’ll be asked as the rounds could be quite mixed. 

Your interview panel will feature some engineers or even data scientists, but they won’t expect you to have that same level of knowledge or hands-on depth. 

Still, technical or system design interviews for TPMs at Walmart can be quite granular, so you should be able to draw the architecture and explain individual components to your interviewers. And you should be able to hold a high-level conversation with an engineer about the tools or tech you’ve worked on.

Walmart TPMs have reported these questions:

• Tell me about a time you had to work on data accuracy and availability.
• What type of SQL queries have you written?
• Can you help me understand the flow of this program from start to end?
• How would you design Ticketmaster’s app?

The topics could be quite wide-ranging so make sure you can discuss the systems you’ve worked on in-depth and have gone over everything mentioned in the JD as well.

A Walmart Staff TPM who also coaches candidates at Prepfully said:

According to the same coach, system design is the main differentiator between a program manager and a technical program manager.

One of your interview rounds could be a panel round that focuses explicitly on cross-functional work. 

According to Prepfully coaches, you need to give something that every interviewer can grade you on. So think about the work they do, and bring those details and terms into your answers. 

This Prepfully coach says:

Walmart TPM candidates have been asked these questions: 

• How do you keep your cross-functional partners accountable?
• Have you had any major disagreements with your partners?
• What do you think would make for your ideal cross-functional team? 
• Tell me about a time where you feel like the program or a team was heading down the wrong path. What did you do?

With specific details, you can also guess which interviewer will ask follow-up questions on what. So, a good strategy would be purposefully mentioning specific aspects that you can show your knowledge and expertise in, so those interviewers bite.

This is where Walmart tests whether you can keep the wheels churning so different teams across the company can execute smoothly. Communication is a big theme for these questions even if your interviewers won’t ask about it directly. 

These questions have been reported by Walmart TPM candidates:

• Tell me about a time when you had to persuade a stakeholder.
• Tell me about a time you had to change your communication style.
• Tell me about a time something in your program didn’t go as planned.
• Tell me about a time you helped someone else develop a plan.

Some of these questions can be very specific, but the expectation might be for you to walk them through the entire program start to finish while focusing on the given scenario. You should clarify with your interviewer if they want a short rundown or the whole breakdown of the program.

For some candidates, the interview loop will close with a final round with a senior director at Walmart. This final leadership round will cover your long-term goals (& alignment with Walmart’s) as well as cultural fit. This round is also a personality check to see if you’re the kind of person the team would enjoy having around.

Directors and senior leaders at Walmart have asked TPMs these questions:

• Describe yourself.
• Tell me something you’re proud of. 
• What are the biggest challenges you’ve faced in your previous organization and how did you overcome them?
• Tell me about the ideal environment that you will thrive in. Professionally as well as personally.

Total comp for Walmart TPMs ranges from $119K (base $107K) at P2 to $308K (base $198K) at P6 according to data from Levels.fyi. RSUs vest equally, either 25% over 4 years or 33% over 3 years.