Sr Software Engineer II, VR

To be considered for the Sr Software Engineer II role at Axon, candidates should have 8+ years of software engineering experience and deep expertise in backend service development using managed languages like Java, Scala, Go, or C#. Experience with cloud architecture—specifically Azure or AWS—is essential, along with proficiency in databases such as SQL and Cassandra. Additionally, candidates should show a strong ability to work collaboratively in teams, influencing technical solutions across different groups.

As a Sr Software Engineer II at Axon, you will be heavily involved in designing and reviewing engineering architecture, ensuring that your contributions lead to high-availability and low-latency cloud-based services. You will lead discussions on technical decisions, collaborate with cross-functional teams, and mentor other engineers. Your role will be focused on innovating solutions that solve real customer problems and enhancing engineering processes to align with our mission of safety and justice.

In the Sr Software Engineer II position at Axon, you will be engaged with the latest open-source technologies as you build and maintain cloud-based systems that require robust performance. Your expertise in managed languages for back-end service development, combined with your skills in cloud services such as Azure and AWS, will be crucial. Working with high-availability systems, you’ll face challenges that require timely and strategic solutions within Axon’s tech stack.

Team dynamics for a Sr Software Engineer II at Axon emphasize collaboration, mentorship, and a shared mission. You’ll work closely with product managers, designers, and fellow engineers on the VR team. This collaborative environment values different perspectives and open communication, which helps to foster innovative problem-solving. Your ability to mentor others will also contribute to a positive culture of learning and development within the team.

At Axon, there are significant growth opportunities for a Sr Software Engineer II. With pathways for professional development through training in the U.S., you can stay updated with emerging technologies and methodologies. Additionally, as your role involves mentoring others, you’ll cultivate leadership skills that can pave the way for future leadership positions within the organization, making a profound impact on Axon's mission and community.

When answering this question, emphasize your background in designing and implementing cloud architectures, specifically noting any hands-on experience with Azure and AWS. Provide examples of projects you've worked on, detailing the challenges faced and how you overcame them, highlighting scalability and high availability aspects.

Discuss specific strategies like load balancing, redundancy, and failover mechanisms that you have employed in previous projects. Sharing a concrete example where you successfully implemented these strategies will reinforce your capability and experience in maintaining high-availability systems.

You should explain your mentoring philosophy, perhaps mentioning specific techniques or strategies you use to foster an inclusive learning environment. Provide examples of how you've successfully guided others in their development, focusing on practical advice, regular feedback, and setting achievable milestones.

Prepare to discuss a specific instance where you facilitated a discussion to resolve a conflict. Focus on how you ensure all voices were heard and how you lead the team towards a consensus by emphasizing the project's goals and customer needs.

Discuss your coding standards, such as adhering to conventions, conducting regular code reviews, and emphasizing the importance of writing self-documenting code. Provide examples of your experiences in creating code bases that are easy for others to understand and modify.

Discuss specific Agile practices you’ve used, such as sprint planning, daily stand-ups, or retrospectives. Sharing the impact these practices had on team productivity and project delivery will illustrate your understanding of Agile principles and their application.

Explore various techniques you’ve applied, including indexing, query optimization, and database normalization. Offer examples from your past experience to demonstrate your ability to enhance database performance effectively.

Use the STAR method to describe a specific challenge, your approach to addressing it, and the ultimate resolution. Highlight key skills like problem-solving, collaboration, and technical expertise to show how you navigate complex situations.

Elaborate on your strategies for gathering customer feedback, collaborating with product managers, and iterating on solutions. Mention any tools or methodologies you’ve used to ensure that customer perspectives are integrated into the development process.

Discuss the importance of automated testing, unit testing, and integration testing in your workflow. Providing examples of how thorough testing has prevented issues in your code and improved the quality of deliverables will solidify your understanding of quality assurance.