Manager, Application Software Engineering
Posted Aug 20, 2026 · We last checked this listing on Oct 6, 2026
Likely interview questions for this role
Written from this job description, not a generic list. Each one notes what the interviewer is really checking.
About your past
Walk me through a team you managed that had both remote and on-site engineers working on firmware and application software at the same time. How did you keep them aligned?
What they are checking: whether the candidate has real experience managing hybrid teams across different technical disciplines, not just co-located generalist teams
Tell me about a time you had to coordinate software deliverables across several stakeholder groups, like marketing, IT, and sales, who all wanted different things at once.
What they are checking: cross-functional negotiation skill and ability to translate competing priorities into a workable plan
Describe a time you had to build or defend a budget for your engineering group. What got cut, and how did you decide?
What they are checking: financial ownership and ability to make tradeoffs under real budget constraints
Tell me about a direct report who was struggling. What did you do, and what was the outcome?
What they are checking: coaching skill and willingness to have hard conversations rather than avoid them
What draws you to a role that touches boats, engines, and dealers, and how would you get up to speed on the marine industry side if you're coming from a different sector?
What they are checking: genuine motivation for the domain and realistic self-awareness about the learning curve
What would you do
Say your team is responsible for both the SmartCraft Connect Module firmware and a consumer mobile app, and both hit critical bugs the same week with limited engineers to spare. How do you decide where to put people?
What they are checking: practical prioritization judgment when embedded and application work compete for the same limited resources
Imagine an enterprise connectivity initiative spanning Navico, Freedom Boat Club, and Brunswick Boat Group hits a technical disagreement between two of those groups' engineering teams. You're not their manager. How do you get to a resolution?
What they are checking: influence without authority across business units that don't report to this person
What's your process when a consumer-facing app feature needs firmware changes on the Connect Module to work, and the two pieces are being built by different sub-teams on different timelines?
What they are checking: skill at managing dependencies between embedded and application workstreams so releases don't stall
About the work
How would you explain the difference between developing low-level embedded firmware on an RTOS and building a higher-level mobile or cloud application, to someone in marketing who needs a realistic timeline?
What they are checking: depth of technical understanding across the full stack this role spans, and ability to translate it for non-technical partners
What's your experience with Azure IoT Hub and connecting embedded devices to the cloud? Walk me through how you'd architect a connectivity path from a Connect Module out to a consumer app.
What they are checking: real hands-on familiarity with the specific IoT stack named in the posting, not just buzzword recognition
How do you think about BLE versus Wi-Fi when a connected product needs to talk to both a phone and a home network?
What they are checking: whether the candidate has actually worked with the connectivity protocols central to Mercury's connected products
Tell me about a project where you ran Agile or SCRUM for one part of the team and Waterfall or HPPD for another. How did you keep reporting and planning coherent across both?
What they are checking: ability to blend multiple delivery methodologies rather than forcing one framework where it doesn't fit
How have you used Azure DevOps or a similar tool to give leadership visibility into a team's progress without turning it into busywork for the engineers?
What they are checking: practical tooling experience balanced against protecting team focus
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Practice this out loudThe full job description
As published by Mercury Marine.