i've now done the amazon EM loop twice. hired the first time (three years ago), re-interviewed this year for a senior EM role after my division was restructured. sharing what changed and what stayed the same.
what stayed the same: the leadership principles are the whole interview. not part of it. the whole thing. every round has LP questions baked in, even the rounds labeled 'technical'. if you walk in thinking LP is the soft part you do at the end, you will fail.
the rounds for EM (2026 loop, L7 target):
hiring manager screen: conversational but they're already listening for LP signals. customer obsession, think big. they want to see that your frame of reference goes beyond your immediate team.
round 1: operational. how do you manage a team through an outage? how do you handle a sustained velocity problem? these are situational questions and they want you to name specific LPs without being obvious about it. just sound like you actually operate that way.
round 2: technical bar-raiser. yes EMs get bar-raised. they're not going to ask you to code but they'll probe your architectural instincts. 'walk me through the last significant system your team owned. what would you do differently?' depth over breadth. don't try to impress with complexity.
round 3: people and org. how do you hire? how do you manage a low performer? how do you handle conflict between two strong ICs? again LP baked in, ownership and earn trust especially.
round 4: leadership + strategy. big picture. where do you want to take your org? how do you align your team to business goals? they're checking if you think like a director even for an L7 EM role.
what changed from 3 years ago: bar-raisers feel more rigorous now. my first loop had one bar-raiser in the mix. this loop felt like two of the four rounds had bar-raiser energy. they're calibrating up.
one honest note: the process took 9 weeks total. that's not unusual for senior EM at amazon. plan your timeline accordingly.