I went through the Google engineering manager interview loop earlier this year for an L6 EM role. This is the most detailed breakdown I can give. My context: 15 years in, managed teams of 8-20 at mid-size companies and one FAANG before this.
First, the loop structure. Google's EM loop in 2026 typically runs 5 rounds for an experienced hire:
Coding: Yes, coding. Even for L6 EM. This is the round candidates most often underestimate. They know you're not writing code day-to-day, but they want to know you can still think algorithmically and communicate trade-offs. I got a medium-ish graph problem. Don't skip this. Brush up on BFS/DFS, hash maps, and be able to talk through time/space complexity.
Leadership and People Management: Two separate rounds focused here. They go deep with 'tell me about a time you had underperforming engineer.' Then: 'what did you do before that conversation?' Then: 'what did you do after?' They peel back layers. Have 4-5 people stories with real texture, not cleaned-up versions.
Googleyness: Ambiguity, inclusion, conflict. Standard STAR but they probe for what you personally did vs. what the team did. The word 'I' matters more than you'd think.
Technical System Design: For EM, this is more about requirements gathering, scope definition, and making trade-off decisions than drawing boxes. They're checking that you can have a technical conversation with your own team. Brush up on distributed systems basics, you don't need to design Spanner from scratch.
Hiring Manager Chat: Informal. This is mostly them assessing fit and you assessing the team. Ask good questions about their current pain points. The person interviewing you may be your future skip-level.
Leveling note: L6 EM is a fairly senior ask. They want to see people impact at some scale, not just team management. Think about your examples in terms of org-level outcomes.
Process was slow. Recruiter screen to offer was 9 weeks total. The wait between onsite and offer call was 12 days which felt long.