Initial screening with the hiring manager, panel presentation, two sessions with other stakeholders, and closing chat with hiring manager.
The screening went well. I absolutely nailed the panel presentation, and thought the other sessions went well. My only concern as an interviewee is that the questions were sort of all over the place and I wasn't sure what they were looking for. In hindsight, I don't think they do either.
The post interview feedback from everyone was positive and they gave me the feeling there was a strong chance I was going to receive an offer as they said they'd follow up in 1-2 business days. Instead, they kept me waiting upward of two weeks and I had to reach out to them to get an update.
They got back to me saying they "wanted someone with more experience" but that left me scratching my head. Experience with WHAT? I clearly stated the number of years of management experience up front, so that was never in doubt. Plus, I have a lengthy career consisting of day-to-day coding roles, architecture, product facing experience, went into details regarding the projects I've led, etc.. I can manage processes, collaborate with various stakeholders effectively, and go hands-on with the code if need be.
Additionally, the project they expected me to lead is a near mirror image of a project I successfully led less than two years ago. They also want me to build a team and I made them aware that I've interviewed/screened HUNDREDS of engineers in my career, so it's something I am confident I can do very very well. On paper it seems like a great fit, so what their issue is is beyond me. They never had a follow up interview to suss out any potential concerns despite me offering to make myself available for it.
I find it ironic that many weeks later they have now published that same job to LinkedIn to get more applicants. As of writing this, it has been a couple months since they passed on me and they STILL can't find someone. It doesn't make much sense TBH -- I liked them and they liked me, I know I can do exactly what they are asking and do it well, so for the life of me I can't grok why they passed. Disappointing and feels like a missed opportunity on their part. Still a big fan of Turo though.