Data Pipeline and ETL / Spark Experience Discussion

Problem Overview

This is a hiring-manager pre-screen (~20–45 min) for a Senior Data Engineer role at Robinhood. The interviewer asks the candidate to walk through their background and hands-on experience with data pipelines and Spark. Specific topics covered include: (1) self-introduction and current role; (2) past data pipeline / ETL work in…

• 4 candidate-reported follow-ups — the exact probes interviewers asked, with the trigger for each
• The rest of the problem statement — full requirements, constraints, and edge cases
• Approach and trade-offs — what passing candidates did, and the mistakes that sink people