Other roles at Duffel:Product Manager Software Engineer Sales Customer Success Solutions Architect

Growth · Solutions Architect Interview Guide

Interview language: English

How to Pass the Duffel Solutions Architect Interview in 2026

The Duffel DNA (TL;DR)

Duffel's core focus on simplifying travel APIs means interviews probe for your ability to tackle complex domains like "Flights Build" and "Search Book Ancillaries Order". They assess your capacity for structured problem deconstruction and delivering robust, scalable solutions, often through detailed discussions of technical decisions.

The Duffel Interview Loop

Your onsite loop will typically consist of 5 rounds.

1
Round 1
Recruiter Screen
Motivation, technical depth, customer-facing experience, fit.
2
Round 2
Technical Discovery
Diagnosing customer technical context, integration requirements, scoping a fit.
3
Round 3
Architecture Demo
Presenting a reference architecture live, defending design choices, handling depth-of-knowledge probes.
4
Round 4
Sales Pitch / Co-Sell
Working with an AE on a mock customer call, anchoring value, navigating objections.
5
Round 5
Behavioral / Leadership
Past evidence of ownership, influence, resolving conflict.

The Danger Zone: Top Reasons Candidates Fail

Based on our database of Duffel interview outcomes, avoid these common traps:

Blaming the other party entirely without taking responsibility for their own role in the conflict.
Blaming the other person without discussing their perspective.
Focusing only on the negative aspects without highlighting learning or positive outcomes.
Failing to articulate the specific actions taken beyond their defined role or the positive impact achieved.

Test Yourself: Real Duffel Questions

Three real prompts pulled from our database.

Type · Conflict Resolution

Tell me about a time you faced a significant conflict with a team member or manager. What was the situation, and how did you resolve it?

Type · Influence

Describe a situation where you had to persuade a skeptical colleague or stakeholder to adopt your point of view or approach. How did you do it?

Type · Technical Depth

Walk me through your understanding of API integrations and how you'd approach troubleshooting a common integration issue between a travel management system and an airline API.

+ many more questions, signals, and worked examples

Unlock the Duffel rubric, free

Duffel Interview Question Bank

A sample from our database, grouped by round. Sign up to see the full set.

10 of 22 questions shown

Recruiter Screen

1
Type · Motivation
What interests you about the Solutions Architect role at Duffel, specifically within the travel industry?
2
Type · Customer-Facing Experience
Describe a time you had to explain a complex technical concept to a non-technical stakeholder. What was the situation, your approach, and the outcome?
+ 1 more questions in this round (sign up to unlock)

Technical Discovery

3
Type · Scoping Fit
A mid-sized travel agency wants to use Duffel to automate flight bookings for their corporate clients. What key questions would you ask to understand their current workflow, technical stack, and integration needs?
4
Type · Diagnosing Context
Imagine a customer is struggling with high latency when fetching flight data via Duffel's API. What are the potential causes you'd investigate, and how would you prioritize your investigation?
+ 2 more questions in this round (sign up to unlock)

Architecture Demo

5
Type · Reference Architecture
Present a high-level architecture for integrating Duffel's flight booking API into a typical e-commerce website, highlighting key components and data flows. Be prepared to defend your design choices.
6
Type · Depth of Knowledge
How would you design a system to handle real-time flight availability updates and price changes for a large number of concurrent users browsing a travel site using Duffel?
+ 1 more questions in this round (sign up to unlock)

Sales Pitch / Co-Sell

7
Type · Value Anchoring
An airline is hesitant to adopt Duffel, citing concerns about disrupting their existing direct booking channels. How would you position Duffel's value proposition to address their concerns and highlight the benefits?
8
Type · Navigating Objections
During a mock sales call, a potential customer expresses concern that integrating with Duffel will be too complex and time-consuming, potentially delaying their product launch. How do you respond?

Behavioral / Leadership

9
Type · Conflict Resolution
Tell me about a time you had a significant disagreement with a cross-functional team member (e.g., engineer, designer, marketer) about a product decision. How did you approach it, and what was the outcome?
10
Type · Ownership
Tell me about a time you took ownership of a problem that wasn't strictly within your job description. What was the situation, and what did you do?
+ 8 more questions in this round (sign up to unlock)

Unlock all 22 Duffel questions, free

No credit card. Every question with its framework, the grading signals interviewers score against, and a worked answer for each.

Unlock all 22 Duffel questions

Interview tracks at Duffel

How Duffel's DNA translates across functions. Pick your role.

Compare Duffel with similar employers

Same DNA, different bar. Browse the closest companies in our database and see how their loops differ.

5 rounds

Airbnb

Same tier

Airbnb assesses how candidates build trust and belonging, mirroring their mission. Expect case studies on designing m...

See Airbnb interview questions

4 rounds

Exoticca

Same tier

Exoticca's emphasis on expanding its 'Inclusive Vacation Packages' means the loop grades for candidates who can demon...

See Exoticca interview questions

4 rounds

Ukio

Same tier

Ukio seeks adaptable, customer-centric problem-solvers who thrive in a tech-driven, flexible living market. They valu...

See Ukio interview questions

Practice Duffel interviews end-to-end

Duffel Mock Interview

Run a live mock interview with our AI interviewer using Duffel-style prompts. Get scored on structure, signal, and answer length - exactly how the real loop grades you.

Open

STAR Stories for Duffel Behavioral Rounds

Build a Story Bank of your past wins, mapped to the leadership signals Duffel interviewers grade on. Reuse them across every behavioral round.

Open

Duffel Interview Prep Hub

The frameworks behind every Duffel round: CIRCLES for product sense, hypothesis-driven debugging for analytical, STAR for behavioral. Learn each one in 10 minutes.

Open

Interview Frameworks

CIRCLES, STAR, AARRR, RICE, MECE. The exact frameworks that make Duffel interviewers nod instead of frown. Step-by-step playbooks with the moves and the pitfalls.

Open

Sample answers

What a strong answer to these Duffel interview questions shows.

Tell me about a time you faced a significant conflict with a team member or manager. What was the situation, and how did you resolve it?

A strong answer shows: Maturity in handling conflict.; Effective communication skills.; Problem-solving in interpersonal situations.; Focus on resolution..

Describe a situation where you had to persuade a skeptical colleague or stakeholder to adopt your point of view or approach. How did you do it?

A strong answer shows: Persuasion skills.; Empathy and understanding of others' viewpoints.; Communication strategy.; Ability to build consensus..

FAQ

Explore careers on Workfive →