For a Security Engineer II (Ads Security) interview, expect a mix of technical, behavioral, and scenario-based questions, focusing on web security, application security, cryptography, cloud security (especially if applicable to ad platforms), and incident response, along with questions assessing your understanding of security principles and problem-solving skills
I applied through a recruiter. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Amazon (Arlington, VA) in May 2025
Interview
The interview process was structured but fair. It started with a phone screen followed by a loop of technical and behavioral interviews. The hiring manager was respectful and gave space to explain my thought process. Questions were mostly scenario-based, focused on security architecture, incident response, and threat modeling. The loop was challenging but manageable if you prepare with STAR stories and know AWS security basics.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Q: How do you build scalable security controls in CI/CD pipelines without slowing down developers?
Q: Tell me about a time you identified a critical vulnerability others missed — what did you do?
very straight forward, areas to focus on were outlined before the interview. They were also very accommodating and understanding, so overall, it was a fairly average interview process. Also, the recruiter made sure every topic to focus on was clearly outlined.