Describe a time when you had to restructure your team or significantly change processes.

Situation: At a Series B startup, we grew from 25 to 80 engineers in 18 months. Our structure—flat pods with informal leads—no longer scaled. We had duplicate efforts, unclear ownership, and engineers complaining about "too many cooks." Leadership asked me to design and implement a new org structure with clear teams, ownership, and reporting lines.

Task: I owned the restructure design and execution. I had to propose a new structure, get buy-in from leadership, communicate it to the org, and manage the transition without losing key people or stalling delivery.

Action: I spent three weeks interviewing leads and ICs to understand pain points and preferences. I mapped current work streams and proposed a structure organized by product domain rather than function. I presented options to leadership with pros/cons and recommended one. Once approved, I created a detailed transition plan: who would move where, new manager assignments, and a 60-day timeline. I delivered the news in 1:1s first—every affected person heard from their manager before any all-hands. I gave people 48 hours to ask questions privately before the broader announcement. I also set up "transition office hours" for two weeks so people could raise concerns. For those whose roles changed significantly, I offered career conversations and, in two cases, helped them find better-fit roles elsewhere in the company.

Result: We completed the restructure in eight weeks. We retained 94% of engineers through the transition (three left, two by choice). Within six months, our "clarity of ownership" survey score improved from 2.8 to 4.1. I learned that treating people with dignity—private conversations first, space to process, and honest support—matters more than the elegance of the org chart.