Behavioral/Leadership Case: Resolving KPI Misalignment Under Time Pressure

Context

You are a data scientist preparing for an onsite interview. Multiple stakeholders disagree on the “right KPI” for a near-term decision:

• Director: margin per search
• Product: bookings per user
• Marketing: attributed conversions

You have 48 hours to prepare a case. You were told to spend “a few hours,” but the panel expects depth.

Prompt

Describe how you would:

(a) Align on the decision to be made and success criteria up front (prewire, written brief, acceptance thresholds).

(b) Manage ambiguity during interviews by summarizing long/unclear questions, asking targeted clarifiers, and documenting assumptions.

(c) Structure the narrative (e.g., SCQA) and communicate trade-offs/risks with clear guardrails.

(d) Handle conflicting post-presentation feedback and negotiate scope/next steps without defensiveness.

(e) Push back professionally on constraints (timeline, relocation, compensation) while maintaining rapport and offering principled alternatives.